                                             ..e



                                                    earer


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



     IN THIS ISSUE


            Meditation:
               The Suffering Prophet-- Choosing His Betrayer

            Editorial:
               The Erring Views of Dr. H. M. Kuitert  (conclusion)

            The Basis for Dissent (see The Strength of Youth)

            The Gnsequences of State Aid to Education
               (see All Around Us)




I                                                   Volume XL V/Number IO  / Feb. 1.5,1969


218                                                         THE STANDARD BEARER


Meditation  -              CONTENTS:                                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER
   The Suffering Prophet - Choosing His Betrayer . .2 18                             Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July and August.
                                                                                     Published by the Reformed  Free  Publishing Association, Inc.
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   The Erring Views of Dr. H. M. Kuitert (13) . . . . .222                       Herman Hanko, Rev. Robert C. Harbach, Rev. John A. Heys, Rev. Jay
                                                                                 Kortering, Rev. George C. Lubbers, Rev. Marinus  Schipper,  Rev. Gise J.
All Around Us -                                                                  Van  Baren, Rev. Herman Veldman, Rev. Bernard Woudenberg
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   The End of Another Anti-Evolution Law . . . . . . . .226
   A Loss. of Church Property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .226          Church News Editor:         Mr. John M. Faber
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Medittition

             The Suffering Prophet--Choosing His Betrayer
                                                                  Rev. M. Shipper

                                         "I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen:
                                        but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth
                                        bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me. "
                                                                                                   John 13: 18.
                                         "Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted,
                                        which did eat  of  my bread, hath lifted up his heel
                                        against me. "                                              Psaim 4 1: 9.

       The season of Lent is fast coming upon us again!                         and death of the Saviour; and which issues into the
       That season of the year when the church of Christ is                     glorious and victorious resurrection of the Lord of
reminded, more than at any other time, of the passion                           glory!


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                             219


  Most certainly we have no quarrel with those who           to have Judas serve as His Secretary of State or of the
insist that all gospel preaching for all the days of the     Treasury. And when Jesus at the beginning of His
year should have as its heart and basis the truth of the     Galilean ministry appeared to be so popular, Judas
suffering, crucified, and raised Redeemer. Nor do we         became most encouraged in his hopes. What a wonder-
have any criticism of those following. the custom of         ful kingdom was this Man capable of establishing!
preaching on the passion and death of the Saviour            Manifestly in this kingdom there would be no suffering
during the annual Lenten season. It has been a custom        or want, no cripples, not even death. Verily, this was
in our churches of which we hope our people shall            the Man all the world would seek after! And as Judas
never tire.                                                  followed Jesus and considered his relation to Him, his
  In the next few meditations we shall try to dwell on       own glorious opinion of himself and his position in the
the general theme of: The Suffering Prophet Fulfilling       Messianic kingdom grew brighter by the day.
His Scriptures. And in this first ,of the series we call        The impression must not be left here, however, that
attention to this suffering Prophet fulfilling the Scrip-    Judas was the only one of the followers of Christ who
ture: In Choosing His Betrayer.                              had this earthly conception of the promised Messianic
  Notice, first of all, the betrayer who is chosen!          kingdom. Fact of the matter is that they all held this
  Judas Iscariot he is called! Literally his name means:     view more or less, and retained it until after His death
Judas, the man of Cariot. Cariot comes from Kerioth, a       and resurrection. Do we not hear the Emmaus travelers
town in southern Judah. Accordingly, Judas is from           exclaim on the afternoon of the resurrection day: "But
the tribe and province of Judah. As far as we know he        we trusted that it had been he which should have
was the only one of the apostles who came from this          redeemed Israel?" The difference between Judas and
region. All the rest came from Galilee in the north.         the rest was that he, in distinction from the others, was
That the Scripture calls him Judas Iscariot is most          the first to conclude that the Lord had. no intention
probably to distinguish him from another of the              whatsoever to establish such an earthly kingdom.
apostles also called Judas, namely the brother of               This opinion began to jell when the Lord renounced
James.                                                       earthly acclaim and popularity. He had heard the Lord
  Judas was a Jewish nationalist, that is, one who           rebuke the multitude for following Him merely for
believed in the future earthly glory of the State of         earthly bread; and when the Lord had confronted the
Israel. He envisioned the time when his nation, now in       disciples with the pointed question: "Will ye not also
bondage to Rome, as it had often in its history been in      go away?" Judas began to see more than ever that
bondage to other nations, would break off these              there was to be no such imagined earthly kingdom.
shackles. He believed that the time would come when          This adverse opinion reached its highest point just
Israel would rule the world in a golden age, a glorious      before the celebration of the Passover, and particularly
state which would far surpass the glory of David and         at the occasion in Bethany in the house of Simon the
Solomon.                                                     Leper when there came in a woman with an alabaster
  Judas was also one of the twelve! He had followed          box of very precious ointment and poured it on Jesus
Jesus for three long years, being instructed of Him, and     as He sat at meat. The disciples were indignant because
an eye-witness to all His wonderful works. And he was        they considered it a waste, it being their opinion that
not the least among the disciples. He was a man of           the ointment could better have been sold and the
energy, ambition, and ability, especially in mundane,        money have been given to the poor. John tells us that
material matters. Evidently he was a man of foresight,       the spokesman for the disciples on this occasion was
and a man who had ability to get things done. It was         Judas Iscariot and that he had objected to this
most likely for this reason that he was entrusted .with      so-called waste not because he was concerned with the
the treasury of the disciple group. Obviously the other      poor, but because he was a thief, and had the bag and
disciples had confidence in his ability and integrity,       bare what was in it. When Jesus had commanded them
never suspecting that actually he was a thief.               to be silent, informing them that the poor they had
  Apart now from the fact that he was chosen to be           always with them, but that He would not always be
an apostle, it is important to consider the question         with them, and that she had anointed Him unto His
how he ever consented to be Jesus' disciple. Evidently,      burial; then Satan entered into Judas' heart and the
he, too, had sacrificed all to follow Jesus. He must         desire to betray Christ became an impulse which could
have set aside his family and friends. He must have left     not be suppressed. Knowing that the rulers of the Jews
his earthly vocation and his possessions. The answer is      had secretly plotted to do away with Jesus, he went to
not far to seek. As was said, he was a nationalist,          them  `and offered to give Jesus into their hands for
looking for the future glory of his nation, but              what he sought to salvage out of his relation to Jesus -
particularly for his .own personal interests and a place     money.
of honor in it. Evidently he conceived of Jesus as the         What we have said so far explains who Judas `was
hope of Israel and the ,promised Messiah Who would           and how psychologically he could and did become the
raise up an earthly kingdom and Who would be pleased         `betrayer. But this is not all that can and must be said


220                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


on this point.       '                                      Absalom in the plot. Thus Ahithophel became an Old
  Judas was chosen. to be a traitor!                        Testament type of Judas, who now had agreed with
  We must not ,understand our text in such a way that       the rulers of Ihe Jews to betray Jesus into their hands.
we conclude here that the Lord, when He says: "I               The question arises here: Why were all these things
know whom I have chosen," is merely saying: "I know         foreshadowed in the Scriptures? Not merely were there
who are truly elect among you." Though this was true,       the shadows of the sacrifices, and the more direct
of course, for He knew who the sheep were whom the          prophecies of the suffering of Christ such as that found
Father had given unto Him. And He certainly knew            in Isaiah 53; but there were also those shadows that
that in even the disciple group election and reproba-       were enacted by persons in the history of the old
tion was to be realized. Yet this is not the meaning of     dispensation. Why was this? Was it merely for the sake
the Lord.                                                   of instruction of the church of that day? But this can
  Rather, the Lord means to say: "I knew what I was         hardly be true. How could the church of that day
doing when I chose you to be My disciples. I knew           understand that Ahithophel was a type of Judas who
what I was doing when I chose Judas Iscariot, for I         should betray Christ? And again, Why must this
chose him exactly to be a traitor who would betray Me       Scripture be fulfilled? Was it only to show how the
into the hands of wicked men to slay Me." This same         type and antitype meet in Jesus? 0, to be sure, this is
thought is expressed in John 6:70,71 where Jesus said:      true. But there is much more.
"Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a             The suffering Prophet must follow the prophetic
devil? He spake of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for    Scripture as He treads the way of suffering  - all the
he it was that should betray him, being one of the          way to the cross!
twelve." The Lord chose Judas to be in the company            And so, when He chooses Judas to betray Him, He
of His friends, that he with them might eat bread with      was only walking precisely in the way the Father had
Jesus, too, as one of His friends.                          mapped out for Him. Not only had the Lord God
  That the Scripture might be fulfilled!                    determined in His counsel the fact and the manner in
  God's Prophet, the suffering Prophet, fulfilling the      which the Saviour should suffer, but He had also
Scriptures and pointing to that fulfillment even in the     prescribed in the Scriptures all the steps the Saviour
choice of Judas!                                            would have to follow as He descended as it were into
  Christ, the anointed Servant of Jehovah, is ap-           the valley of suffering. This prescription the Redeemer
pointed and qualified to serve the three-fold office of     had to follow in detail. Hence, the Scripture must be
Prophet, Priest, and Ring!                                  fulfilled!
  Here He is portrayed as God's appointed Prophet to          Now it should be remembered that when David
reveal all that the Father had given to Him to speak        wrote by inspiration the history of his betrayal by
concerning the salvation God had ordained for His           Ahithophel he was at the same time reflecting on the
people through the suffering Servant of Jehovah..The        suffering of Christ. And Christ, Who understood
end of alI that long line of prophets, who, suffered as     clearly that these Scriptures were the revelation of
they brought to God's people His revelation; and at the     God's counsel concerning Himself and His way of
same time the One of Whom all that long line of             suffering, chose Judas as the betrayer, both to fulfill
prophets spoke. Here He is consciously fulfilling the       the Scripture and to enter into the depths of His
Scripture!                                                  suffering  - also into that aspect of it as inflicted on
  The Scriptures must be fulfilled which said: "He          Him by Judas Iscariot.
that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel             But why could not the Lord Jesus have been
against me." That is the Scripture of Psalm 41: 9           captured and crucified without a betrayal? Why must
quoted above, the prophecy which is repeated in             He be delivered into the hands of sinful men by a
another form in Psalm 55:  12,13  "For it was not an        familiar friend?
enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it,         The answer is: Judas' sin is our sin!
neither was it he that hated me that did magnify              We have lifted up the heel against our Friend, and
himself against me, then I would have hid myself from       that Friend is our Covenant God. Jesus must bear away
him. But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and       in His suffering all our sin and make satisfaction for all
mine acquaintance."                                         our sin, also this sin. Let us not in pride condemn
  The historical reference in the Psalms is of course to    Judas, though he is to be condemned; but let us
the time of Absalom, the Son of David, whose plotting       humble ourselves before the face of God and taste His
and conspiracy drove  .David from Jerusalem into the        salvation.
wilderness, away from the throne and the temple,              Now the suffering Prophet may prophecy to  His
planning there to overtake David and kill him. In this      disciples, and to us!
conspiracy Ahithophel; David's counselor and friend,          Almost a year before He had told them that one of
who sat at his table to eat bread, lifted up his heel       them was a devil and would betray Him. But they had
against him, having turned traitor, and connived with       not understood. And it was well that they had not


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                              221



understood, for had they known they might have cast            That ye may know that in spite of all that is about
Judas from their midst. But now the Prophet must             to take place, I am the Messiah; and that I am the One
speak clearly so that the betrayer can also understand:      of Whom David did write in the Psalms. And that I am
"The Scripture must be fulfilled, He that eateth bread       the One Who took your sins upon Me, also the sin of
with me hath lifted up his heel against me."                 lifting up your heel against your Covenant Friend, the
  And the reason why they must know now is                   God of your salvation.
expressed in the verse following our text: "Now I tell         That ye may believe!
you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye          And believing, ye may be saved!
may believe that I am he."


Editorials

                                           EDITOR'S NOTES

The Pre-publication Sale is now one-fourth over. The         an institution which they do not have to support and
moral is this: do not continue to postpone sending in        whose purse-strings are out of their control.
your order! Before you know it, April 1 will be here;                               ****k*
and then it will be too late to take advantage of the
sale price. Hence, get your order in today, accom-           A further study of the question of government subsidy
panied by $7.95. Look up the handy order envelope in         of schools will begin in the next issue. Through the
                                                             courtesy of State Senator Milton Zaagman, I received a
the February 1 issue. As of this writing, we are on
schedule with our publication plans; and "Behold, He         copy of "A Report and Recommendations of the Joint
Cometh!" should meet our publication deadline of             Legislative Committee on Aid To Non-Public Schools."
April 1.                                                     I requested this report so that I might base my study"
                      *  *  *  * *                           on accurate information. However, the report arrived
                                                             too late to write about it in this issue.
Mind  your i's and  e's. Someone recently  .&led my                                  *  * *  * *
attention to a commonly made error in pronunciation          Footnote to a  Review, or, The Story of the Pot and
(and sometimes even in spelling). Arminians (with a          the Kettle. In a recent issue of the  Reformed Journal
short  i)  are the followers of the heresy of James          the redoubtable James Daane reviews Harry Kuitert's
Arminius. Armenians (with a long e) are inhabitants of       book, "The Reality of Faith." In his usual genial
the country of Armenia. Whom the shoe fits, let him          manner Daane takes the occasion to go a bit afield and
put it on..           *  *  *  h  *                          to get in "a few licks" at other theologians. I must
                                                             confess my amazement, and my amusement, at the
                                                             blissful manner in which he can dismiss with one wave
The reference to government subsidy of schools in "All       of the hand the theology of Abraham Kuyper, Herman
Around Us" reminds me of a report in a recent issue of       Hoeksema, L. Berkhof, C. Van Til, and, in fact, all of
the Dutch paper "Tot Vrijheid Geroepen"  that the            orthodox Protestant theology. Meanwhile, he virtually
Free University of Amsterdam is 99% supported by             excludes himself from "orthodox Protestant theology"
government subsidy. The article in which this is             in the process. But I especially was struck by  his.
reported attributes the decline and decay of the Free        critique of Kuitert. As might be expected, Daane has
University in part to this fact. It claims that in this      high praise for Kuitert's denial of the possibility of
manner the Free University has increasingly gotten out       metaphysical theology (knowledge of  God-as-He-is-in-
of the control of the Reformed people. It refers to          Himself). But he mildly faults Kuitert for going to
"the bulldozer of government subsidy" as having              extremes. Daane wants to keep some metaphysical
"shoved aside the influence of the Reformed people           theology, it seems. And he proceeds to engage in some
upon the course of affairs at the university." .This is a    highly abstract theologizing about God's grace. But
significant aspect of government subsidy. As govern-         Daane should criticize himself, not Kuitert. For when
ment subsidy- increases, two things happen: l)The            Daane denies that grace is an attribute of God, his
schools become independent of the people's support,          basic trouble is a denial of so-called metaphysical
and proportionately less responsive to the control and       theology. He should ponder this seriously. For this is a
desires of the supporters. 2)And the people become           case of "the pot calling the kettle black." True to
proportionately less concerned and less able to control      form, Daane is right, but dead wrong!


222                                              THE STANDARD BEARER


                 The' Erring Views of Dr, M.lVi. Kuitert (131
                                  An Evaluation  of Kuitert's  Dogmatical  Views (Continued)

                                                  Pro5  H. C. Hoeksema

Christ and Creation: Common Grace Dualism                          same Logos. It is not a grace that is based on the
  At the close of my last article on this subject I                atoning blood of Jesus Christ, but a grace outside of
proposed that the failure of some Reformed theolo-                 atonement and satisfaction
gians to see and to maintain an intrinsic connection                  Secondly, where does this alleged dualism enter the
between Christ and creation is connected with the                  picture?
common grace theory. `I pointed out that I was not                    Dr. Kuyper makes of the history of this present
referring to the general-offer aspect of the First Point,          world an interim. Permit me to quote the exposition of
the notorious `buntje van het eerste punt," (which is              Rev. H. Hoeksema in his "Reformed Dogmatics," p.
more properly called "general grace" in the Arminian               740: "His theory is as follows. God had in mind an
sense), but to common grace in the Kuyperian sense.                original purpose in the ordinance of creation. And in
And I suggested that there is a theological connection             spite of all the attempts of sin and Satan, He
between the theory of common grace and the failure                 nevertheless realizes this ordinance. Although Satan
to teach the unity of creation and the work of Christ.             opposes this purpose of God, the Lord nevertheless
  In other words, the theology of common grace                     causes His creation to develop, and causes her to reach
posits a  dualism  between creation and Christ, rather             the purpose, the destination, which it should have
than seeing in Christ the focal point of all the work of           reached also without sin. This is effected by what Dr.
God, including creation.                                           Kuyper calls `common grace'. He maintains that if
  This I shall now explain.                                        common grace had not intervened and begun to
  First of all, what is implied in this common grace               operate immediately after the fall, the end of all things
theory of Dr. A. Kuyper, Sr.?                                      would have been reached in paradise with man's eating
  Kuyper makes a distinction between "common" and                  of the forbidden fruit. The whole world would have
"special" grace. Only so-called special grace is of saving         relapsed into a chaotic state. Adam would have died
power and efficacy; and it, according to Kuyper, is                the complete and eternal death. And there would have
strictly particular, for the elect only. The fruit of              been no history, no development of the human race in
"special" grace is eternal life and glory in Christ.               the world. As a result, there would have been no room
"Common" grace, on the other hand, is not saving. It               for the establishment and development of God's
has to do only with the present life and history of man            covenant of grace in Christ. The elect would not have
in the world and is common to all men. Kuyper sought               been born. Christ would not have come. And the
to differentiate the two by using the term  `gratie"  to           works of God would have been completely spoiled and
indicate common grace, and reserving the word                      destroyed by the wiles of Satan. The  devil?s purpose
"genade" for particular grace. His purpose in devel-               would have been reached. However, by His common
oping this theory was to show that there is still a                grace God intervened. The universe did not suffer
positively good world-life and development of the                  destruction. Man did not immediately die. And the
human race in connection with all created things. By               original, divine idea in the ordinance of creation can
the theory of common grace he meant to offer an                    be, and is realized in the history of this world. At the
explanation of this alleged positive good in the world             same time a sphere is created for the realization and
in view of the fact of the fall and the curse of God in            development of special grace in Christ Jesus. He
the world and the total depravity of the natural man.              therefore conceives of the work of God in a dualistic
It is also significant that according to Dr. Kuyper,               way. God has an original purpose with creation, the
"common grace" is a grace that does not flow from                  normal development of all things under man as their
Christ Jesus as the' Mediator of redemption. Not only is           king. This purpose is apparently frustrated by the
it true that according to Kuyper all men receive this              temptation of the devil and sin. But through the
grace, regardless of their relation to Christ Jesus,               operation of common grace God carries out the
regardless of whether they believe or not; but Kuyper              original idea and brings about a positively good
also develops the idea that this common grace does not             development of the human race in connection with the
flow from the Mediator of redemption, but from the                 earthly creation. But, on the other hand, God also
eternal  Word,: as the Mediator of creation. Even as               carries out His purpose of predestination in the
before the fall, according to him, all things were made            redemption of the elect and the damnation of the
and. sustained through the Word, so after the fall all             reprobate. Kuyper, therefore, makes of the history of
that is of common grace comes to men through the                   this present world really an interim."


                                                        THE STANDARD BEARER,                                             223


      Now there is much to be criticized in this theory of            Recall, now, the scant positive presentation which
  Kuyper. But this is not my purpose now. I only want               Dr. Kuitert made of his dogmatical views. He spoke in
  to point out that in Kuyper's view there are two                  vague generalities. We must see the Genesis record as a
  parallel lines in history: 1) God carries out the cove-           "teaching model," whatever that may mean. And then
  nant of His election, and saves the new mankind.                  a teaching model of what? For one thing, the creation
  2). Along the line of common grace God realizes His               story can be told as the story of development, of
  original creation-idea. And although Kuyper makes the             evolution. Mark this! This is sheer nonsense. Creation
  common-grace-world the stage upon which God real-                 story told as the story of evolution? But worse than
  izes His work of election, nevertheless there is no               this, it is poorly disguised corruption of the truth. Put
  intrinsic, unified connection between the two. And                in plain language, Kuitert does not mean to speak of
  what is the basic trouble? This, that Kuyper fails to             creation at all, but of evolution. And if one believes in
  view all the work of God as one, and that he fails to             evolution, and means evolution, then to me it is
  see Christ, the firstborn of every creature, and that             blasphemous to talk as though he still believes in
1 too, as the first begotten from the dead, as the focal            creation.
  point in Whom all the work of God concentrates. For                 Again: he suggests the point that we must learn to
  this reason he has an organic conception of sorts, but            see the whole of our history as the course of God's
h        Id
    e inc u es merely the church, as the new mankind, in            action. God the Creator is not something of the past,
  that organic conception. He does not further apply the            but He has to do with the present and the future. Now
  organic idea to the organic whole of all creatures. For           here is supposed to be a real dogmatical contribution, I
  this reason, he speaks of an original creation-idea,              suppose! Is this something new, something fresh? Is
  separate and distinct from the work of God in Christ,             this supposed to be an advance over traditional
  the work of particular grace. Kuyper has two works of             Reformed theology? Do we need Kuitert and his
~ God: a common-grace-work outside of Christ, and a                 radical views to teach us that God the Creator is not
  special-grace-work in Christ; and the two are essentially         something of the past? Amazing! Are we just learning
  unrelated. They are lines which never meet. Moreover,             now that God has to do with the present and the
  lurking beneath this dual conception is another dual-             future? Astounding! Must we still be talking about first
  ism, which views sin, death, and the curse as powers              principles and learning that the whole of our history is
  outside of and apart from God, which He must                      the course of God's action? I always thought that our
  restrain.                                                         God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, was
      Now I do not know whether Dr. Kuitert in his                  the God of providence, Whose counsel shall stand and
  lecture had in mind any criticism of the theology of              Who does all His good pleasure. I have a  not-so-
  Abraham Kuyper. Kuitert mentioned no specifics, but               sneaking suspicion that Kuitert does not even mean the
  made the general charge that traditional Reformed                 same thing as we tradition-bound theologians mean, or
  theology failed to connect creation and Christ. As a              understand, by this statement; but however that may
  general charge, the charge is false. The main line of             be, I much prefer the formulation of our Heidelberg
  Reformed theology is not guilty of this failure. As a             Catechism (Lord's Day X) on this subject. It is much
  specific charge against the presentation of some theolo-          clearer, much more precise, much warmer, and much
  gians, the charge is true. And though Kuyper undoubt-             more Christ-centered. Besides, how, pray tell, if the-
  edly would not have accepted all of the consequences              ology first throws God out of His own creation, and
  of his theory, yet essentially his theory is guilty of the        substitutes evolutionism, can the whole of our history
  dualism mentioned. Perhaps Dr. Kuitert, consciously               be the course of God's action? I have always learned to
  or sub-consciously, sensed a lack in the theology which           confess that it is precisely the God of creation Who is
  has always claimed the Free University as its citadel             the God of providence (Heidelberg Catechism, IX, X;
  and which was developed by the father of the Free                 Confession of Faith, XII, XIII).
  University. However this may be, it is indeed strange               Again: sin is the "contra"? Sin is regression?
  that from the very citadel of common grace theology a             Someone in the audience sensed immediately,  - and
  voice should be heard which complains of a failure to             correctly,  - that this very terminology smacks of
  connect creation and Christ. And yet it is not strange:           evolutionism. Is this the Biblical and,  - if I may be
  for the dualism of this common grace theory is, after             pardoned for using the favorite terminology of the new
  all, productive of a sterile, disunified theology; and it         theology, - the kerygmatic concept of sin? I challenge
  must needs leave one with a feeling of dissatisfaction.           anyone to show this,  - from Scripture, of course.
  Conclusion                                                        Again: Christ nullifies the regression, deflects what
      There was a third question which we were to face in           interferes with history, completes the development, is
  this connection. It was this: what does Dr. Kuitert,              the measure of creation as history, as progress? Is this,
  with all his criticism of so-called traditional theology,         perhaps, what Dr. Kuitert makes of Colossians  l?
  have to offer in its place?                                       Thank God, the Scriptures speak a clearer language
      My answer is, in the first place: very little!                than this theological jargon. Thank God, too, that they


224                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER


speak of expiation and propitiation,  - ideas which                      stop dilly-dallying around with this new theology.
Kuitert conceded as an after-thought when he was                         Perhaps some will think my language sharp and
confronted by them in a question, but whose place in                     impatient. But I insist that it is about time that such as
his view he did not attempt to explain.                                  love the truth be stirred with some holy impatience
  Finally, is it responsible theologizing to do as the                   for a change. And I insist that it is time to let the
doctor did in his address, that is, iconoclastically throw               sword of the Spirit cut. It is time to stop working even
out all that is old, and then speak of many problems                     on the abstract possibility that this kind of theology
which remain with regard to the development of his                       could be Scriptural and could have a plausible place in
own theology, and leave us with the sop of a                             the Reformed sun. It is time to stop acting on the basis
"panorama unfolding and of life becoming meaningful                      of the liberals, acting as though it is possible to have a
under this view?" All this, - and precjous little it was                 lovely and friendly and brotherly dialogue about this
- was offered, I suppose, as being more Biblical, as                     kind of theology. The issue is far too clear and far too
being an emphasis on the content of the Bible. But the                   simple to be in doubt. And it is far too serious! Let it
language is not Scriptural language, and there was no                    be understood that this is no limited, academic issue of
attempt whatsoever to relate what was said to the                        creation versus evolution. Kuitert's views go to the
Scripturls.                                                              very roots of Reformed theology, the Reformed faith.
  In conclusion, therefore, I can only say; in the first                 Anyone who does not think so had better examine
place, that if I must choose between a dogmatics which                   not only his own theology, but his own heart. What is
prizes the historical order of creation-sin-salvation and                so sorely needed today is not dialogue, but militance.
this theological jargon of Kuitert, give me the former,                  Dialogue plays into the hands of the liberals: they
- by far! For the former, to me, has the power and                       will dialogue you, and the church, to death. Militance,
authority of "Thus saith the Lord." The latter, to me,                   a willingness to do battle in the name of the Lord and
has the false ring of "Thus saith Man?'                                  with the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of
  In the second place, it is high time,  - more than                     God, will bring about reformation. And where there is
time,  - that those who hold dear the Reformed faith                     reformation, there is the blessing of the Lord.


All Around Us

                                A Resolution on Creation and Evolution
                      The Consequences of State Aid to Education
                                The End of Another Anti-Evolution law
                                          A loss of Church Property

                                                                ProJ: H. Hanko

A RESOL UTION ON CREA TION AND' E VOL UTION                                         3. God performed His creative work in six days.
   In the Presbytery of Southern California of the                                (We recognize different interpretations of the word
Orthodox Presbyterian Church the question arose what                              "day" and do not feel that one interpretation is to be
                                                                                  insisted upon to the exclusion of all others.)
should be expected of ordained officebearers of the                                 4. That no part of the universe nor any creature in
Church with respect to the doctrine of creation. In                               it came into being by chance or by any power other
answer to this question the Presbytery adopted the                                than that of the Sovereign God.
following resolution (quoted from the  Presbyterian                                 5. That God created man, male and female, after
Guardian):                                                                        His own image, and as God's image bearer man
       1. The one true and living God existed alone in                            possesses an immortal soul. Thus man is distinct from
       eternity, and beside Him there was no matter, energy,                      all other earthly creatures even though his body is
       space or time.                                                             composed of the elements of his environment.
          2. The one true and living God, according to His                          6. That when God created man, it was God's
       sovereign decree, determined to create, or make of                         inbreathing that constituted man a living creature,
       nothing, the world and all things therein, whether                         and thus God did not impress His image upon some
       visible or invisible.                                                      pre-existing living creature.


                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER                                             225


       7. That the entire human family has descended            earth, the result will be that the back door is left ajar
    from the  fnst human pair, and, with the one                to permit some form of evolutionism to sneak in after
    exception of Christ, this descent has been by                all. The meaning' of the word "day" must be decided
    ordinary generation.                                         on exegetical grounds alone. And then it will become
       8. That man, when created by God, was holy.              obvious that the word can only mean a normal day
    Then God entered into a covenant of works with the
    one man Adam. hi the covenant Adam represented              such as we know it.
    his posterity, and thus when he violated the require-        THE CONSEQUENCES OF STATE AID
    ment, all mankind, descending from him by ordinary           TO' EDUCATION
    generation, sinned in him and fell with him into an            In a recent article  in  the  Torch and Trumpet,  Rev.
    estate of sm.                                                Louis Tamminga writes concerning the predicament in
       The Presbytery believes this to be the teaching of        which Ohio Valley College found itself after receiving
    the Bible.                                                   federal assistance in its building program. It had
  While this is, on the whole, a commendable resolu-             received a total of  $76,000.00  from the federal
tion and while it is a serious effort to combat the              government which covered part of the cost of an
increasing threat of evolutionism, we find it difficult to       auditorium erected on the campus. This grant was
understand the insertion of the parenthesis in point 3.          given under the Higher Education Facilities Act of
There are other subordinate points which could, no               1963. In a routine visit in 1968 auditors of the
doubt, be criticized, such as the idea of the covenant           Government General Accounting Office, the auditors
of works. But the parenthesis in point 3 is a serious            learned that the auditorium was being used for chapel
concession which really weakens and `will eventually             exercises. The college is allied with the Church of
destroy the thrust of the entire resolution. This is             Christ. Further, these chapel exercises are a required
worth calling attention to since there are many                  part of the students' daily program. The auditors
nowadays who are convinced that the line can be held             pointed out that the college was therefore in violation
against evolution while a certain openness is permitted          of the law. The law states that "no part of the facility
in the exegesis of Genesis 1. This is impossible.                or facilities included in the project may be used for
  Apart from the fact that there is no sound exegetical          sectarian instruction or religious worship." The college
reason to interpret the word "day" in Genesis 1 in an-           was given the choice between suspending all devotional
other way than a normal day of 24 hours (and there are           exercises or repaying the amount of the original grant.
several sound exegetical reasons for this interpreta-              It is a strange thing that there are still many who
tion), the fact remains that the meaning given to the            cannot understand that state aid will inevitably involve
word "day" in Genesis 1 lies at the heart of the                 state control. This same question is being discussed at
creation-evolution controversy. This ought to be clear           considerable length here in the state of Michigan once
if we consider the fact that there is no reason at all to        again. There are in this state many supporters of
give to the "days" of creation any other meaning than           Parochiad (Michigan's version of state aid to educa-
a 24 hour period unless one wants an older earth than           tion) who are pushing hard for the state to support in
such an interpretation will permit. If the days are days         some measure private education. Increasingly it ap-
of 24 hours, the whole chronological import of                  pears as if some bill is going to be passed which will
Scripture forbids an old earth. If an old earth is              give the private schools a legal claim on the support of
nevertheless desired, the only way to fit such an old           the state. But in this movement there is also the
earth into the chronological data of Scripture is                constant provision that any aid given by the State must
through an interpretation of Genesis 1 which is less            -be used for the teaching of subjects which are
than literal. But the only reason any one would want             "neutral". That is, such aid can only be used in courses
an old earth is to make room for various findings of            which have no religious approach and content. Yet
science which, on the surface, demand an old earth in           there are many who are supporters of the Christian
order to be understood. But it is precisely at this point        School movement who nevertheless are lobbying
that the error is made. For it is at this point that            strongly for such aid.
greater weight is given to science and the findings of             A storm of protest was raised in the state when
science than the revelation of God in the Scriptures.           Romney, departing from his office of governor of
  It all comes down to this. The whole discussion of            Michigan to take up the Cabinet post of Secretary of
the meaning of the word "day" in Genesis 1 is not a             Housing and Urban Development in the Nixon Admin-
purely academic discussion which really has no bearing          istration, said in a farewell speech that rather than go
on the question of creation vs. evolution. This is what         in the direction of Parochiad, the private schools
the resolution quoted above suggests. But it simply is          should simply permit their children to be taught in the
not true. The discussion of the meaning of the word             public school system and give religious instruction in
"day" in Genesis  1' is an integral part of the whole           the Church and home. His basic premise was precisely
controversy. And if a certain freedom is permitted in           that state aid, in any event, can only be given for the
the exegesis of Genesis 1 which makes room for an old           teaching of secular or neutral subjects.


226                                               THE STANDARD BEARER


  The reason for this provision is clear enough. If the           All this applied, of course, to the public school
state gives aid for religious instruction it is in violation    system. But the fact remains that, if this principle is
of the First Amendment which establishes  the.-$in-             applied more generally, federal intervention in the
ciple of separation between Church and State. Any               existing Christian schools (and perhaps even in the
laws which did not reckon with the First Amendment              Churches) can be justified on the grounds that learning
would be declared unconstitutional in the Courts.               is being impeded.
  But how can a Christian School have "neutral"                   Even some of the other Justices had reservations.
subjects in its curriculum? Is not this an open denial of       Justice Black saw the vagueness of the law as the only
the very idea of "Christian" Schools? Christian Schools         legitimate ground to strike it down. He is quoted by
are established on the fundamental principle that the           Christianity Today  as saying: "Unless this court is
truth of God's Word must be the basis for the                   prepared simply to write off as pure nonsense the
instruction in every subject taught.                            views of those who consider evolution an anti-religious
  The  Standard Bearer  intends, the Lord willing, to           doctrine, then this issue presents problems under the
discuss in future issues this entire question.                  establishment clause far more troublesome than are
                                                                discussed in the court's opinion."
THE END OF ANOTHER ANTI-EVOLUTION LAW                             It appears as if, after all, a secular and humanistic
  The famous "monkey trial" of the 1920's in almost             religion will become the established religion of the
ancient history. It was in that trial that William              nation.
Jennings Bryan assisted the prosecution in its case             A LOSS OF CHURCHPROPERTY
against John Scopes who was convicted of teaching                 The  Grand Rapids Press  reported on January 27,
evolution in the public school system of Tennessee.             1969 that the Supreme Court of the United States had
The attorney for the defense was Clarence Darrow.               overthrown a decision of the Georgia Supreme Court
The prosecution won its case although Bryan died                which had awarded property to a dissident congrega-
shortly thereafter.                                             tion within the Southern Presbyterian Church. The
  That was-long ago. Today there are very few states            history is briefly this. The congregation of Savannah,
left with anti-evolution laws. Arkansas was one; Missis-        Ga. had decided to withdraw from the Southern
sippi is another. But recently Arkansas's law was               Presbyterian Denomination on the grounds that the
stricken down by the United States Supreme Court as             denomination had departed from its historic faith.
being unconstitutional. The case involved Mrs. Jon              Some issues to which the congregation objected were
Epperson, a former Tenth Grade biology teacher in               the Church's support of civil disobedience, the
Little Rock. She claims to be herself a believer in             Church's approval of the ordination of women office-
Scripture although she insists that evolutionary theory         bearers, `the Church's support of the removal of Bible
is not in conflict with a proper understanding of               reading and prayers from the public school. The
Genesis. She did not herself teach evolution in obedi-          congregation kept its property, but suit was filed
ence to the law as long as it stood on the books. But           against it by the presbytery to which the congregation
she made a case of it because she considered the law a          belonged. The Presbytery attempted to get the prop-
hypocrisy since it was consistently being violated in           erty away from the congregation. The case went to the
Arkansas.                                                       State Supreme Court which upheld the right of the
  The decision to strike down the law was unanimous.            congregation to keep its own property. The case was
But the decision, written by Justice Abe  Fortas, has           appealed to the United States Supreme Court which
some ominous implications. Apart from the fact that             overthrew the decision of the State Supreme Court.
the striking down of the law opened the door to an              The grounds were the principle long ago established by
official seal of approval on the theory of evolution, the       the Supreme Court that the Courts have no right to
argument of Justice Fortas went beyond anything the             enter into the doctrinal disputes of any Churches. No
court has yet done. The decision argued that the old            Court may determine if a Church is adhering to its
law impeded religious freedom. And it impeded reli-             doctrine or departing from it.
gious freedom because "Fundamentalists" were hold-                This is, of course, a safe principle. For if the Courts
ing back learning only because the advance' of learning         take any other position they assume that they have the
might undermine some of their cherished beliefs.                right to decide the doctrine of a Church. This right
Hence, federal intervention was proper.                         must .never be given to the Courts of the nation.
  If this line of argumentation is followed consistently          Nevertheless, this is going to be a bitter blow to
by the courts, one can only wonder what the future              conservatives throughout the Church world. The con-
holds. The Court has stated that to believe in creation         servatives had hoped for a favorable ruling as an
and to deny evolution is to become guilty of impeding           incentive to separate from parent denominations when
the progress of knowledge. And such impeding of the             they became apostate. The liberal leaders and  ecu-
progress of knowledge is sufficient grounds to warrant          menicists were bitterly opposed to the position of the
federal intervention.                                           Georgia Supreme Court because they saw a threat to


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                             227


their plans of holding possession of church property as         to sacrifice their property if they want to remain
a club over the heads of recalcitrant congregations. The        faithful to the Scriptures. But surely this is not too
ecumenicists have won the day. The faithful will have           great a price to pay.

Pages From The Past

                                  Believers and their Seed, Chapter 3
                               The Kuyperian View of Presupposed Regeneration

                                            (continued from January I issue)

                                                 Rev. Herman Hoeksema

  Now it is at this juncture that Kuyper discovers his          arrive at his conception of a baptismal grace Kuyper
baptismal grace. That grace does not indeed consist in          must distinguish, and then distinguish once again, and
this, that by it one is initially ingrafted into the body of    must split hairs. He must distinguish between a  root-
Christ. Even Kuyper realizes that all this is bestowed in       grace and a grace in the branches and a grace in the
regeneration. No, but now our personal faith must also          fruit. He must distinguish between a personal faith and
function thus that presently it can with full conscious-        the fellowship of faith, or a communal faith. In this
ness live in the fellowship of that body of Christ and can
seek and desire that fellowship. And that grace by which
there is bestowed upon our personal faith that habitus,
inclination, to desire and seek that fellowship with            - ;CHOLARSHlP!
Christ's body and to enjoy it, - that is the grace which
Dr. Kuyper associates with the sacrament of Holy
Baptism. Thus he writes (idem, p. 543): "If this now is
to be realized in you, then it is not sufficient that
through grace  you personally believe;  but then it is             l Applicable to College Tuition
equally necessary that there be implanted in this your
faith the  habitus,  the inclination, by means of which
you enter into the  joint  faith, the faith as it is the            l Prospective P.R. Ministers
possession of the communion of saints. And this grace
whereby your faith, which at first is exclusively                           & Teachers may apply
personal, receives the potential, the habitus, the inclina-
tion, and the urge, not merely to stand before God in a
strictly individual sense, but not to rest until you draw            o       Apply before May 1st
near before the Holy One as a member of the body of
Christ,  - that is the peculiar sacramental grace which
Holy Baptism carries with it."
  Now it is not our intention to criticize this view in               oObtain blanks from  your.
detail and at length. It was only our purpose to
demonstrate how the doctrine of a presupposed regener-                      YJ! Society secretary
ation was introduced in connection with baptism.                                 . ..or your Pastor
Nevertheless, this matter is certainly too serious to pass
it by without a brief word of criticism. We too believe
that our Reformed people must again understand their
baptism and must live out of God's covenant. But we
are nevertheless of the opinion that this view of a certain                   Sponsored by the Protestant
baptismal grace, a grace which is definitely tied to the                  R e f o r m e d   Schilarship   F u n d
sacrament of Baptism and which is not bestowed in any                         a n d   t h e   F e d e r a t i o n   B o a r d
other way, should be eliminated root and branch. In the
first place, we may point to the fact that there are only
a very few among .God's people who would be able to
follow and to understand this philosophy. In order to


228                                              THE STANDARD BEARER


faith he must again distinguish between the habitus, or             And, finally, we would point out that along this path
inclination, and the activity of it, in order at long last to    Kuyper brings us again on the road of Roman Catholi-
discover in the bestowal of that habitus  to live in thq         cism, and he shuts up the grace of God within the
fellowship of the body of Christ the grace which belongs         institute of a certain church. Of course, we do not deny
definitely and peculiarly with the sacrament of baptism.         that the sacrament in the full sense of the word includes
If it is along such a path of philosophical reasoning that       a certain operation of the grace of Christ from heaven.
God's people are again to understand their baptism,              But we do indeed deny that that operation of grace is an
then the people of God in general will surely never learn        altogether special one, which would not  .be bestowed
to grasp its significance.                                       without the ministration of the sacramental form by the
   In the second place, we may note that in this manner          church on earth. Along that path we run the risk of
the meaning of baptism is alarmingly impoverished and            exalting the institute of the church on earth again in
becomes devoid of content. Notice that this significance         Romish fashion, even as many do in our day, and of
then consists of this, that baptism bestows a certain            making that institute the dispenser of the grace of
inclination, urge, habitus, upon faith, enabling it to live      Christ, thus shoving that institute between Christ and
also in the fellowship of the body of Christ. Nothing            His church. Hence we also earnestly warn against this
more! That impoverishes baptism. In the third place, we          conception of Holy Baptism as being not in harmony
point out that Dr. Kuyper's entire reasoning with regard         with Scripture, as a view which impoverishes baptism,
to a distinction between a personal faith and a faith in         and as a view which leads us in the path of Romish
fellowship with the body of Christ is purely philosoph-          sacerdotalism. This view offers us philosophy instead of
ical. It is simply not true that in regeneration, in             the Word of God, stones in place of bread.
which we already becomes partakers of the power of                 However, it was not to this view of Baptism that we
faith, a faith is bestowed upon us that would not have           wished to call attention at the moment. We only wanted
the habitus  to live in fellowship with the body of those        to point out that it is this erroneous conception which
who are perfectly righteous, and that therefore a                necessarily led to that other conception, of presupposed
second, altogether separate act of grace is necessary in         regeneration, in connection with the baptism of infants.
order to bestow this  habitus,  or inclination, or urge,         For it is clear that (according to Kuyper's view) if the
upon that faith. He who is regenerated is born again out         baptism of infants is really to be a sacrament, then also
of. the risen Lord. He who through regeneration receives         in their case at that very moment when the minister of
the power of faith is through that faith implanted into          the Word and sacraments sprinkles the water on the
Christ, at that very moment lives no more unto himself           forehead of the babe who is baptized that special
or of himself, but out of Christ. And he who lives out of        baptismal grace must be bestowed upon that infant by
Christ, by virtue of the very nature of that life of             Christ from heaven. Otherwise, according to Kuyper's
regeneration, also lives out of the body of Christ. In           view, also infant baptism is empty, a lamp without light;
other words, there is no personal faith, and it is.              But if that special baptismal grace is to be bestowed on
impossible to conceive of a personal faith, which does           little children, then the life of regeneration must first be
not at the same time have in it the urge to live in              present in their hearts, and with that life of regeneration
fellowship with the body of Christ.                              the power of faith. Now Kuyper reasons further  (E
  In the fourth place, we point out that thus the entire         Vote,  III) that God is  able  to work this power of faith
relation between the sign and the thing signified                as well in the hearts of infants as in the hearts of adults.
disappears, and the sacrament is relegated entirely to the       Moreover, he makes it clear that God also does this, by
sphere of the mystical. Who, when he observes the water          virtue of the fact that He establishes His covenant in the
in baptism, when he observes the entrance into that              line of generations. And whereas it is established,
water and the emerging from that water, `would ever see          according to Kuyper, that the sacrament of baptism
in it a figure of that so-called baptismal grace of which        may be administered only `there, where this faith is
Kuyper speaks, a figure of that habitus  or urge to live in      present, be it  ,then only as a power; and whereas it is
the fellowship of the body of Christ? The symbolism of           also a fact that we nevertheless cannot say with
baptism is very rich. First of all, it certainly symbolizes      certainty whether or not a certain child possesses the
the fact that through the blood of Christ our sins are           life of regeneration (for after all, Esau also was a
forgiven and that we are washed in that blood.                   covenant child), therefore we must proceed from the
According to Scripture, it symbolizes that we are dead           supposition that the children of believers are re-
and buried with Christ and are raised again unto a new           generated; and only on the ground of this supposition
life. According to Scripture, it also symbolizes that we         can the propriety of infant baptism be maintained. Let
are separated from the present evil world, and that now          us allow Kuyper to speak for himself once again:
as God's covenant people we walk in a new and holy                 "We maintain, therefore, without the least bit of
life. But all this is simply lost if we must seek the real       hesitation, the old, genuinely Reformed position, which,
significance of baptism. in that altogether special and          according to our inmost conviction is completely true,
separate grace of which Kuyper speaks.                           God-glorifying, and Scriptural, namely, that the matter
                                                                                                                                 I


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  229



of our salvation and the salvation of our children is not       of the new life in his heart through the hidden operation
dependent upon our expression of faith but upon God's           of the Holy Spirit. This is our first proposition. And the
hidden work in our soul, and that as far as we are              second follows upon it, namely that God the Lord is
concerned there can be no possibility, now or ever, of a        able, by His sovereign power, to work this beginning of
manifestation of faith unless the hidden and mysterious         the new life, or regeneration, by His Holy Spirit as well
work .of God in our soul has preceded it. In the second         in the non-adult as in the adult, and even in the very
place, that it is unbecoming for us to make any                 smallest infant; and, considering that half of mankind
determination or limitation as to how soon or how long          dies in infancy or early childhood, that God very really
before our conversion this work of God in our soul must         has worked and still works thus. Baptism, therefore,
have taken place, and that consequently we ought to             where regeneration is present; and regeneration is
acknowledge and confess the sovereign freedom and               conceivable as well in the newborn infant as in the old
power of God to accomplish this hidden work of His              man of eighty years. And to these two, now, we add a
grace in our soul already in our mother's womb. In the          third proposition, namely: Neither in the case of the
third place, that only this prevenient grace of God,            adult nor in the case of the infant does the church,
wrought in us already before or at the time of our birth,       which- must administer Holy Baptism, ever possess the
affords us a basis for our hope that our children who die       absolute certainty that the person who presents himself
in infancy will not be lost. And, in the fourth place, that     or who is presented for baptism is indeed regenerated.
in view of the uncertainty whether the children born to         Farther than to a surmise, a guess, a presupposition the
us will die in infancy or in later life, the possibility of     church never attains."
such a work of grace in the soul of our child must be             Such is  the. doctrine' of so-called presupposed re-
accepted with respect to all of our children. And, in the       generation. It wants to consider  all  the children of
fifth place, that therefore all children of believers are to    believers as regenerated on the basis of a presupposition.
be considered as being comprehended in the covenant of          And precisely on the ground of such a presupposition it
grace, not only in appearance but in reality." (E  Vote,        wants to administer Holy Baptism to the little children
III, 11, 12)                                                    of believers. Where this cannot be presupposed, there,
  Kuyper writes further:                                        according to this view, baptism also may not be
  "`The sacrament of Holy Baptism, therefore, belongs           administered.
to every one of the elect who hasreceived the beginning


Studies in Depth

                A N   U N D E R G R O U N D   M O V E M E N T
                                                 Rev. Robert C. Harbach

  In tyrant-controlled countries the true church has            ground. It therefore works with the "catacomb" church
become an underground church. The "token" church in             in communist lands, such as Russia, Poland, Yugoslavia,
these lands is little more than a facade church for the         Red Germany, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Rumania, Hun-
purpose of impressing tourists. The true church is there,       gary, Cuba, North Korea, Mongolia and Red China.
but either in prison, concentration camp, Siberian exile          It proceeds on the basis of a typical Fundamentalist
or underground. However, this is not the movement we            statement of faith, which contains the usual five points
now have in mind. We rather refer to one which has              of fundamentalism, the infallibility of Scripture, the
ministered for nine years to the underground church. It         deity and virgin birth of Christ, His substitutionary
calls itself "Underground Evangelism," and maintains a          death on Calvary, the bodily resurrection of the Lord
magazine publication of that name.                              and His return to earth from Glory. That is about as
   Everyone is familiar with the hammer and sickle. The         much creed or formal theological confession of faith
symbol of this church organization is that of a cross and       one can get out of Fundamentalism. No different is it in
trumpet, an emblem in itself of which the Christian may         this instance. A bare, almost barren doctrinal statement
be proud. It exemplifies the chief purpose of  this-            provides hardly a sound or adequate indicator of what it
movement, which is to carry out "the Great Com-                 is that must be proclaimed in all the world to every
mission." It proposes to do this by bringing the Word of        creature in fulfilment of that Great Commission. Of
God to the peoples of the communist world, and that             course, a magazine or a brochure cannot carry a
means to one out of every three people on earth, and to         complete layout of a comprehensive statement of faith,
accomplish this the only way. it is possible, under-            like, let us say,  the. Three Forms of Unity, of the


230                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



Reformed Confessions, unless it would do so on the           do it; that the task must not hesitate, stop or "write
order of a microfilm imprint. But it could, at least,        itself off" `because of any man-made barriers, like the
make reference to a broad statement of faith, and to         iron heel of the tyrant; that the work is not to be held
where it may be found.                                       in abeyance until better conditions arise, or ceased when
  For assurance of some kind'ought to be given that the      conditions become worse; that we must not be "fair
Gospel of God is being proclaimed, and the messengers        weather". brethren to enslaved Christians. Historically, it
thereof held accountable to  it  and so not riding pet       was not Underground Evangelism which began any kind
hobby-horses. Compromise of that Gospel in the in-           of underground extension of the Gospel. The oppressed
terest of securing the support of as many denominations      Christians robbed of religious liberties and forced
as possible results in the hiding of many strange and        underground by the atheistic Red machine began, as
weird organizations behind a meagre statement of faith.      soon as the spiritual blackout was enforced, their
Therefore names on the board of reference such as Rev.       underground contact with one another in undercover
Theodore Elsner, a Philadelphia undenominational             worship, clandestine Bible distribution and secret
preacher, and Dr. E. Schuyler English, chairman of the       reading of Scripture. God's people in the free world give
editorial committee of the New  Scofield Reference           aid and comfort to the underground church by sup-
Bible, are interesting, but not exciting.                    plying it with thousands. of Bibles. They are of small,
  The Great Commission deserves, and demands, the            pocket-sized editions which may the more easily be
best and highest type of ministry; it demands, not a         hidden and smuggled to their destination. With the
band of prophets who believe the least, but men of God       brutal and bloody crackdown of Russia on Czechoslo-
who believe the most and who will preach "in the             vakia, so destroying the little freedom enjoyed, pastors
fulness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ." True,      and people have returned to  undergroun'd  working,
some of God's servants with but little knowledge of the      worshiping secretly where they can. The oppressed
truth have far more zeal for it than others three times      peoples are very anxious to have Bibles to teach their
their number. Such zeal, not altogether without knowl-       children the truth and to influence in any way they can
edge, and though, it may be, supported by little             the children of the atheistic youth movement forced-fed
knowledge, nevertheless deserves some recognition and        on atheism but still left with much empty-heartedness.
coinmendation.  Why did not the Lord send a priest or a         It must be understood that in the communist state,
prophet to Moab to carry the testimony of His truth          the ubiquitous police frequently busy themselves stop-
there? Why did He convey that testimony there for the        ping people, examining their shopping bags, handbags,
sake of one of His elect merely by Elimelech and             boxes, as they perform their ordinary checking routines.
Naomi, and soon thereafter by Naomi alone? Wonderful         Any citizen may be subjected to search at any time.
it would have been if Ruth had been brought to a             Over a distance of little more than a mile, one may pass
knowledge of the Lord through the instrumentality of,        a hundred police. Consequently these Christian workers
say, a Moses, one trained in all the wisdom of Egypt as      have developed into what some of the people call
well as in all the knowledge of the Lord. But women in       "gospel phantoms." But the art of Bible smuggling goes
Israel were not trained to be theologians and this           on past the police, communists and government planted
mother-to-be in Israel needed not to be converted by a       "pastors." These Bible smugglers know by experience
theologian. It was not Joshua so much as Joshua's two        the truth of these words, "But that it spread no further
spies who spied out one of God's elect in a heathen city,    among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that
and who smuggled in the promise of God to Rahab.             they speak henceforth to no man in this Name" (Acts
  Underground Evangelism works along such lines. The         4: 17); and the truth of these words, `Then Peter and
Word of God is put into the hands of the persecuted          the other apostles answered and said, `We ought to obey
underground church of enslaved countries through an          God rather than men' " (5 : 29). An interesting fact
organization similar to that of the Gideons which            about these phantom peddlers of the Word is that
strategically distributes Bibles, "stockpiles" them and      neither the Iron Curtain nor "the Wall" can keep them
puts them into the hands of individual believers, but        out. They are already there. The Gospel does not stop at
operates pretty much like a smuggling ring to do it. The     the Iron Curtain. It pierces through as easily as the
doors of these countries are closed to both missionary       arrow of sunlight through a pane of glass.
and gospel. In all there is communism's hardened,               "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal." "For
unmellowed deathly opposition toward the truth of            we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
Scripture. Korean martyrs have long resisted unto blood      principalities and powers, against the rulers of the
for the sake of the Gospel. This organization is             darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in
convinced that the Word of God must be taken to              the heavenlies" (II Cor. 10:4; Eph. 6: 12). Underground
believers in every communist country; that this must be      Evangelism informs us that the enslaving powers are
done even though communists will never permit the            terrified of freedom and especially fear the spiritual
spreading of. the Word to be freely done; that this must     weapon of the Sword of the Spirit. This has always been
be done without waiting for communist permission to          true of world dictators. The French Revolution was


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  231


meant to do away with "bad faith and tyranny," to              and France will never possess liberty, lasting and
punish tyrants and traitors, to relieve the unfortunate        well-established, till she comes to reverence the gospel,
. . . to defend the oppressed." But it led to the tyranny      which too long she has rejected . . . . The religion of
and terror of an oligarchy which did away with all             Jesus makes men think, and to make men think is
religion and forced on the people a religion of patri-         always dangerous to a despot's power. The religion of
otism. About seventy years after those days it was said,       Jesus sets a man free from superstition . . . The man no
"Note this fact: there is no land beneath the sun where        longer cringes and bows down; he is no more willing,
there is `an open Bible and a preached gospel, where a         like a beast, to be led by the nose; but, learning to think
tyrant long can hold his place. It matters not who he be,      for himself, and becoming a man, he disdains the . . .
whether pope or king; let the pulpit be used properly          fears which once held him in slavery." (C. H. Spurgeon,
for the preaching of Christ crucified, let the Bible be        Treas., N.T., I, 636).
opened to be read by all men, and no tyrant can long             Truth will yet win the day!
rule in peace. England owes her freedom to the Bible;


From Holy Writ

                                    The Book of Hebrews
                                                     Rev. G. Lubbers

JESUS  - SURETY OF A BETTER COVENANT                           lation of the term "surety" fegguos) translates this with
(Hebrews 7:20-22)  (cont.)                                     a word which means: executor. The term in the German
  That "Jesus" is the surety of a better covenant is a         is Ausvichter. He is one who will execute the will of God
historical fact. It is an accomplished fact in Christ's        and will bring it to completion. This seems to be a more
death, resurrection and in his glorious ascension. We see      expressive translation than the Holland translates which
"Jesus" crowned with glory and honor. He is thus               is "Borg." This latter term suggests merely that Jesus
crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering          gives a promissory note to pay, and guarantees the
of death, in order that he might, by the grace of God,         eternal salvation of all the elect. The German translation
taste death for all. (Hebrews  2:9) Hence, Jesus has           expresses the real, permanent and ultimate execution of
become the surety of a better covenant.                        the covenant, making it a reality in the hearts of all the
  The term "surety" is basically a legal term. Such it is      redeemed.
in our daily language. It means to engage, to pledge. It         For such a high priest Christ has now already
means that one is the guarantor that the terms of the          become!
contract or of the covenant be fulfilled. Such a "surety"        He is such a high priest up till the present moment,
assures the payment of the note. Such is the meaning of        and he shall remain such a high priest forever according
the term in our parlance.                                      to the order of Melchizedek.
  We must not lose sight of the fact that here Jesus is          Jesus became such a high priest of a better covenant.
not simply the surety that the guilt of his people will be     Yes, the Old Testament covenant of the shadows was
paid; he does not merely give such a promissory note,so        good. It foreshadowed the eternal blessings of salvation.
to speak. On the contrary he is the surety of the              However, it was not attended by the oath of God which
Covenant of God. He will bring about the ultimate              spoke of the fulfilment of the promises. In that
perfection and realization of the covenant, so that the        priesthood of Aaron the covenant blessings were not yea
tabernacle of God shall be with man. He will realize           and Amen. In it God could not swear by His own
what John sees in visionary form in the book of                holiness. But in Jesus the Lord Jehovah Himself comes
Revelation "And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem,            to fulfil His own promise which he had confirmed.by an
coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a              oath. When he sent Jesus, Jehovah saves, He could swear
bride adorned to meet her husband. And I heard a great         by Himself. Here is not the weakness of the flesh, but
voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of          the power of an endless life. Here is one who said: I and
God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they         the Father are one. He that hath seen me hath seen the
shall "oe his people, and God himself shall be with them,      Father. Of this one the Father said: this is my beloved
and be their God . . . ." (Revelation 21: 2,3) Jesus is the    Son in whom I am well pleased. And this one said:
surety that the salvation which he has begun will be           "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God has been
completed even unto the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.          gloried in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God shall also
  It is interesting to notice that Luther in his  trans-       glorify Him in Himself, and shall straightway glorify


232                                              THE STANDARD BEARER  '


Him." And this glorification is God declaring himself           the two orders of priesthood, that of Aaron and that of
fully in the Son in all his power, grace, mercy, loving         Melchizedek? We may at once, on the basis of Scripture,
kindness and endless perfection and faithfulness. (John         note two points of difference. The first is that while
13: 31 f.f.)                                                    among Israel the priesthood and the royal offices were
  This Jesus, Jehovah-saves, is the perfect executor of         separated, so that one and the same person could not
the promise of God, and the One who will realize God's          function in the both offices, they were combined in
covenant perfectly and bring many sons to glory.                Melchizedek. He was a royal priest.- And the second
(Hebrews  2:9) The Surety of the better covenant is at          point of difference is that while the priesthood of Aaron
once also the author of eternal salvation!                      in its specific meaning was temporal and must come to
ABLE TO SAVE TO THE UTTERMOST  (Hebrews                         an end as soon as the perfect sacrifice was made, that of
7: 23-25)                                                       Melchizedek is everlasting. (Page 377.) Again we read in
  Jesus has a priesthood which cannot be transmitted            the same  Reformed Dogmatics  ,on page 379 the
to another priest who would conceivably follow him.             following, "And this priesthood is without end: it is
There is none to follow the Christ. He lives forever! In        everlasting. This was and could not be true of the
this, too, his priesthood excels that of the priesthood of      priesthood of Aaron. It represented but a phase of the
Aaron and the covenant of the shadows and types. The            priestly calling of Christ,  - that which had become
contrast here is drawn sharply and distinctly. `i2nd they       necessary on account of sin. And this phase could not
truly were many priests . .  1 but this man, because he         be everlasting. It belonged to the way the High Priest
continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood." We           must travel to realize His everlasting priesthood. It was
have seen in an earlier essay that the priesthood` of           part of the work which must be performed to build the
Aaron was according to a carnal commandment. Now                house of God. . . . . This phase of the priesthood of
we see that this priesthood had many high priests who           Christ . . . was finished when the High Priest laid down
succeeded each other. According to certain Jewish               His life as a ransom for many. But the priesthood of
writers, (see Polus and Gill) there were eighteen high          Christ did not reach its end on Golgotha; it is
priests in the first temple, and in the second temple           everlasting. He is a priest forever after the order of
there were more than three hundred. That there were so          Melchizedek. Forever He consecrates Himself and His
very, very many in the second temple, points up how             people and all things in perfect love to the Father. And
petrified and corrupted the priesthood had become               presently he will come again to perfect the work the
during this period, after the Babylonian captivity up till      Father gave Him to do, to finish the house of God, and
the time of Christ. It is well-known that during this time      to establish it in heavenly beauty in the new Jeruzalem,
the high priesthood was viewed as to its political              where the tabernacle of God shall be with man. (see
advantage towards the nations which held Israel in              above). And in that everlasting house of God Christ will
subjugation. The priesthood was purchased with money;           forever be the perfect King-Priest, the Ring of righteous-
he who paid the most received the priesthood by the             ness, after the order of Melchizedek."
nod of the rulers and sovereigns of the world. It is said         Yes; this Jesus has a priesthood which cannot be
that the priesthood changed hands once in every twelve          changed. He is a priest forever. Wherefore he can save
months.                                                         those to the uttermost, who go through him unto God.
  Not so the priesthood of Christ. Christ remains unto          He is able to do this. He is the mighty God in human
eternity. His is a priesthood which cannot change hands.        flesh. He is the good shepherd who is mighty. No one
Christ's priesthood continues on. It does not simply            can pluck us out of His hand. He has come to do the
continue as long as this present world exists, and then it      will of the Father. And this is the Father's will, that all
ceases to be. Not so. It is a priesthood which in the           that the Father gave Him He should save, and that He
truest and strictest sense of the word abides forever. In       should raise them up in the last day.
the endless ages to come, after the Parousia, Christ will         It is upon the intercessory prayer that He is the
still be a priest. He will continue a priest forever in         surety of our being saved to the end. He ever lives to
heavenly glory. It may perhaps be said that such is the         intercede for us. On the basis of His expiatory sacrifice
aspect of the priesthood wherein the priesthood after           brought for us he is our advocate with the Father. It is
the order of Melchizedek differs from the priesthood of         rather difficult to form a conception of this intercessory
Aaron. The priesthood of Aaron only spoke of sin and            prayer of Christ. We do not follow him into the Most
its removal. Even this, it is true, it could not accomplish.    Holy place of heaven itself to hear Him pray. We do
But this priesthood remains even after sin and guilt are        know that He intercedes for us with the Father, even as
removed - even in the perfected state of all things!            the Holy Spirit of Christ comforts us in our hearts.
  We are here reminded of what the late Rev. Herman             Perhaps we may say that the substance of this prayer we
Hoeksema writes in his Reformed Dogmatics concerning            have expounded to us in the Sacerdotal prayer of Christ
the difference between the priesthood of Aaron and              as given in the John 17. There the Savior prays to the
that ofChrist,  a priest after the order of Melchizedek.        Father as our High Priest. This is truly a grand prayer in
  "What then is the. difference and distinction between         content and structure. First, the Savior prays for


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                             233


himself, that the Father may glorify him with his  otin     him in glory, to see the glory which he had with God
glory, which he had with God from before the founda-        from before the foundation of the world. Thus this
tion of the earth. The Son has had this glory with God      prayer emphasizes the "saving to the uttermost."
as to His chief place as the King-Priest in God's temple    Beginning in the eternal counsel, this prayer reaches out
and upon His throne at God's right hand of majesty.         through the ages, till the perfection of all things.
Secondly, the Savior prays for the apostles who will go       Such is the intercession of Christ!
forth and preach the Word - the apostles to whom the          He is able to pray such a High-priestly prayer. He ever
Lord has revealed the Name of the Father. Thirdly,          lives to pray. It is even his "Father I will" which is the
Jesus prays for the entire church which shall believe       basis of the righteousness of the New Jerusalem. He is,
through the preaching of the apostolic Word. And            indeed, the surety of the better covenant - able to save
finally we have that amazing "Father, I will" section of    to the uttermost.
this prayer. He wills that the entire church may be with


Contending for the Faith

                                   THE DOCTRINE OF SIN
                                   THE THIRD  PERIQD  - 730-1517 A.D.
                                                  GOTTSCHALK

                                                  Rev. H. Veldman

   Continuing our discussion of the history of doctrine      three contending theories on Predestination. We have
as it involved Gottschalk, we wish to make a few             already called attention to the theory of absolute
comments upon our preceding article. It is very              predestination as advocated and defended by
difficult for us to believe that Gottschalk maintained       Gottschalk and others.. We also called attention to the
the doctrine of a conditional predestination, as far as      doctrine of ffee will and a conditional predestination,
the `doctrine of reprobation is concerned.  Schaff           in opposition to Gottschalk, and defended by such
quotes from Gottschalk, which might conceivably lead         men as Hincmar, Archbishop Rabanus Maurus, and
one to believe that Gottschalk taught a reprobation          others. A third theory was set forth by a John  Scotus
upon foreseen sin and unbelief. However, in the first        Erigena, which was intended  against Gottschalk, but
place, the teaching of God's bovereignty and a double        was in fact still more against the orthodox view, and
predestination go hand in hand. The doctrine of              disowned by both parties. Erigena denied the doctrine
election demands the doctrine of reprobation. We must        of an absolute predestination, and he also defended the
either maintain both or deny both. To deny the               free will as being the very essence of man.
doctrine of sovereign reprobation must lead to the                   DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH OF ROME
denial of the doctrine of election. This lies in the            Let us now trace the development of the doctrine of
nature of the case. The doctrine of election certainly       sin in the Church of Rome, as culminating in the
means that the Lord, sovereignly, elected some, and          decrees of the Council of Trent. We will be guided by
this implies that He did not elect others. The doctrine      Hodge as he treats this subject in his Systematic
of election is necessarily particular. Besides, that         Theology. According to Hodge, it is a very difficult
Gottschalk did not teach a doctrine of a conditional         matter to decide the exact nature of this doctrine of
reprobation is evident also, it seems to me, from his        Rome on sin. He writes, Vol. II, page 164:
role in the history of the church and of doctrine. After             This is a point very difficult to decide. Romanists
all, he was opposed by Hincmar who did teach a single             themselves are as much at variance as to what
predestination and a conditional reprobation. And he              their Church teaches concerning original sin as those
was condemned by the synod of Chiersy, and this                   who do not belong to their communion. The sources
synod declared in favor of a conditional reprobation              of this difficulty are, (1) First, the great diversity of
and also that Christ died for all men without any                 opinions on this subject prevailing in the Latin
exception. Why should Hincmar oppose Gottschalk if                Church before the authoritative decisions of the
                                                                  Council of Trent and of the Romish Catechism.
the latter taught a conditional reprobation? Hincmar's            (2) The ambiquity and want of precision or fulness
opposition to Gottschalk was surely because he did not            in the decisions of that council. (3) The different
agree with the teachings of this martyr for the               . interpretations given by prominent theologians of the
C h r i s t i a n   f a i t h .                                   true meaning of the Tridentine (of the Council of
   In a preceding article, we remarked that there were            Trent - H.V.) canons.


234                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER


   Hodge writes that the diversity of sentiment in the                good, so that men constantly need the assistance of
Latin Church or Romish Church (we must understand                     divine grace. (4) What that grace was, whether the
that when we speak here of the Roman Church we                        supernatural influence of the Spirit, the providential
refer to the Church as it existed prior to the                        efficiency of God, or his various gifts of faculties and
Reformation) is evident from the fact that there were                 of knowledge, he nowhere distinctly explains. He
mainly three conflicting elements in the Latin Church                 admitted that men could not save themselves, but
                                                                      held that they were not spiritually dead; they became
before the Reformation, in relation to the whole                      sick, and constantly needed the aid of the Great
subject of sin: first, the doctrine of Augustine,                     Physician. He taught that man sometimes began the
secondly, this doctrine as set forth by the  Semi-                    work of conversion; sometimes God; and sometimes,
Pelagians, and, thirdly, the doctrine of the schoolmen                in a certain sense, God saves the unwilling. Vincent
who endeavoured to find a middle ground between the                   evidently regarded the Augustinian doctrine of origi-
other systems. We need to emphasize at this time the                  nal sin as making God the author of evil; for, he says,
teachings of Augustine. Augustine taught and defended                 it assumes that God has created a nature, which
that original sin does not merely consist in the loss of              acting according to its own laws and under the
original righteousness. This original righteousness was               impulse of an enslaved will, can do nothing but sin.
purely a supernatural gift that Adam possessed, and,                  And he pronounces heretical those who teach that
when he sinned, he merely lost this added gift, and                   grace saves those who do not ask, seek, or knock, in
                                                                      evident allusion to the doctrine of Augustine that is,
Adam, therefore, and his posterity after him, was left                is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,
exactly in that state in which man had originally been                but of God who showeth mercy.
created. Augustine, however, taught that original sin               The position of the Semi-Pelagian certainly is clearly
denotes the corruption of our nature, including both              revealed in the above quotation. Cassian taught that
guilt and pollution. And this church father also taught           the sinner is not dead but sick, and that he constantly
that fallen man has no power to effect what is                    needs the aid of the Great Physician. This was also set
spiritually good; he can neither regenerate himself,              forth by the later Arminians in their Five Points of the
prepare himself for regeneration, nor cooperate with              Remonstrance. And imagine declaring heretical those
the grace of God in that work. And these principles               who teach that grace saves those who do not ask, seek,
necessarily lead to the doctrines of efficacious and              or knock, evidently alluding to the doctrine of
irresistible grace and of sovereign election. Augustine,          Augustine that it is not of him what willeth, nor of
therefore, championed the truths of utter depravity               him that runneth, but of God Who sheweth mercy. Of
and corruption and the sovereignty of God's predesti-             Faustus Hodge writes as follows:
nation.                                                                  Faustus admitted a moral corruption of nature as
  A second conflicting element within the Church,                     the consequence of the fall of Adam, which he called
besides Augustinianism, was represented by the Semi-                  original sm. In his letter to Lucidus he anathematizes
Pelagians. The principal leaders of this party were John              the doctrine of Pelagius that man is born "without
Cassianus,         an Eastern monk and disciple of                    Sin." From this deteriorated, infirm state, no man
Chrysostom, and Faustus of Rhegium. Of these two,                     can deliver himself. He needs the grace of God. But
the abler and more influential was Faustus, who                       what grace was is doubtful. From some passages of
secured the condemnation of  Lucidus,  an extreme                     his writings there would seem to be meant by it only,
advocate of the Augustinian doctrine, in the Synod of                 or principally, the moral influence of the truth as
                                                                      revealed by the Spirit in the Scriptures.  Semi-
Arles, 475 A.D. This Faustus was born in Brittany in                  Pelagians agreed, however, in rejecting the Pelagian
the beginning of the fifth century or toward the close                doctrine that Adam's sin injured only himself; they
of the fourth. He died in 491. From 462 until his                     admitted that the effects of that sin passed on all
death he was bishop of Rhegium. This explains why he                  men, affecting both the soul and the body. It
is known as Faustus of Rhegium. However, the                          rendered the body mortal, and liable, without divine
Semi-Pelagians were far from agreeing among  them-                    assistance, of doing anything spiritually good. But as
selves either as to sin or as to grace.                               against Augustine they held, at least according to the
  Concerning Cassian Hodge writes the following,                      statements of Prosper and Hilary, the advocates of
Systematic Theology, Vol. II, 166:                                    Augustinianism in the south of France, (1) That the
                                                                      beginning of salvation is with man. Man begins to
           Cassian taught that the effects of Adam's sin on           seek God, and then God aids him. (2) That this
       his posterity were, (1) That they became mortal, and           incipient turning of the soul towards God is some-
       subject to the physical infirmities of this life.              thing good, and in one sense meritorious. (3) That
       (2) That the knowledge of nature and of the divine             the soul, in virtue of its liberty of will or ability for
       law which Adam originally possessed, was in a great            good, cooperates with the grace of God in regenera-
       measure preserved until the sons of Seth intermarried          tion as well as in sanctification. That these charges
       with the daughters of Cain, when the race became               were well founded may be inferred from the de-
       greatly deteriorated. (3) That the moral effects of            cisions of the councils of Orange and Valence, A.D.
       the fall were to weaken the soul in all its power for          529, in which the doctrines of Augustine were again


                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER                                                            235


    sanctioned. As the decisions of those councils were              tion of Semi-Pelaaianism. Many historians leave. the
    ratified by the Pope they were, according to the                 impression, therefore, that this synod represents a last
    papal theory, declared to be the faith of the Church.            victory for the Augustinian conception of predestina-
    Among the points thus pronounced to be included in               tion and sovereign grace. However, this may be
    the true Scriptural doctrine, are, (1) That the conse-           disputed. It is true, on the one hand, that the synod
    quence of Adam's sin is not confined to the body, or             did maintain, rather inconsistently, the total incapabil-
    to the lower faculties of the soul, but involves the
    loss of ability to spiritual good. (2) That sin derived          ity of man to do any good, over against the  Semi-
    from Adam is spiritual death. (3) Grace is granted               Pelagians. But, on the other hand, it denied the
    not because men seek it, but the disposition to seek             infallible and irresistible operation of sovereign grace.
    is a work of grace and the gift of God. (4) The                  As far as predestination is concerned, the synod was
    beginning of faith and the disposition to believe is             satisfied simply to express that a predestination to evil
    not from the human will, but from the grace of God.              is to be condemned; in other words, it must have
    (5) Believing, willing, desiring, seeking, asking;               nothing of sovereign reprobation. And in the decisions
    knocking at the door of mercy, are all to be referred            of this Synod of Orange.nothing is found concerning
    to the work of the Spirit and not to the good which              sovereign election and reprobation. From this it
    belongs to the nature of fallen man. The two great               appears very clearly that they were afraid to maintain
    points, therefore, in dispute between the Augustin-              the strict doctrine of Augustine. The synod assumed an
    ians and Semi-Pelagians were decided in favour of the
    former.                                                          apologetic attitude. Although it opposed the doctrine
                                                                     of the  SemiiPelagians,. it nevertheless was far from
  Now it is true that the synod of Orange, 529, is                   maintaining the positive doctrine of predestination and
especially known because of its consistent condemna-                 sovereign grace.


The Strength of Youth

                                      The Basis for Dissent (2)
                                                          Rev, J. Kortering


  Covenant youth, who are sensitive to the American                   concern for the neighbor. Humanism is anti-God, it
scene, realize a need for expressing dissent. Not many                leaves Christ out of the picture.
are content to sit in smug complacency and say that                     In our last article, we also intimated that universal
America has no public sin. Our northern cities reek                   Brotherhood cannot serve as a proper basis for concern
with the stench of discrimination against the poor and                for our neighbor. The only difference between Broth-
colored; they don't have to cast a holier-than-thou                   erhood and Humanism is that Brotherhood adds a
glance southward. To insulate fiscal security, suburban               religious flavor. It pretends to be Christian, but in
America erects a wall of paternalistic benevolence in an              reality denies Christ.
attempt to contain a seething, rotten ghetto. If any                    The late Dr. Martin Luther King was the most
poor or colored try to climb this wall, they are                      eloquent voice of the civil rights movement. His
forthwith denominated as aggressors, troublemakers.                   famous, "Stone of Hope," garnished in local color,
  The consciences of covenant youth are pricked.                      pulls at the heart strings and cries for Brotherhood.
  Many attempts are put forth to undo this situation.                          Now, I say to you today, my friends, even though
  We are presently analyzing the basis upon which                         we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still
these attempts are being put forth. This inquiry will                     have a dream. It's a dream deeply rooted in the
help us in determining whether covenant youth may                         American dream. I have a dream that one day this
rightly co-operate with these efforts.                                    nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of
                                                                          its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident,
  Some are moved to help the poor and colored                             that all men are created equal."
neighbor out of consideration for his humanity. These                          I have a dream that one day on the red hills of
people are humans and as members of the human race                        Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of
have human rights. Among these human rights we find                       former slave-owners wiIl be able to sit down together
such things as equal protection of the law, property                       at the table of brotherhood.
ownership, employment, adequate food, decent hous-                      It is this exponent of Brotherhood who so clearly
ing, education, etc. This sounds notable, yet the                     denies the Christ of the Scriptures. In an article
Christian recognizes that this cannot be a  basis  for                entitled, "The Theology of Martin Luther King"


236                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER


published in the National Observer, we quote Dr.  King               addition, "The decisive consideration in all race rela-
as saying, "I don't think anyone else can be Jesus. He               tions, namely, the command of God that we should
was one with God in purpose. He so submitted His will                love our neighbor as ourselves. The duty of the
to God's will that God revealed His divine plan to man              Christian Church to avoid even a semblance of preju-
through Jesus." He brands the account of the virgin                  dice and discrimination; indeed to take the leadership
birth of Christ as a "mythological story of Jesus'                  in promoting brotherhood. The calling to regard
biological uniqueness." This is perfectly all right with             Christians of any race as fellow members of the body
him because man is not a sinner, who is  jtidged guilty              of Christ, bound to us by the closest of ties. The duty
by the righteous God and therefore requires divine                   of the Church to avoid association with racist slogans
atonement as the way to reconciliation. For Dr. King,                of any kind, and in every matter of race relations to
sin is, "the estrangement that always develops when                 act, no matter what the cost, in humility and obedi-
,man misuses his freedom and revolts against God."                   ence to her Savior and Sovereign Lord."
Notice man is free and sin is a misuse of that freedom;.               The perplexing point of this decision is the broad
to him man is not dead in trespass and sin. From the                basis for concern for the negro neighbor; it is based
above, it is obvious that this voice of the Brotherhood             upon the fundamental unity and brotherhood of the
movement denies Christ.                                             whole `human race. This brotherhood must be pro-
   The World Council of Churches adopted "Ten                       moted. This led Dr. George Stob to write an article,
Commandments" at their 4th Assembly which met in                     "Where is your brother" and in this article considers
Upsala  this past summer. These commandments are                     any black neighbor as a brother; we must be his
shot through with the same Brotherhood of all men.                  keeper. Scripture denies there is any fundamental
We list a few:                                                      unity and brotherhood of the  whole  human race. Sin
          2. You must support actively the principles of            has created a sharp division, and the only unity is that
       human rights and help black people everywhere                which is realized through the redemption of Christ.
       become in all respects first class citizens with all the     The only unity in the world is the unity of the Church
       rights and opportunities thereof.                             of Christ. The only brotherhood in the world is the
          3. You must strive for Christian unity in spirit,
       truth, and action and help strengthen the new bonds          brotherhood of the Church of Christ. Outside of this
       between the Roman Catholic Church and the World              Church there is only enmity, confusion, and every evil
       Council of Churches as well as the enlarged unity            work.
       within the Council itself.                                   LOVE THY NEIGHBOR, A PROPER BASIS
          6. You must take the U N's Universal Declaration             What then is the proper basis for concern for our
       of Human Rights seriously and implement its basic            neighbor, particularly one who is being abused, dis-
       principles locally and nationally during the Inter-          criminated against, and even hated?
       national Year for Human Rights (1968) and there-                The basis is given to us in the Word of God, "Thou
       after.                                                       shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and
          7. You must create `new forms of individual and           with all thy soul and with all thy mind, and with all
       corporate worship in order to make Christian social          thy strength. This is the first and great commandment
       action theologically relevant and seek as a new basis
       of ecumenical fellowship, to make the Eucharist              and the second is like to this, Thou shalt love thy
       (Lord's Supper) not a barrier but a bond within the          neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments
       Christian family.                                            hang all the law and the prophets," Matt. 22:37-40.
          9. You must be realistic in the achievement of               The basis for concern is not that he is a human
       moral, social and economic goals, realizing that the         being, not that he is my brother (at least not in all
       use of secular political action by united Christians is      instances), but he is my neighbor!
       essential in the accomplishments of truly Christian             This love of the neighbor includes basically two
       ends.                                                        things:
  Obviously, the basis for all these action programs is                1. That the Christian Church brings the Word of God
Brotherhood as related to the universal concept of                  to all those that are round about them. Essentially this
Humanism. Not one of the "Ten Commandments"                         consists of the preaching of the Word through the
refers to human depravity, the need for the redemp-                 institute church. This love is manifest not in making
tion of the blood of Christ, or the like. Man is basically          salvation available to all neighbors, but rather that
good; he just needs a good example and a gentle nudge               through the call of the gospel, God will draw out of all
along the right path. This is anti-Christian.                       our neighbors those whom He is pleased to save and
  Even the Christian Reformed Church in the decision                bring into' the true brotherhood of the Church. For
of the Synod of 1959, "Declaration on Race Rela-                    those who have no place in this brotherhood, the
tions" follows a similar broad basis. We quote this as              preaching is a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.
referred to in the Reformed Journal, September 1968                    It is exactly at this crucial point that popular dissent,
issue, "The fundamental unity and brotherhood of                    which opens the way for civil rights and social reform,
the whole human race" was affirmed by the Synod. In                 fails. According to the Word of God, man's misery is not


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  237


first of all whether he is poor, or cold, or bothered by      holiness . . . Let him that stole steal no more, but rather
rats; rather man's misery is that he is a sinner before       let him labor, working with his hands the'thing which is
God. Love that is worthy of true brotherhood directs          good, that he may have to give to him that needeth . . .
the sinner to his sins and calls him to repentance and        Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor,
salvation in Jesus Christ. The basic dissent according to     and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all
the Word of God is against sin. God is a righteous God        malice, and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,
and hates the sinner and his sin. The only hope of            forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath
escape is by the grace of repentance and forgiveness          forgiven you." This must apply to all our neighbors,
through the cross. This is accomplished through the           even our enemies, Matt.  5:44. The reason is both
preaching of the gospel.                                      negative, that if the neighbor continues in sin he will
   2. The same Word of God directs our attention to a         heap to himself coals of judgment, ("Therefore if thy
proper attitude and conduct on the part of the Christian      enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink; for
to his neighbor. In distinction from the above this           in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be
apglies  to the relationship of the organic church toward     not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good"
the neighbor. As members of the Body of Christ, each          Rom. 12:20,21,) and positive, ("Let your light so shine
one of us has a calling to express this love of Christ in     before men that they may see your good works and
very word and deed toward our neighbor. Only then             glorify your Father which is in heaven,") and this is
does the preaching of the Word bear fruit in our daily        salvation. We may be a means to gain others for Christ.
lives.                                                          Among the poor and colored are some of our
   This love of the neighbor does not overlook his sins       brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. In expressing dissent
and seek a friendship on mere carnal attraction. Rather,      against their mis-treatment and seeking to help them,
it, too, is expressed as a dissent to all evil, whether in    this word of God applies, "Come, ye blessed of my
our lives or the lives of our neighbors. Christian witness    Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you . . . for I
to the neighbor directs him to bow before the law of          was an hungered and ye gave me meat, I was thirsty and
God.                                                          ye gave me drink, I was a stranger and ye took me in;
   From this point of view, if we see one of our              naked and ye clothed me . . . Verily I say unto you,
neighbors hating and abusing another of our neighbors,        inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of
we rise up in holy indignation. We may not say, it does       these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
not concern me; it does, as we must give account before         The Lord willing in our next article we will consider
God for all our dealings or lack of dealings with the         how this concern should be expressed, particularly as it
neighbor. The spirituality of our neighbor, whether           applies to methods of expressing dissent. To what
believer or unbeliever, may not determine whether we          extent should the church become involved? Is there
care or not. We are commanded to express love to all          room for co-operation with others who have a false
our neighbors. Living out of Christ is spelled out for us     basis? Does the end justify the means even to the point
in Eph.  4:24-32, "And that ye put on the new man,            of violence?
which after God is created in righteousness and true            Think about it.


Contribution

                  Protestant Reformed Scholarship Fund

   The Committee which is responsible for the admin-           only become a reality but also has come. of age. In
istration of the Protestant Reformed Scholarship Fund         subsequent articles various writers have discussed the
is making plans for the fourth consecutive year to             development of this most significant project. The
award scholarships to young people who have deter-             origin and early history of this Federation function
mined to enter the ministry of the Gospel or to study         were stormy, but by God's grace the project has stood.
for the teaching profession.                                   Scholarships have been awarded in less time than the
   The  Beacon Lights  of March, 1960, featured an            estimated ten or fifteen years suggested in the article
article by the editor-in-chief at that time, -which was       of our former editor-in-chief. Ten years have not yet
entitled "A Proposed Scholarship Program." Since that         elapsed since the time that this fund began to be
time. the Protestant Reformed Scholarship Fund,               collected.
which is under the control of the Federation of                  Students who are now seniors in high school and are
Protestant Reformed Young People's Societies, has not          on the "home stretch of this first leg of their


238                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER


secondary school training" were at the time of the                         4. Applicants shall be judged on the basis of
inception of this idea students in the third or fourth                           sincerity, ability, and need.
grade of the elementary school. Now these students are                      5. Applicants must be either a baptized or con-
eligible for a scholarship from the Protestant Reformed                          fessing member of a Protestant Reformed Church.
Scholarship Fund. Young people today owe a debt of                         6. Applicants shall promise in writing to repay in
gratitude to young people of a decade ago who by                                 full should they refuse to teach or preach in our
God's grace were concerned that there be teachers in                             Protestant Reformed schools or churches.
the schools and preachers in the churches.                                 7.  The. scholarship shall be applicable to tuition
  The Scholarship Fund Committee hereby wishes to                                only.
remind all young people who are attending college or
plan to attend a college that the Committee is anxious                     College aspirants are urged to contact their society
to have you apply for one of the scholarships that will                  secretary, who will have the application blanks needed
be awarded this year.                                                    to apply for this fund.
  The Committee reminds you of the following simple                        The  prayer of the Committee is that God will
rules:                                                                   continue to supply those who feel called to the
   1. All applicants must be prospective ministers or                    ministry of the Gospel or to the teaching profession
       teachers.                                                         and that this Scholarship Fund may be a God-ordained
  2. All applications for the following school year                      means to that end.
       must be submitted to the committee by May 1.
  3. Each applicant must fill out an application                                                            Agatha Lubbers
       blank. . .

                                              BOOKREVIEWS
                                                                Prof H. Hanko


THE ENCOUNTER BETWEEN CHRISTIANITY AND                                    In other words, science is neutral. And this neutrality
SCIENCE, by Richard Bube; Wm. B. Eerdmans Publish-                      of science is developed in terms of an autonomy of
ing Co., 1968;  318pp., $5.95.                                          science in a certain sense, an autonomy which gives to
                                                                        science an independent place along side of Scripture. It
   The purpose of this book is described in the                         is not difficult to envision what consequences this
Foreword and is at the same time an early indication of                 position has.
what the contents of the book will be:                                    Scientifically the various authors set themselves
          This book is an attempt by several scientists,                squarely in the stream of evolutionism, although they
       working in different scientific fields, to relate their          adopt a certain "theistic evolution." Theologically, the
       scientific work to their Christian faith. For them the           book is far from satisfactory. The death of Christ is
       encounter between faith and science is not a subject of          defined as being an evidence of God's willingness for
       `academic interest, but they live it in their daily lives.       reconciliation. The whole concept of satisfaction is
          The authors show that their science and their faith           rejected. A basically materialistic view of man pervades.
       do not battle against each other, but that they
       mutually enrich and complement each other. The                   the book. (cf. e.g., p. SO.) A "Sitz im leben" view of
       harmony thus achieved is not attained by rejecting               inspiration is adopted with respect to the Scriptures:
       major parts of the Christian doctrine or the scientific          "revelational content" is the only thing which counts.
       endeavor, but by accepting the basic tenets of Chris-            (pp. 95ff.)
       tianity and by keeping an open attitude to all aspects             The book contains chapters on "Natural Revelation,
       of science.                                                      Biblical Revelation, Astronomy, Geology, Physical Sci-
   Perhaps somewhat unwittingly the editor of the book                  ence, Biological Science, Psychology, Social Science."
tips his hand in the first chapter on "The Nature of                      It would be well for ministers and teach&-s to
Science" when he writes:                                                purchase this book and study it carefully. Not because it
          Put in a negative way, it is not  The purpose of              of its positive value in the field of the relation between
       science to provide an explanation of the phenomena of            science and Scripture. But because it represents the
       the natural world, i.e., to answer the question Vhy??`,          latest in the thinking of "theistic evolutionists" and it
       in any other categories than thos& of natural phenom-            givesthe  philosophical and theological basis for "theistic
       ena. The supernatural is not excluded from science               evolution." An examination of this basis will show how
       because of a bias on the part of scientists; the                 wrong the basis is and on what false grounds the whole
       supernatural is excluded from science by definition.             system of theistic evolution is built.


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  239


 ISRAEL AND THE BIBLE, by William  Hendviksen,                 Stonehouse, Alexander De Jong and others than he
 Baker Book House, 1968; 63,pp., $1.50 (paper).                does from the Canons themselves.
    In this short book Rev. Hendriksen develops proof            One serious weakness of the construction of the book
 for. the Jews' responsibility of crucifying Jesus; he         is that other `writers are often quoted without any
 includes a refutation of premillennialism in relation to      reference to the work being quoted from.
 modern-day Israel; he discusses briefly the place of the
 Jews in the New Dispensation especially as this problem          WHOSOEVER WILL - by Rev. Herman Hoeksema -
 is discussed in Romans 9-l 1. While the answers-which         price, only $1 SO. This book is intended to set forth
 Hendriksen gives are generally sound, the book is too         the inseparable connection between the certainty that
 brief to be of much value. This important subject and          "Whosoever will may come," and the truth of God's
 the exegesis of Romans 9-11 are too detailed to be             sovereign grace: the former is based upon and rooted
 encompassed within the scope of 63 short pages. Far           in the latter. (from preface)
 better it would have been to develop the ideas of the             Order from: The Reformed Witness Hour
 book more extensively before the material was rushed                            P.O. Box 1230
 into  print. The book gives evidence of having been                             Grand Rapids, Michigan 495 0 1
 hastily thrown together.
I THE CANONS OF DORT,  A Study Guide; by Henry                   LENTEN BOOKS - by Rev. Herman Hoeksema
 Petersen; Baker Book House; 1968; 115 pp.; $1.50                     THE POWER OF THE CROSS - $1 SO
 (paper>.                                                             REJECTED OF MEN                 - $1.50
    The contents of this paperback were originally               Order from: The Reformed Witness Hour
 presented as a series of articles in The Banner. The book                    P.O. Box 1230
 is a brief discussion of the contents of the historic                        Grand Rapids, Michigan 49501
 Canons of Dort. While usually our own ministers
 prepare their material if the Canons are being discussed
 in Society or in Catechism, this book could serve as a
 compendium. However, one will have to be prepared for                             ANNOUNCEMENT
 an introduction into the discussion of the author's total       Classis West of the Protestant Reformed Churches
 commitment to the theory of common grace. There is              will meet on March 5, 1969, in South Holland,
 much space given to a defense of common grace, untotal          Illinois, at 9:00 A.M. Delegates in need of lodging
 total depravity and the well-meant offer of grace. In           should inform the clerk of the South Holland
 connection with the latter, it is too bad that the author       consistory of their need.
 quotes more extensively from John Murray, Ned                                                      Rev. David Engelsma
                                                                                                             Stated Clerk
                       IN ivrEMORIAM                                                                   Classis West
    On January 27, 1969, it pleased the Lord to take
 unto Himself our beloved mother, grandmother, and
 great-grandmother                                                                ANNOUNCEMENT
                MRS. J.R. VANDER WAL                               Needed for the 1969  - 1970 school year at the
 at the age of ninety years.                                    Northwest Iowa Protestant Reformed Christian
    "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that          School, two teachers. One for Grades 1 through 4, and
 not of yourselves: it is the gift of God." (Eph. 2:8).         one for Grades 5 through 8. Anyone interested please
                                Mr. & Mrs. Meindert Gaastra     contact Mr. George Hoekstra, Hull, Iowa, 5 1239.
     Redlands, Cal.                         4 grandchildren
                                     15 great-grandchildren                 RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
             RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                The Priscilla Society of the First Protestant Re-
                                                                formed Church expresses its sympathy to one of its
    The Radio Committee of the Reformed Witness                 members:
  Hour expresses their sympathy to their fellow member,                           MRS. J. BARTELDS
  Dale Bartelds, in the passing to glory of his father,          in the loss of her husband,
                  MR. JOHN BARTELDS.                                             MR. JOHN BARTELDS
    May he, and the bereaved family be comforted with              May the bereaved family be comforted with the
  that greatest assurance, that in life or in death, we are     Word of God found in Psalm 116: 15, "Precious in the
  not our own, but belong to our faithful Saviour, Jesus         sight of the Lord is the death of His saints".
  Christ.
                                      Don Faber, Chairman                                            Mrs. P. Decker, Pres.
                                       Sharon Prince, Secy.                                        Mrs. W. Corson, Sec'y.


      240                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER


                                            News From  Our Churches

                     REPORT OF CLASSIS  EAST                                       Classis voted for Synodical Delegates and the follow-
                              January 8,1969                                     ing were chosen:
                            At Southeast Church                                  MINISTERS: Primi: J. Heys, G. Lubbers, M. Schipper,
         Rev. G.C. Lubbers led in the opening devotions.                           and G. Van Baren.
         All the churches of Classis East were represented by                      Secundi: R. Harbach, J. Kortering, and H. Veldman.
      two delegates each.                                                        ELDERS:  Primi: J. King, J. H. Kortering, H.
         Rev. G. Van Baren, following the order of rotation,                       Meulenberg, and G. Pipe.
      presided over this session, while the Rev. Lubbers                           Secundi: P. Cnossen, D. Dykstra, D. Kooienga, and
      recorded the minutes.                                                        H. G. Kuiper.
         The brethren J. Boone and R. Teitsma were ap-                             Voting for Delegates Ad Examina resulted in the
      pointed to the finance committee, and brother J. King                      following being chosen:  Primus for 3 years Rev. J.
      was appointed to thank the ladies of Southeast for                         Kortering; Secundi: Rev. H. Veldman for 3 years, and
     ^ their excellent catering.                                                 Rev. R. Harbach for one year.
         The Stated Clerk read the transcribed minutes of the                      It was decided to meet next time the first Wednes-
      October meeting which Classis approved.                                    day of April in our Hudsonville Church.
         He also read his report re correspondence which was                       Questions of Article 41 of the Church Order were
      filed for information.                                                     asked and answered satisfactorily.
         The Classical Committee read its report which also                        After the minutes were approved, classis adjourned.
      gave advice concerning the duplication of protests and                       Rev. J. Kortering offered the closing prayer.
      appeals.  Classis adopted the advice:              that hencefor-                                                        M. Schipper, S.C.
      .ward the Stated Clerk may use a copy machine to                                                  ******
      duplicate classical material at the expense of Classis.
         Kalamazoo presented its annual subsidy request                            Rev. G. Van  Baren has received a call from our
      which  Classis approved. Holland was granted the                           church at Hull, Iowa. The trio included the Revs. R. C.
      privilege of presenting its subsidy request to the April                   Harbach and B. Woudenberg.
      Classis.                                                                                            ******
         Hudsonville and Southwest consistories requested                           Rev. J. Kortering, of Hope Church, lectured to a
      pulpit supply while their respective ministers labor for                   large and attentive audience in First Church of Grand
      six weeks each in Pella, Iowa. This was granted, though                    Rapids on Thursday, Jan. 23. The topic, "The Mystery
      it required a revision of the original classical appoint-                  of Lawlessness" as depicted in 2 Thes.  2:7, was
      ment schedule for South Holland. The committee:                            masterfully evaluated with copious quotations from
      Rev. J. Kortering, Rev. R. Harbach, and Elder G. Stadt                     Holy Writ to authenticate his interpretation of that
      prepared the following schedule which was adopted:                         horrible threat to our young people and children who
      SOUTH HOLLAND: Jan. 12- M. Schipper; Jan. 1`9- J.                          may be living in the last days. The speaker maintained
         Heys; Jan.  26-  G: Van  Baren; Feb.  2- J. Kortering;                  that lawlessness is principally rebellion against God's
         Feb. 9- M. Schipper; Feb. 16- J. Kortering; Feb. 23-                    authority; is found in children, parents, rulers, judges,
         G. Van Bar-en; Mar. 2- B. Woudenberg; Mar. 9- B.                        kings and principalities. Further, that this spirit de-
        `Woudenberg; Mar. 16- J. Heys; Mar. 23- J: Kortering;                    velops in history, climaxing in the Anti-Christ who will
I        Mar. 30- M. Schipper.                                                   attempt to destroy the church but will only serve to
~     SOUTHWEST: Jan. 12-Seminary; Jan. 19-J. Kortering;                         prepare her for her place in glory. The audience left
         Jan. 26-Seminary; Feb. 2-J. Heys; Feb. 9-G. Van                         with these comforting words, "Now our Lord Jesus
         Baren; Feb. 16-R. Harbach.                                              Christ Himself, and God, even our Father which hath
      H U D S O N V I L L E :   F e b .   2 3 - S e m i n a r y ;   M a r .      loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and
         2-M.Schipper;  Mar. g-seminary; Mar. 16-R. Harbach;                     good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and
         Mar. 23-G. Van Baren; Mar. 30-J. Heys.                                  stablish you in every good word and work". 2  Thes.
         The Church Visitors gave their annual report which                      2:16,17.                 ******
      Classis received for information.                                             A belated "Season's Greetings" is extended to all
         First Church requested Classis to send their overture                   our people from Rev. C. J. Elliott and his group of
      to Synod re adjustment of number of families and                           churches in Jamaica. His letter closed with, "May the
      assessments.  Classis sent  .this letter- with classical                   peace of our Covenant God that passeth all under-
      approval.                                                                  standing ever keep our hearts and minds perfect in His
         A member of one of our churches presented                             ` Will `till He comes."
      material of an appeal to Synod which was given to a                                                 *  *  .*  *  *  4
      committee of Rev. M. Schipper, Rev. J. Heys, and                             The Northwest P.R. School Society is advertising
      Elder G. Holstege for study and advice and to report to                    their need for a Kindergarten teacher. Any takers?
      the April Classis.                                                         . . . . . . see you in church                           J.M.F.


