                                    IIe . _ ..1 .-..l.- : .';s'.:>,-r

                              tandad

                                                  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 I'SSUE


     Meditation:

        Cease Ye From Man!

     Editorial:

        More About Campus Crusade

     Once Again The Question of "Days"

        (see: All Around Us)

     Father Groppi At Calvin College
        (see: Examining Ecumenicalism)
        \                c                         I





                                                          Volume XL VI / Number 17 / June 1, 19 70


386                                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


                                CONTENTS                                                                  TiiE STANDARD BEARER
                                                                                      Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July and August.
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   Cease Ye From Man! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .:. . . .386                            Second Class Postage Paid at Grand Rapids,  Mich.
                                                                                 Editor-in-Chief: Prof.  H. C. Hoeksema

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   More About Campus Crusade . . . . . . . . . . . . . .389                      Herman Hanko, Rev. Robert C. Harbach. Rev. John A.  Heys, Rev. Jay
                                                                                 Kortering, Rev. George C. Lubbers, Rev. Marinus  Schipper,  Rev.  Gise J.
                                                                                 Van  Baren. Rev. Herman Veldman, Rev. Bernard Woudenberg
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Meditation

                                                Cease Ye From Man!
                                                                Prof H.C. Hoeksema

               Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?
                                                                                                                             Isaiah 2:22

   The day of the Lord cometh!                                                       Upon every high tower! Upon every fenced wall!
   Judgment is nigh at hand!                                                     Upon all the ships of Tarshish! Upon all the pleasant
   It shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty,                           pictures!
and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be                                All the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and
brought low!                                                                     the haughtiness of men shall be made low!
   It shall be upon all the proud cedars of Lebanon,                                 The idols, the work of men's hands, the man-created
and upon all the oaks of Bashan!                                                 gods - He shall utterly abolish them!


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 387



  The Lord alone shall be exalted in that day!                The pioneers into space - should we not hail them?
  And men, great and small, of high and of low                The humanitarian leaders - should we not look to
degree, shall be brought low! They shall fear before the them for deliverance?
face of the Lord! Their lofty looks shall be humbled,         The champions of human rights and of civil rights -
and their haughtiness shall be brought down!                should we not follow them?
  Into the holes of the rocks they shall crawl, and into      The world's giants of knowledge  - can we not
the caves of the earth they shall creep! To the hills and expect solutions from them?
to the mountains -they shall cry out, "Cover us! Hide                                  *i:e*
us from the wrath of the Lamb!"                               Or  - if we cannot and may not esteem them very
  Such is man - man in the light of the coming day of highly  - ought we not to regard them with fear and
the Lord!                                                   trembling?
  Cease ye from him!                                          Man! Powerful man!
  For wherein is he to be accounted of?                       Is he not able to subdue nations? Is he not able to
  Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of wipe out whole cities with one blast? Is he not able to
man . . . His breath is in his nostrils!                    fill the earth with violence - even more so than in the
  0 church of our God, people of God's covenant, it is      days of Noah? Is he not able to control the economy,
better to trust in Jehovah! Better far! Better abso- so that without his consent you can neither buy nor
lutely!                                                     sell, neither eat nor drink? Is he not able to accept you
  But then: cease ye from man, who is nothing to be into his society or exclude you therefrom? Is he not
accounted of!                                               able to allow you freedom or to cast you into prison?
                            ***                             Is he not able to decide your life or your death? Does
  Man! Great man!                                           he not have it within his power to prescribe your
  He appears to be able to do great things!                 whole manner of living? Can he not provide you a job,
  He builds his fortifications and strengthens himself or withhold from you employment? Can he not allow
with armies. He counts his nuclear warheads, and you freedom to educate your children in the fear of
stores up his inter-continental ballistic missiles. He the Lord, or deprive you of that freedom? Can he not
builds his ships, and strengthens his navies and his decide whether your churches shall be open or shut,
merchant marine. He traverses sea and land. He rides whether you shall have the right to own the Scriptures
the lightning. He cleaves the depths of the sea. He or not, whether you may worship and whom you may
subjects to himself the power of the atom, and puts it worship? Can he not insist that you shall have the
into his service. He soars away into space, and probes mark of the beast in your forehead or in your right
the distant reaches of the universe. With his science he hand? Can he not insist  - on penalty of torture and
investigates all the secrets of creation, and he puts all death - that with all the world you shall wonder after
the resources of nature to his use. He builds great         the beast?
kingdoms, and he aims at world dominion. He cleans            Is there, then, not reason  - real reason  - to be
up his environment, and will make the world a better afraid of him, to regard him with fear and trembling?
place in which to live. He conquers disease, and he                                    ***
boasts of learning the secret of life. He boasts that         Thus saith the Lord: Cursed be the man that trust-
peace among the nations is a goal within his reach, yes, eth in man, and maketh flesh his arm!
even peace with justice!                                      Thus saith the Lord: Cease ye from man! He is
  He also makes his own gods, and bows down before nothing to be accounted of!
them!                                                         The day of the Lord  cometh! Then it shall be
  Man! Is he not to be regarded?                            revealed! Then it shall become plain in the ultimate
  Does he not give reason for esteem?                       sense that man is not, that he never was anything to be
  Would you not have some expectation of him?               accounted of. Then it shall be revealed that man's breath
  Has he not in the past accomplished great things? Is      always was in his nostrils. Then it shall be ultimately
there not reason, on the basis of past performance,         clear, clear to the full, clear with finality, that man is
that the goals of which he boasts he shall also attain?     but an infinitesimally, speck of dust, like the dust of the
Will he not build his "great society?" Will he not balance, like a drop - not in - but of the bucket.
achieve the ideal state? The golden hopes of justice and      Hear, 0 Israel! Hearken, 0 church of our God!
equality, of peace and prosperity, of a humanity free         Be not deceived!
from want and from drudgery, free from sickness and           Neither be intimidated!
disease, from famine and pestilence, from war and vio-        The danger is there, and the temptation is not at all
lence  - are they not within the bounds of human unreal. For you, too, are but men, sinful men, weak
achievement?                                                men, in yourselves.
  The great men of the earth - should we not esteem           It was thus in Isaiah's time. That was a `time of
them?                                                       affluence and prosperity. It was the days of Uzziah and


 388                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


 Jotham. For a time the kingdom of Judah attained to breath. We are accustomed to that breath. We give no
 new power and glory. The nations round about them thought to it. We inhale and we exhale, moment by
 were subjugated once again. Jerusalem and the cities of moment, and may be occupied with many other
 Judah became strong once more. The army was power- things. Our breath - we think - is automatic. But fact
 ful. Business and commerce flourished. The land was is that our earthly existence is just exactly dependent
 rich. Men gained name and fame for themselves. But upon our breath from moment to moment. Literally
 along with  ali this, the world forced its way into the we walk around every moment of our life continually
 church of that day.. Of this the prophet speaks in this gasping for air!
 chapter. He tells of the riches,- of the gold and the           Such is man! He is dependent: a constantly needy,
 silver, the treasures, the wealth, the horses. and chariots help-requiring' creature.
 in great number. But he speaks also of the idolatry and         But our God is in the heavens! He is the
 the enchantments of the heathen which had been im- Self-existent and Living God! The Self-sufficient One!
 ported into the land, He  sgea-ks of the fact that they The absolutely Independent One!
 pleased themselves in the children of strangers, of the         Not only that, but man's existence is uncertain,
 wickedness of the countries of the east which had brief, swiftly passing away!
 attracted them, of the fact that the land was full of          His breath is in his nostrils!
 idols, the work of .their own hands. And against these         He cannot retain, cannot hold his breath. It is con-
 the prophet was commissioned to warn: Cease ye from tinually in his nostrils. He inhales, but only in order to
 man!                                                         exhale.
   And is it any different, principally, in our day? No, I      In this regard, too, man is dependent for his brief
 speak not of America in general, but of the church in existence on many other things, and that, too, con-
our land and in our times! It is an age of affluence. It is stantly. He must have bread, and he must have water,
 an age of human achievement and power. It is an age and he must have clothing. Without them he quickly
 when, in certain respects, it is tremendously easy to perishes. But how much more emphatically true this is
 become enamored of the world, to be attracted by its of man's breath! A man can sometimes eat a large
riches, by its glamor, by its achievements, by its plea- quantity of bread, and then live for days without
 sures, by its humanistic ideals, by its hopes and prom- eating again. His bread is not continually in his mouth.
 ises of solutions for. the ills of mankind. Or, in other If he cannot eat for a day, this is not fatal. But puny
 respects, it is a time when one's heart can fail him for little man can only get one nose-ful of breath at a time;
 fear when he contemplates the dreadful possibilities of and that one nose-ful he-must have! He can live only a
 the future. And yet, again, when fear of the enemy fills few seconds on it. And if then he is fortunate enough
 one's soul, is not that the moment when the tempta- to get more air immediately, then it is well; but if not,
 tion to fix one's eye upon horses and chariots, on men, he dies! Perhaps that is one reason why there is never
 on an arm of flesh, is sometimes the greatest?               any warfare about air!
   Be exhorted, 0 church! Be warned, 0 children of              His breath is in his nostrils! His breath goeth forth,
 God!                                                         he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts
   Cease ye from man!                                         perish!
   Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man,        But our God is the Eternal One!
 in whom there is no help!                                                                * * *
                            ***                                 Wherein, then, is he to be accounted of?
   Insignificant man! Puny little speck of dust!                The question is a rhetorical one, and the answer is
   His breath is in his nostrils!                             perfectly obvious. It is an emphatic, "Nothing!"
   That is a very concrete way of expressing, in the            The question is a challenge to mention anything
 first place, that man is dependent, utterly dependent, whatsoever in which man might be esteemed. And the
 in all his existence. He lives a derived, a dependent, challenge cannot be met!
 existence. He is dependent upon all things round about         Remember, the subject is Man. Man as he is in
 him. This is true not only of his breath, but also of all himself! Man apart from God! Man as he cuts himself
 other things that are essential to his existence. De- loose from God in his wanton pride and in the vain
 pendent he is upon bread and water and milk and wine imagination of his heart!
 and oil and clothing, upon cold and heat, upon rain and        Remember, too, that that "man" includes ourselves
 drought. Dependent is he in all his existence and upon as we are by nature! What are you and I to be ac-
 all his environment. The Lord our God is not thus: He counted of? If we consider ourselves by ourselves,
 has life in Himself. His life is one with His Being. No      apart from God, - apart not only from His providen-
 one and nothing can deprive Him of His life. He is life.     tial upholding and sustaining of our existence, but
 But man exactly is not life in himself. His life is a apart from His grace, the grace of Him to live apart
 derived life. It must be supplied him.                       from Whom is death?
   True this is, most of all, with respect to his very          Nothing! Vanity! A fleeting shadow! A dream that


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                          389



passeth! An insignificant speck of dust that gasps for from the wrath of the Lamb!
thirty seconds of life!                                                                   ***
  If you buy a bouquet of flowers, then you know               Do not regard, esteem, that man!
that you at least can have them in your house and              Cease from him  - whether to put your confidence
enjoy them for a few days. But if you would buy a in him or to be afraid of him!
man, you would not even know whether the next                  Can the wisp of straw save the drowning man in
second you would still have anything!                        the swift current of the mighty Niagara? Can a man
  Such is man!
  Such are all men! Men at their best, at their greatest!    save us?
                                                               Or can a man, who is utterly dependent and who
  In all their works they are bound to the breath that lives but thirty seconds at a time - can that little man
is. in their nostrils! If God  - so to speak  - pinches harm us?
man's nose shut, then that man and all his gifts and Trust ye in Jehovah, the Eternal God, the I AM,
powers and labors are gone! Instantaneously!                 Whose counsel shall stand forever!
  And the day of the Lord cometh! For man!                     He has loved you and loves you! He has revealed
  Then it shall be fully revealed! Then he shall have to     that love in the Son of His love, our Lord Jesus Christ!
admit that he is nothing! And is not the very greatness        He purposes to glorify you, and all His people, with
of his boasting and of his scoffing a reminder of the        everlasting life! To  .His purpose friend and foe, men
coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord? -and angels, the wicked and the devils of the abyss -
Presently man  - great but puny man  - will become           yea, all creatures - are subject!
greater and more boastful and more wanton than ever            Cease ye from man!
before, in the Antichrist's final kingdom. Then the Lord       It is better  - far better  - absolutely better  - to
shall come! And even that great Antichrist shall call to     trust in Jehovah!
the hills and to the rocks to cover him and hide him


Editorial

                   More About Campus Crusade
                                                Pro$ H.C. Hoeksema

  The attraction to movements like Campus Crusade University of California (Riverside), (who) holds the
and the kind of "evangelism" which it represents (and B.A. and M.A. in history from this school and is
I include in this classification all kindred Arminian presently completing his Ph.D. He has studied at West-
movements) seems to be not inconsiderable even minster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia . . ." He
among people of the Reformed household. It is not introduces the pamphlet by referring to some advice
amiss, therefore, that such movements be exposed for given him by another student when he left West-
what they truly are. And, as it is frequently with minster: "Truth before friendship." And in this con-
movements of this kind, the more deeply one probes nection he writes:
into them and the more thoroughly he discovers their               The kind of solid, rigorous commitment to prin-
true nature, the less attractive and genuine they ap-            ciple that is involved in such thinking is foreign to
pear. Recently there was called to my attention a                ttientieth  century attitudes. Only "fanatics" are sup-
pamphlet written by someone with first-hand knowl-               posed to act in such an ungraceful manner . . . Evan-
edge of Campus Crusade, a Mr. Gary North. The                    gelical Christians think they are doing God a favor by
pamphlet is entitled  Campus Crusade  For Christ: A              being meek in principle, soft in manner. Creeds and
Critique. This pamphlet fully substantiates all that our         principles that brought death to the Reformers four
Rev. Harbach has written about this movement - and               centuries ago are regarded as matters subsidiary to
                                                                 that modern excuse for impotence and vague theol-
more. And because it is written by someone ac-                   ogy, the so-called "warm Christian faith." Whatever it
quainted with the movement by personal experience,               is, the "warm Christian faith" has become a synonym
and because it is rather refreshing to note that some of         for loose thinking and even a retreat from thought; it
the same criticisms voiced in our magazine are sharply           represents one more facet of the drift into irrational-
voiced by another, I wish to share some of the                   ism which has characterized so many of this century's
thoughts of this pamphlet with our readers.                      religious movements, whether secular (fascism, exis-
  The writer of this pamphlet is introduced on its               tentialism) or sacred (neo-orthodoxy, mysticism).
fly-leaf as "a member of the History Department at the         From the outset, in harmony with the above stance,


390                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER


the author characterizes Campus Crusade as an enemy                  tounded to see how much attention is paid to any
of the orthodox faith. He states that "Until Campus                  athlete or campus leader who can be converted,
Crusade for Christ alters its theological foundations                cajoled, or otherwise led to "accept Christ as personal
and the methods of evangelism built on these founda                  savior." I put the words in quotation marks not in
tions, it shall remain an enemy to that orthodox faith.              order to ridicule the idea, but only to call attention
It is simply a question of the Reformation faith versus              to another facet of orthodoxy: the fear of a sovereign
                                                                     God who makes demands on His people. Those ap-
Campus Crusade; to put the issue in other terms is                   proached by Campus Crusade disciples are simply not
misleading." He insists that what is involved is a con-              initially taught to fear God, wherein lies the begin-
flict  .of  :principles,  not a debate over the means of             ning of all wisdom (Psalms 111: 10).
evangelism. And he insists, moreover, that the means                All of the above is background information. At this
of evangelism cannot be separated from the question point Mr. North turns to the methods of Campus
of theological orthodoxy. He bluntly insists that the Crusade and criticizes the  - admittedly unofficial  -
differences cannot be healed by a so-called "warm policy of CCC to seek out the big-name campus leaders
Christian faith," and warns: "The day a man adopts a in its eagerness to emphasize that it is possible to be a
`warm Christian faith' at the expense of rigorous theo- Christian and at the same time a "big man on campus."
logical thinking, that day he has drawn near to the He writes:
`warmth' of hell's eternal flames.:'                                    But the basic approach of Campus Crusade is not
  One might expect that Mr. North was brought up in                  to use the big schools as examples of horror; instead,
the allegedly stiff and rigorous atmosphere of Re-                   the campus celebrities receive so much attention pre-
formed orthodoxy, and that he carries his prejudices                 cisely because they have been so successful inside the
against Campus Crusade from that source. But no! He                  framework of such institutions! It is not that these
tells us that he was converted to faith in a personal                celebrities have escaped from these institutions be-
Christ in 1959, that he was ill-prepared as a convert to             cause of the gospel of light; they are seen as examples
venture forth into the college world, that initially he              of how one can have success in both worlds, fusing, as
                                                                     it were God and Mammon. The paucity of Campus
was associated with an independent fundamentalist                     Crusade's program is seen in the fact that its view of
Bible church, and that thus he came into contact with                the "collegiate challenge" does not involve the chal-
the campus evangelistic movement - first at the Col-                 lenging of those secular institutions that are waging
lege Briefing Conference at the Forest Home Christian                war on the saints.
Conference Center (near Redlands, California), and                  But Mr. North has some very substantive criticism of
thus with Mr. Bill Bright, the founder and leader of the entire doctrinal position of CCC. He maintains that
Campus Crusade for Christ. He informs us, further,                Campus Crusade's evangelism rests on a perversion of
that "It took over five years for me to grasp what was the orthodox doctrine of the perseverance of the
involved in the whole movement, of which Campus saints. He calls attention to the fact that hell is never
Crusade for Christ is by far the most potent representa-          mentioned in any of the early CCC literature, and to
tive on the American college scene." After Mr. North's the fact that Campus Crusade cannot speak of hell
initial contacts with Mr. Bright at the College Briefing because of the God-loves-you approach and its God-
Conference, he did not come into personal contact has-a-wonderful-plan-for-every-life approach. He em-
with Campus Crusade until he transferred to UCLA,                 phasizes again and again the Arminianism of CCC,
one of the two central campuses at that time for the              documents his claims, and demonstrates with strong
Campus Crusade movement. There he became well and Scriptural appeal to the truth of predestination
acquainted with the "soft-sell" approach of CCC, with that this Arminianism is false doctrine and a  pseudo-
its "activist" character, and with its thrust that "im- gospel. He concludes this section of the pamphlet with
portant people can be Christians." Writes he, in this             the following:
connection:                                                             The idea that the message needs to be softened in
          The soft-sell approach characterizes much of the            order for men to accept it is ludicrous. If it is pre-
       Campus Crusade program, and it is as much a product            sented faithfully, by definition it will not be accepted
        of Mr. Bright's business background as it is of its           unless the Holy Spirit moves the individual's heart.
        Arminian foundations. It avoids, whenever possible,           And if the Spirit moves the heart there is no reason to
        an open, intransigent, and thorough-going confronta-          soften the message. "But the natural man receiveth
        tion with ethical apostasy. What I originally regarded        not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are
        as the greatest strength of the organization I now see        foolishness unto him; neither can he know (them),
        as its fundamental flaw: it does not acknowledge the          because they are spiritually discerned" (I Cor. 2:14).
        radical nature of the dichotomy between the saved             This is precisely the reason that the sinner must be
        and the lost.                                                 regenerated before he can make a profession of faith.
       As to the "important people can be Christians"                 We dare not reverse the order of salvation: regenera-
thrust, he writes:                                                    tion precedes confession, and not the reverse. There is
          The reader who is unfamiliar with the inner opera>          no necessity of toning down the gospel; in fact, it is a
        tions of Campus Crusade would be (I trust) as-                sin to do so: "But though we, or an angel from


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                               391


    heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that       movements. And finally, he calls into question the
    which we have preached unto you, let him be ac-          whole matter of what is called campus evangelism - at
    cursed" (Gal. 1:8). The man who continues in his         least, as it is presently conducted.
    Arrniniauism had better consider those words with          Through the whole pamphlet there is but one point
    fear and trembling.                                      which I would criticize and which, if I could, I would
  But there are more aspects of CCC which come in want to discuss with Mr. North. That is his reference to
for Mr. North's criticism. One is the perfectionism of a "free offer of grace," - something which I would
Campus Crusade. Another is the false doctrine of the         guess he may have imbibed at Westminster when he
church which underlies Campus Crusade as an "inter- studied there. Grace is never an offer in Scripture;
denominational ministry." Mr. North accuses CCC - neither is salvation; neither is the gospel!
rightly  - of professing a "hypothetical religious neu-        All in all, however, this little pamphlet is very
tralism" in its doctrine of the church as an institution.    worthwhile, very instructive, and a forthright and inci-
He claims that with CCC the "least common denomi-            sive critique of Campus Crusade - the more interesting
nator" principle triumphs; and he insists that no truly      and the more valid because it comes from one who
creedal church can go along with the movement. He is         speaks from experience.
critical of cooperative evangelism and its -humanism.          The reader who is interested in finding out for
He is critical of the drift toward Barthianism and           himself may obtain this little pamphlet for 4Oc from:
neo-orthodoxy in this and other neo-evangehcal Chalcedon Inc., 394 Chestnut St., Nutley, N.J. 07'110.



                             Come Ye Apart... And Rest A While

                                                     Rev. C. Hanko

                                 `For the poor always ye have with you. " John I2:8

Dear Philip,                                                 always the poor among them, and these poor might
   There is a problem that keeps nagging me from time not be neglected. Thus we read, for example, in Deu-
to time. It is one which undoubtedly interests and con- teronomy 15 : 11, "For the poor shall never cease out
cerns many others. And since you are a deacon in the of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou
church of Jesus Christ, it is of special concern to you. I shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy
am referring to the matter of Christian giving.              poor, and to thy needy in thy land." Evidently the
  We both are well aware that this is an integral part Lord Jesus had this in mind when He said, "For the
of our stewardship as members of God's church. It is poor always ye have with you." And I am sure that He
intimately connected with our place in the communion' did not say this in a tone of voice that would imply
of saints. And it is also an essential part of our Sunday that this is just another burden laid upon a church
worship. I am thinking, for example, of what our already taxed to the limit with financial obligations.
Heidelberg Catechism says about keeping the Sabbath He fully realized how beneficial it is for us to have
of the Lord, our God. Just to refresh your memory, I needy persons among us, so that we can give expres-
shall quote the first part of it: "First, that the ministry sion to the mercies of Christ as we experience them in
of the gospel and the schools be maintained; and that our own hearts. Thus Paul quotes Jesus as saying that,
I, especially on the Sabbath, that is, on the day of rest, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." The impli-
diligently frequent the church of God, to hear his cation is that it is also blessed to receive, since we
word, to use the sacraments, publicly to call upon the receive out of the hand of Christ through His church,
name of the Lord, and contribute to the relief of the but it is still more blessed to be the hand of Christ
poor,  as becomes a Christian." The underscoring, of extended to the needy. For then we know that if we
course, has been added. But our fathers did maintain have done it unto one of the least of His brethren, we
that contributing to the relief of the poor is a part of have done it unto Him.
our keeping Sabbath here on earth. And it is evidently         There are also laws of Moses in regard to tithing.
for that reason that most churches, if not all, collect Every third year a tithe had to be given "to the Levite,
for the Benevolence Fund every Sunday.                       to the sojourner, to the fatherless, and to the widow."
  As you will agree, this is in full harmony with Scrip- (Deut. 14:28, 29; 26: 12). Now I know that we are no
ture. Even in` the old dispensation when Israel dwelt in longer under the law of Moses in the sense that the
the "land flowing with milk and honey" there were Jews were in the old dispensation, not even in regard


392                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER


to tithing. Yet this sets me to wondering whether the deacons for the particular purpose of caring for the
Lord is not laying down a sound rule for us to follow poor. Acts 11:29 speaks of sending relief to the breth-
freely and spontaneously whenever the question arises ren which dwelt in Judea. In I Corinthians 16: 1, Paul
in our souls as to how much we should give to king- urges the church to lay in store for their fellow saints,
dom causes. In these days of income  tax. returns we each as the Lord has prospered them. And, as you well
have quite an accurate record of our annual receipts know, these examples could be multiplied many times.
and expenditures, and even of our gifts, contributions,                  The point I want to make right now is that giving is
donations to charity, et  cetera.  Maybe the tithe does an essential part of our stewardship as well as of our
have significance for us even yet today.                             public worship. We can have no disagreement on that
  There were many more laws in regard to the poor score.
and needy, such as allowing them to glean the fields,                    Now my problem is not that I have a complaint
and similar laws. The Lord did not want the poor to go against our church members that they are not good
begging. And therefore the beggar at the temple gate stewards. Many outside of our churches often express
(Acts 3) must have been a sad commentary on the amazement at the amount of money our people bring UP
spiritual condition of the Jews of that time.                        for various kingdom causes. There is the church budget,
  When we turn to the new testament we find many our annual-synodical assessment (I don't like the word,
references to the care of the poor and distressed. With- particularly when it applies to giving to needy
out attempting to refer to all of them, let me just skim churches, student aid, etc.), and various other offerings
over a few.                                                          that are received in the church. Then there is the tui-
  We are told that one of Jesus' disciples carried the tion for the instruction of our children, which is no
purse for the entire group. Likely the contents of this small amount for some families. I think it can be said,
purse was supplemented by gifts from the more afflu- at least in general, that our people are liberal givers and
ent of Jesus followers. The twelve may have used its do give as the need requires.
contents to buy food and other necessities as they trav-                 But my problem is this. First, that we seem to live in
elled from place to place. But what I want to refer to is a time which contradicts the word of Jesus: "For ye
the fact that when Judas was sent out during the last have always the poor with you." Many of our churches
Supper, some of the disciples, still suspecting nothing, have a surplus in the Benevolence Fund. Many draw
thought that Jesus had sent him out to give something from that fund only rarely. The result is that our
to the poor. John 13:29. This is interesting, because it weekly offerings for this particular fund amounts to a
must mean that it was a common practice to go out at bit of small change and possibly a few dollar bills. And
the time of the Passover feast to bring some special gift when we present our thank offering at the Lord's Sup-
to some needy family. This was likely an expression of per, one blushes to think that this is supposed to
their thankfulness even while they were partaking of demonstrate our thanks to God for all His benefits.
the slain lamb and the unleavened bread. Could this be                  No, the problem is more serious than that. We have
the origin of our Eucharist or thank offering at the deacons who are called of Christ and represent Him as
Lord's Supper? You know, as a child I often wondered our merciful High Priest. And yet they complain that
about that offering. It was almost as if the congre- they have nothing to do! That is what troubles me,
gation was asked to pay for the elements that were doesn't it you?
used at the Supper, and I didn't fancy that at all. But                 I do not know whether I can come up with a satis-
now I realize that this thank offering is intended for factory solution to the problem, but it already relieves
the poor, and that it is an expression of what we feel in me to tell you about it. Maybe you have some sugges-
our hearts: "What shall I render unto the Lord for all tions. And I may write you about this again some time.
His benefits toward me? I will take up the cup of Awaiting your reply,
salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord."                                                            Yours in the Lord,
  Acts 6 speaks of the institution of the office of                                                                    C.H.

          The will is motivated in its choice. This is true in respect to natural things. Why do you will to eat? Because
       you are hungry. why do you drink? Because you are thirsty. You cannot will to eat when you are full and
       nauseated. But the same is true spiritually. Also the will to come to Christ is motivated. Why does man come to
       Christ! Because he longs after the living God. Because he is weary of sin, and seeks rest, the rest of forgiveness, of
       eternal righteousness, of fellowship with the God of his salvation, and because he acknowledges that it is only in
       and through Christ that he can attain to them. Why does a man come to Christ? Because he thirsts for the living
       water, and the Fount of that water of life is opened in Christ alone. And this longing after God, after forgiveness
       and righteousness, this thirst for the water of life, this will to come to Christ, is not of the sinner himself: it is the
       fruit of grace.
                                                                                          H. Hoeksema, Whosoever Will, p.48


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                393


 From Holy Writ
                      Exposition of Ezekiel 18 (continued)
                                                    Rev. G. Lubbers

THE'CONCRETE  CASE-STUDIES GIVEN BY THE corruption to the flesh and he reaps corruption to the
LORD. continued (Ezekiel 18:5-l 8)                           f l e s h !
   There is a second case which is brought forth as               God is not mocked by the evil proverb in Israel.
normative example of the just and righteous dealings              In the depths of Hell this proverb shall not be
of the LORD in judgment. It is the case of a man who used any more!
shall surely die and shall not live. This man, too, is a          He had Moses and the prophets; let him hear
son of a father. In this case he is the son of a righteous them!
father. This father instructed him in the ways of life          The third "case" is that of a good son. (Ezekiel
and iti the righteous ways of God's covenant, to walk 18: 14-17) This is a remarkably good son because he
in all the commandments of God. He was instructed to has a wicked father. And this case we ought to notice
walk in the true religion as expressed in the first table with marked and sharp attention. For this is pre-
of the law, and in the true love for his brother as eminently the case in point in the evil proverb which is
stipulated in the second table of the law. But it was all here refuted by the LORD! The proverb is "The fathers
to no avail. This man shall die. His blood shall be upon have eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth are set
him. And the Lord makes it so real and descriptive that on edge." In other words: the children die for the sins
none of us can fail to know who he is speaking of. By of their fathers. Now, if such were the case then what
their fruits they shall be known. They are the people the LORD says here cannot be true, namely, that a
who have heard all the Words of the LORD and did good son shall not die for the sins of his father, but
not keep them. Such a man is a worker of iniquity. He is that he shall surely live!
a doer of all these abominations which cannot be done          Let us take notice of this "case" just a bit in depth.
in the temple of God as a walk of sanctification and           First of all this son "cansiders" his father's sins. He
life. They shall not see God.                                looks at them and ponders the implications and con-
  Yes, look at the list of sins here enumerated.             sequences of his father's sins. He knows the wrong of
  If a righteous father begets such a son who is a them. He forms a "judgment" of them, evaluates his
destructive one, a breaker and robber, a shedder of father's works. He says: he that loveth father, mother,
blood, or doeth the like of any of such kind of things brother or sister more than God is not worthy of the
- he shall surely die! No he shall not die for the sins of LORD! He sees that these works of his father are not
his father. He shall die for his own sins in which he has works meet for repentance. And that, therefore, it is
lived. And when the LORD'S "diary" shall be read in all chaff that shall be burned with unquenchable fire.
the day of judgment it will not be his father's sins           Secondly, he distanced himself from his father
which are recorded there. For the books which shall be spiritually. He did not treat .hirn as a brother in good
opened in that day shall be the "books of the con- standing in the church. When this father was excom-
science." (Revelation 20: 12) And there shall be writ- municated in the church he approved. Yes, it hurt him
ten indelibly in the conscience of those judged out of in his soul. But for God's sake he lost his soul to gain
the books: you are a fornicator and a whoremonger, it. He did not dull his teeth on the wild grapes of his
,you have been a man void of all concrete display of father's sins! Rather he repented from his own sins -
that mercy which boasts against judgment, and, there- and he lived. He shall surely live and not die!
fore, you will not receive mercy. You have not helped          Thus this son shows himself a true, spiritual son of
the poor and the needy, and when you did "help" the Abraham, and, seeking for the old and tried ways, he
poor it was only to give him money upon "usury" so finds rest for his soul. He does not live because his
that you impoverished him the more. And then you father was good, nor does he die because his father is
were congratulating yourself on helping your neighbor evil. He lives by the sovereign and free mercy of God!
in your dirty conceit and cruel covetousness.                Here we see that famous proverb of the Dutch church-
  And in the conscience of such a one there is never fathers "Genade is geen erfgoed." Grace is not a be-
any rest or peace.                                           quest of a father to his son, but grace is the gift of God
  His hands are full of blood-guiltiness. Shall he live in in His sovereign and merciful dealings, apart from
that dread day when the books are opened? He shall works of merit which we have done.
not live. He shall die in his own sin. His blood shall be      Such a fruitful bough which bears much fruit shall
upon him! His teeth are dull from his own sour grapes not be cut off and burnt with fire. He shall live, yea, he
and the "wild oats" which he has sowed. He has sown shall surely live!


394                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER


   Well may this word of God sink deep into our                             What must we say of this?
hearts!                                                                     We shall need to read this word as spoken by the
   On the one hand this is a great and needed warning                     LORD and heed it. for our salvation's sake! We shall
for the church in every age. How we need to be warned                     not simply need to point out what this text cannot
that we must love Christ more than father, mother,                        mean in the light of many other passages from the
brother or sister. This means that we shall ever be                       Bible, but will also need to say what it does teach.
joined in heart and mind with those who love the                            First of all, we believe that it is crystal clear from
Lord. I am a companion of all them that seek thee,                        the text that this is a question, and that it is put in
Lord! On the other hand, this is a great comfort and                      such a way that the answer is an unequivocal "no."
assurance to the righteous. How many righteous                            God is not pleased in the dying of the wicked at all! He
people, when they examine the past of their fathers,                      is pleased with the repentance of the wicked and that
do not see all kinds of sins and iniquities in their lives.               they live! To underscore this the text uses the term
Thank God, many of them are confessed and forgiven                        "dying of the wicked." And here the "dying" (moth
by .the LORD. But should that not be the case - then                      rashah) of a wicked one! His delight is not in the dying
the sins are not reckoned to the son who sees his                         in sin and unrighteousness. Has God any delight in
father's sins and does not walk in them. That is im-                      this? Delighting does he delight in it? God forbid!
measurable comfort to the righteous, and an incentive                        Secondly, we should beware of the hasty and er-
to persevere to the end that no one take his crown.                       roneous conclusion that this means that God seriously
   There is still a "fourth case" which we must attend                    intends in his Divine Decree to save all the wicked. For
to. This is the case of a man who once walked in his                      we ought to notice that the  ,Hebrew text does not
righteousness but left the ways of the LORD. This case                    speak of  `(the  wicked," singling them out as. a class of
demonstrates the truth that the "soul which sinneth                       people in distinction from the righteous as a class. The
shall die." We shall notice this under the heading which                  Hebrew does not have the definite article in this in-
follows this paragraph.                                                   stance. This points in two directions. It does not sim-
T H E   W A Y S   O F   T H E   L O R D   A R E   E Q U A L   (Ezekiel    ply refer to the "wicked" spoken of here in the con-
18:19-30)                                                                 text, nor of the wicked reprobate. It leaves the matter
   A sinner in the last analysis contends with God Him- indefinite: simply  wicked  one. We have a similar in-
self. He is, by nature, a hater of God and of his neigh- stance in Romans 5:6 "For when we were yet without
bor. He contradicts God and so God has a "contro-                         strength, Christ died at his own time for (the) un-
versy" with his people. And the issue is: Is God just                     godly." Here, too, the Greek does not have the definite
when he convicts  and condemns the sinner! When                           article. When the article is absent not the group but the
David writes Psalm- 5 1:4, he no longer has any trouble                   kind of people are indicated. The people are rather
about the LORD'S dealing on this score. Confesses                         qualified than identified.
David "Against thee, thee only have I sinned, and done                      From the foregoing we must not infer erroneously
this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified                   that God loves all wicked people, simply as wicked
when thou speakest and be clear when thou judgest."                       people! The text is not speaking of the people as such
(See Romans 3 :4) But the unrepentant sinner when he                      at all. The text speaks of the "dying" of the wicked.
is "confronted" with God, his sins and judgment con-                      Their death is the subject here; Nay,, more specifically
tends with the Most High God and tries to ,live by the                    the Divine delight is the subject in relation to a man
wicked proverb of the fathers' sour grapes and the chil-                  who dies in his sins. Now this "dying" in relationship
dren's dull teeth.                                                        to the Divine delight is not the stie as the "living of
   Now, God is too pure of eyes to behold sin, and he                     the repentant" in the same Divine delight! That is the
is too righteous and good as to be in any way account-                    cnix of the question here. Hence, we must beware in
able for our sins, or unfair in His righteous judgments.                  jumping to the conclusion that there is a universal love
The ways of the LORD are not unequal!                                     here proclaimed. God forbid!
   Let us simply remind ourselves of the justice of                         What then?
God's dealing with each man in the church. Every soul                       We must keep in mind the Scriptural teaching that
belongs to the LORD. And there is no respect of per-                      God delights in truth and justice, whether that be in
sons with him. That was shown in each "case study." His own divine trinitarian life, (internal works) or
(See above)                                                               whether this be in the creatures outside of Himself,
   However, the LORD also adds another word which                         men and angels. God delights in His own ethical perfec-
we do well to take to heart. It is that he has no pleas-                  tions and virtues. He delights in justice! He delights in
ure in the death of the wicked, but herein that he justice in the repentance of the sinner, a wicked one.
repent and  live. We will quote this word verbatim:                       That exalts his grace, love and goodness, and also His
`Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die:                   justice! Yes, this has a bearing on the "delight" of God
saith the LORD God: and not that he should return                         even in Hell! But it is not the delight of a "sadist god"
from his ways and live?" (verse 23)                                       but of God who can laugh in the beauty of holiness!


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                    395


In His Fear

                                        Spell It Greed
                                                    Rev. John A. Heys

  A railroad strike is averted.                              God's law to go and get that which the heart lusts
  A postal worker's strike is ended.                         after. The authorities are defied because man is greedy.
  An air traffic controller's slow-down is over.             By murder fellowmen must be pushed aside to satisfy
  A truck driver's strike causes hardships and brings that greed. Adultery, fornication and rape stem forth
financial loss to many business establishments.              from greed. One may murder because he covets his
  And by the time these lines appear in print, you neighbour's  house. He commits adultery because he
may have half a dozen more strikes, boycotts, walk- covets his neighbour's wife. `He steals and bears false
outs, and the like.                                          witness because he covets menservants and maidser-
  It means that two vicious evils are with us in abun- vants, oxen and asses.
dant measure, and that the very foundations are being           Look only casually, and you will see it before yotir
shaken so severely that the building is threatened with very eyes.
the ruin of collapse!                                          Do the truck drivers care one snap of their  finger
  "Might makes right" is not only the slogan of the that through their strike to fill their own pockets these
day; it is the principle by which the world lives. And establisfiments that require their services may go bank-
our society is rife with greed and covetousness. Be- rupt and are having their pockets bled of the very cold
cause these evils abound in the measure that they do cash wherewith these drivers are seeking to fill their
today in our country and throughout the whole world, own? Did the postal workers care one whit that the
the handwriting is on the wall.                              garment industry, that needed the postal services so
  Mankind does not love God and has not the fear of badly to get their "Easter. togs" to the stores, was  fi-
God in its heart. It is not and cannot be subject to the     nancially hurt? Now we are not in any way fighting for
first table of God's law (See Romans 8:7); and there- this commercialization of what in the Church is a glori-
fore it cannot keep the second table of the law either.      ous day of spiritual rejoicing rather than a day to dis-
It cannot devise laws of its own that will be respected play how well-dressed one can be. We simply use this
and kept by the natural man. Nor can it build up and         case to show that greed and covetousness are devoid of
keep a good society.                                         love for the neighbour. In fact the principle behind the
  Man is greedy. Man is covetous. And in his greed whole godless strike is to hit the other fellow where it
and covetousness he will disregard all authority and hurts!  That other establishments and members of an-
right to get what his covetous soul wants. Riot, revolt, other union are going to suffer is incidental: the whole
murder, adultery, theft and deceit are all his tools and idea of the strike is to HURT management. It, that
methods .of satisfying his greedy and covetous heart. strike, never stems forth from love of the brethren. It
And there is such an inner relationship between the six never is the result of a sincere and serious desire to
commandments in the second table of the law. The honour those who are in authority over us. And the
tenth is not added to fill out the number. It is not one screams of violent language used, the placards dis-
of minor significance. It is one that explains the need played, the actions and deeds to which men resort as
for the five that precede it. And even as it is true that clearly as you could want it shout out the word
if you keep the first commandment of the law, you HATE! Greed is hatred. Love knows no greed. The
will not only keep the other three in the first table but mother who loves her child will go withopt to give to
the whole law of ten commandments, so if indeed you that child. Love always gives. Greed always takes away.
keep the tenth, you will keep not only the other five in Greed is a closed fist. Love is an open hand. Love
the second table of the law but the entire Decalogue.        caresses. Greed strikes a blow! I am not sure of the
  And greed is a lack of love toward God and .toward         derivation of the word strike, but it is well chosen. It is
man.                                                         striking a blow of hatred toward fellow men. It is hit-
  Greed is dissatisfaction with God in His-providence. ting him with  all that you have to make him come
It is an act whereby the heart of man rebels against across and satisfy the lust of your heart. And plainly it
God's sovereign distribution of His creatures. And the is utterly devoid of any love.
violation of commandments five through nine is the             Not only that, but the greed in man is so great and
body's activity of responding to that greed and cov- powerful that he is always ready to defend such deeds
etousness. The heart lusts in greed; and the hand, and of hatred. How a child of God can square all this with
eye and ear and flesh of man ciimbs over the fence of the Word of God, how he can, while claiming to fear


396                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



God, be so fearless of trampling God's law under his that owner to do him all the damage you can, and to
feet in riot, which violates the fifth commandment, threaten his business with financial ruin for your own
and in feeding his covetous heart, which violates the financial gain.
tenth commandment, the fear of the Lord cannot              The strike may be the order of the day in this age,
explain.                                                  but then greed and covetousness are the order of the
  "Might makes right" is not a principle of God's day. And then lawlessness and disorder are our way of
Word. Uniting as a band in order to have power to life. For the law of God says, "Honour thy father and
force the employer to do as you wish is not the letter thy mother. .  ." and, "Thou shalt not covet thy neigh-
nor the spirit of the law of God. We sowed the wind, bour's house. . . ." And law and order are not simply
and now we are reaping the whirlwind. Group after heeding the law made by man. Law and order begin
group in our land rises up with numbers to force its with keeping the laws of God. Ignore this first and last
wishes by brute strength. Law and order are strangers commandment in the second table of the law, and
in our land, for we have long ago adopted force and murder, adultery, theft and deceit will plague your
coercion as our method of operating the affairs of land.
mankind.                                                    And not only our nation but the whole world is
  And the whole thing would be laughable, were it not threatened by that min of collapse. More and more
so serious.                                               fearful of life do our cities become. The streets we
  Men of the world earning $10,000 a year  cannot could safely walk in times gone by must be avoided for
make ends meet and need to strike for higher wages for one's very life's sake. Out of places where one could
the very "necessities" of life! !!! But children of God quietly and faithfully labour for his bread one is bru-
earning less than $10,000 a year and who spend  at tally cast with words of murder and hatred to accom-
least  $1,000 for Christian School education for their pany it. We boast of freedom. We speak of ours as a
children and $500 for church budget and for works of land of opportunity. And yet the place of the child of
charity make ends meet. These ungodly have an extra God is becoming smaller and smaller. And the ungodly
$1,500 to spend, for they attend no church, and their themselves live in terror of other ungodly men and
children attend the public school which requires no women.
tuition but is maintained by the taxes which the child      Spell it greed, for that is what it is.
of God pays above and beyond his Christian School           And it all began when man was successfully moved
tuition.                                                  to covet God's position over His creation. In greed he
  But the greedy heart of man covets more and more. pushed God aside to try to become like Him. From
As the economy rises and new dainties are invented that moment on all these evil treatments of man by
and presented to the public, we just have to have them. man began to arise. This greed leads man to trample all
We see our neighbour's house, his wife, how many of God's laws under his feet. And there is no solution
manservants and maidservants he has, his Cadillac and to our social problems that does not reckon with this
housetrailer, to say nothing of his boat or yacht. And basic greed of man. For that reason all the attempts of
we just have to have the same. These become neces- the unbeliever to stem the tide, to realize a return to
sities to us rather than luxuries. And when the greed law and order are doomed to failure before they begin.
and covetousness that are in our souls are fed, wa- And the strike will only strike back at the strikers. It
tered and nourished, we have to go on strike or steal, or does already; and though they see these things, the
murder, or cheat to get them.                             drive of greed will not allow them to do differently.
  That there are people even in our land that do not Each strike brings a rise in the cost of living; and men
get the necessities of life in the way of nourishing food know this. Each strike brings a hardship and financial
we will not deny. But it has to be shown us that these loss to "innocent" bystanders. Yet they`go on and on,
are among those who have jobs and go on strike for and the words become harsher and the deeds more
higher pay. It has to be shown us that these suffer violent. And the methods become more clever. A slow
because they do not receive sufficient wages as mem- down is explained as being due to "illness." Men just
bers of a union to buy the nourishing food that they do not show up for work to force with a gloved fist the
require. Of course, if you are to keep up with the measures and price they want. Where it all will lead to
Joneses and maintain their standard of living with your in the years just ahead of us only God knows. But let
lower salary, you will have to cut somewhere. Of us not deceive ourselves into defending it and prac-
course, when the greedy factory worker sees the afflu- ticing it. Spell it greed, for that is what God does. And
ence of the factory owner and with greedy eye and when you have spelled it correctly, you can begin to
covetous soul aspires to it, he will have to break God's look for the remedy. Spell the tumor benign when it is
other laws as well to try to get some of that owner's malignant, and you are going to have a dead man on
goods by a strike, to seek to even things up a bit. your hands. Spelling the word incorrectly is not going
Greed will lead you to seek force to get what you to cure the disease. Spell it correctly, and the correct
want. Greed will inflame your soul with hatred against diagnosis will serve to find the unfailing cure.


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  397



  Spell it greed and call it hatred. Then you can turn the lake of fire!
to the Word of God for the cure that He has designed          Spell it greed and in His fear seek the solution in
in the blood and by the Spirit of Christ.              '    Him Who "thought not the robbery to be equal with
  Spell it "necessary" and you are on the way to ruin.      God" but humbled Himself to death, that He might fill
Sin is never necessary. Dishonouring those God places us with love of God and take from our hearts all greed
over you is never the way to success. Greed is the way      for God's position and man's possession.
to complete loss of life and goods and joy and peace in


From Our School Committee

                                  Our Theological School
                                                  Mr. J. M. Faber

  It has been quite some time since you have heard Christ's exaltation. One's attention was aroused to the
from our Theological School and of the progress of our fact that the professor insisted on proof texts from his
students. By the time  you"read this the school will students to corroborate their answers. And to top it
have closed its doors for  the'summer vacation "Va- off, he asked for them in their original Greek!  (Een
cation" one calls it with tongue-in-cheek: for the fac- beetje overdreven! H.C.H.)
ulty will be busy in preparation for next September's         Coffee break was next on the agenda, and the two
work-load, and the students will be extremely busy visitors from the School Committee (but not the un-
this summer making a living. But more about that la- seen guests) were remembered by the professor's wife,
ter. First we would like to take you with us to be an who packed his snack: two extra home-made cookies
unseen guest at a typical day in school.                    were labeled for them.
  Way back, on December 18, Rev. Kortering and the            After recess the class of Typology was called to or-
undersigned made one of the monthly visits to the der, with Mark absent so as to attend Prof. Hanko's
school as representatives of the School Committee. Greek class in the next room. The types under scrutiny
This time we chose to pay Prof. Hoeksema a visit. The were the Outer Court in the tabernacle, and its center
first class of the day, Old Testament History, was at- piece, the Altar of Burnt Offering. The instructor ex-
tended by Messrs. Bekkering, Kamps, Miersma, pertly correlated the types and that which they typi-
Slopsema and Van Overloop. This morning the class fied, arriving at the conclusion that all this service in
was called to order about eight minutes late - due to the tabernacle was but a promissory note to be marked
adverse driving conditions, one of the few reasons ac- "paid in full" by the Antitype, our Lord Jesus Christ.
cepted by the professors for tardiness on the part of         It being the last day of the semester, the last class on
the students. After opening devotions, the instructor schedule, Hebrew Reading, was substituted (by mutual
read and interpreted Genesis 3 : 16-19, in which he consent) by a continuation of the study of Dogmatics.
found the pronouncement of the curse upon Eve as it The many questions raised by the students anent the
was to be manifested in the sorrow of her childbearing terms hades, hell, disembodied state, and the concept
and in her subjection to her husband. The observation of the burial and resurrection of the "I" of each per-
was made that womankind attempts to.emancipate it- son, were answered by their mentor without leaning
self from this curse, but never fully succeeds because of too heavily upon conjecture, but quoting mainly from
the judgment there expressed. The curse of God upon the Word of God. Sitting in on a class of this nature
the ground, it was explained resulted in thorns and makes one aware of the fact that much of that field is
thistles and all manner of noxious weeds to thwart so mysterious and unknown, but nevertheless is re-
man's attempt to obtain sustenance for himself and his vealed to us in the Scriptures in a somewhat limited
family. All his labor and toil was to be in the sweat of way.
his face, and eating corruptible foodstuff to feed a          Rev. Kortering was asked to close this session with
corruptible body; all in the sphere of death! Man was prayer, in which he led us in thanksgiving to our Cove-
forced to work that he might eat, instead of eating that nant God for our school as His great gift to us, includ-
he might work, as he did in the state of rectitude.         ing the students whom He has moved to study for the
  The next class was that of Dogmatics, attended by ministry, and the two dedicated professors who give
all of the students, Mark Hoeksema having joined the their all for this cause. The School Committee would
group. This class was conducted mainly in the like to believe that this prayer, and correlary, the
question-and-answer method, treating the steps of prayer for God's continued blessing, rises to the


398                                          THE STANDARD BEARER                                                         I


Throne of Grace from each of our pulpits and from and will finish the five Sundays in August in Forbes.
each of our membership.                                       Mr. Bekkering  ,has been appointed to serve in the
  From the above mentioned wintry day we would place of vacationing ministers in the Grand Rapids area
like you to make a "giant leap" to the month of June. for the first six weeks, and will then supply Randolph's
The last two weeks in June, the four Sundays in July, pulpit during the month of August.
and the five in August, D.V., will be busy days for our       Mr. Slopsema has been assigned to preach in Hull for
would-be ministers. Those eleven weeks will see vacant six weeks, and will then be expected to finish the sum-
pulpits supplied and vacant parsonages occupied. The mer in Doon.
five students who are licenses to "speak a word of            The sixth student, Mark Hoeksema, is not yet ad-
edification" will not have much of a vacation, if that vanced to the status of the other  five, and so will be
word means surcease from work. They will be very occupied with his usual summer work - that of cutting
busy preaching twice each Sunday and making sermons grass for a local gardener. "Making hay at home," as
the other six days of the `week. Each of them will gain one of his fellow students put it.
valuable experience in this activity which might be           The above arrangement has been made by the fac-
called a ministerial resident internship.                   ulty for the benefit of our vacant churches, and will be
  Mr. Miersma will be in Forbes, N.D., the last two         a boon for the students. They will especially benefit
weeks in June and all of July, living in the parsonage      from their summer experience as they shall be guided
furnished for him and his wife. The five Sundays in         and advised by a grat.eeful consistory. The congregations
Pugust will find him filling the vacancy in Hull.           certainly will appreciate these fledgelings as they "try
  Mr. Van Overloop  is scheduled to till the pulpit in      their wings," or, to change the metaphor, as they test
Randolph, Wis. for the first six weeks, and will then the shepherd's staff for size.
move back to Grand Rapids to supply congregations in          May the King of His church richly bless these ear-
that area while their pastors are on vacation.              nest young men in this new venture, to the edification
  Mr. Kamps plans on supplying Doon for six weeks,          of the saints and to the glory of His name.


All Around Us

                              Once Again The Question of "Days"
                                             Mati Become God
                                                        Varia

                                                     Prot H. Hanko


ONCE AGAIN THE QUESTION OF "DAYS"                           of creation by divine fiat. After all, if God created by
       In the debate over the question of evolution the divine fiat, why did He need long periods of time to do
church has conceded' much to evolutionistic thinking. this? And, more importantly, the evolutionists were
When the debate began many years ago (when I was not merely interested in an old earth-They were inter-
still in college), the question was mostly concerning ested in explaining how the world came into existence.
the length of the "`days" of Genesis 1. It was popular And they would have nothing of creation in any sense.
then to describe these days as long periods of time and, Hence, the church was forced to concede more and
in this way, to make room for an old earth. By making more until finally creation was denied altogether. Few
room in the Scriptural narrative for an old earth, suf- today, within the Church, consider the question of the
ficient concessions were made to science to answer days of Genesis 1 a pertinent question.. The-whole of
most objections the scientists raised against the posi- Genesis 1 (as well as subsequent chapters) is now
tion of the creationists.                                   usually described as myth, as less than actual-history,
       But the times have changed.  Aim& no one any as ancient traditions, not historically true, but pre-
longer believes in the "period theory." Once conces- served in Israel's legendary traditiop as interesting but
sions were made to the  .scientists  there was no stop- ancient beliefs of how the world came into being.
ping. It soon became clear that evolutionism was not These myths may have some, religious and liturgical
content merely to stretch the days of Genesis 1 into value; they may even give us some general truths con-
long periods of time while retaining all along the idea cerning the works of God; but they are not history in


                                               TH.E  STANDARD BEARER                                                    399


any sense of the word. The existence of the world is to       fulfilled at the time of the resurrection of Christ:
be explained in evolutionary terms.                           "God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in
  It is no wonder that this development took place            that he hath raised up Jesus again, as it is also written
until finally evolutionism has taken over completely.         in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I
After all, the question which occupied a central place begotten thee." Acts 13:33. The "day" therefore is the
in the debate between evolutionism and creationism            day of the resurrection.
never was a question of the interpretation of the               But this is not all.  .It is true that the word  "day"
"days" of Genesis 1. This was always incidental to the        sometimes refers to a period of time. We use the word
real discussion and a comparatively minor point in the        in the same sense. We speak, e.g., of "the day of the
debate. The real question was always: "How did the            horse and buggy." But when the word "day" is used in
world come into existence? Did it come into existence         this sense, it is used to describe a period of time from a
"by the Word of God, so that things which are seen            particular viewpoint; i.e., a dominant characteristic of
were not made of things which do appear?" Or did it           a certain period of time. It is for this reason that we
come into existence by biological evolution? This is cannot use ordinal numbers with the word "day" when
the real question.Therefore, once to have made a conces- it is so used. Nor does Scripture. Never in the whole
sion to the evolutionists, the. church was forced to          Bible is the word used with ordinal numbers to refer to
make more and more concessions until it lost entirely         a period of time. But this is emphatically the case in
the Scriptures in the first part of Genesis. The result is    Genesis 1: the first day, the second day, the third day,
that the question of the "days" of Genesis 1 is not any       etc. Quite obviously the meaning is not to describe a
longer an important question.                                 period of time characterized by one general character;
  It came as somewhat of a surprise therefore, that in        istic, but is to indicate days such as we know them
a recent issue of the Torch and Trumpet, Dr. Maatman,         n o w .
from Dordt College, was found defending this all but            Further, Maatman argues that the seventh day is a
forgotten idea. And the old arguments, so often re-           period because it is a period in which God rests. He
futed, were once again brought up.                            rests today. And, if the seventh day is a period, why
  It might be. well to review this briefly, not so much       not then the rest of the days? But this is not the point
because the old debate has very much relevance any            of the Genesis narrative. It is not true that God rested
more; but rather to demonstrate that it is indeed true        from the seventh day onward up until today. God's
that this seemingly innocuous concession inevitably           rest is an eternal rest. And, once again, Maatman will
leads to more and more concessions until the whole            not want to make these "days" of Genesis 1 eternal
truth of creation is lost.                                    periods. Nor will it do to say that this "rest" is de-
  In support of his position that the "days" of scribed in terms of God's "work" the previous six days
Genesis 1 are long periods of time, Dr. Maatman urges         as if God worked six days and then  .began his rest
the following arguments.                                      which endures to the present. Jesus reminds the
  Dr. Maatman, in a former article, was making the            wicked Jews that "My Father worketh hitherto, and I
point that nothing in Scripture (including scientific         work." John 5: 17. The whole argument is fallacious
matters) is peripheral. From this he argues that those        and based upon a false interpretation of the seventh
who accept "general evolutionary theory" are guilty of        day of the creation week. God rested on the seventh
imposing their own ideas on the Bible. But he makes           day exactly to establish the week referred to in the
the point in this connection that those who insist that       law: "Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work;
the days of Genesis 1 are days of 24 hours aiso impose        but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the  .Lord thy
their ideas on Scripture. The basis for this latter asser-    God." This is rooted in the creation ordinance itself.
tion occupies the rest of the article.                          Further, Maatman denies that the limitations of
  In the first place, Maatman argues that the Hebrew          "morning" and "evening" in Genesis 1 point to a day
word for "day" can mean a long period of time when            of 24 hours. He argues this on the basis of the fact that
used in other .places in Scripture. Now, apart from the       Zechariah 14:7 uses the same word in a different sense.
fact that this is an old argument and has often been          A couple of remarks about this will suffice. It is not at
refuted, Maatman quotes but one text: Psalm  2:7.             all obvious, in the first place, as Maatman insists, that
This passage reads: "This day have I begotten thee." the evening referred to in that passage "is associated
Maatman argues that the word "day" here refers to an          with a day which obviously is not a day of 24 hours."
eternal period. Certainly this will never do. In the first    This requires some very special exegesis. A mere af-
place, I do not think that Maatman wants to make              firmation will not do. But, in the second place, even
every "day" of Genesis 1 an eternal period. This would        though we should concede Maatman's argument, the
be absurd. In the second place, however, Maatman is           fact is that Genesis 1 uses not only the word "evening"
apparently unaware of the fact that the apostle Paul but also the word "morning." If Maatman's argument
quotes this text in his sermon in Antioch of Pisidia.         is accepted, then we shall have to read Genesis 1:5b in
And Paul speaks of the fact that this prophecy was            this way: "And the beginning of the  first period of


400                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



time and the end of the first period of time were the         Monthly.  Dr. Lutz writes:
first 900,000,000+ years." This is a most peculiar way               The artificial creation of life in a test tube will
to read the passage, and, far worse, it is an obvious             probably be a reality witbin a year or two, certainly
denial of the perspicuity of Scripture.                           by the end of the 1970s. Now for the first time, a
  Finally, Maatman argues that long periods of time               living creature is beginning to understand its own
are not incompatible with instantaneous creation. He              origin and can logically undertake to design its future.
says it is entirely possible that instantaneous acts of           Never before has man been able to rise above his
                                                                  nature to chart his destiny. Genetic engineering can
creation were surrounded by long periods in which no              be a reality before the end of this century.
creative work was done. Here really we come to the                   Technological progress is now making the tradi-
heart of the question, I think. Maatman himself appar-            tional concept of the family obsolete. The reasons are
ently does not really believe this. In this same para-            many, complex, and interrelated and should be dis-
graph he speaks of the fact that not all the miracles of          cussed at length. . . .
Scripture were performed instantaneously. (Parentheti-               It is not unreasonable to assume that human eggs,
cally it should be remarked that it is not altogether             or ova, could likewise be amassed and stored by
clear precisely what Maatman means by this. To illus-             freezing. With artificial ovulation and implantation as
trate this he points to the fact that the time between            available as artificial insemination and with egg banks
Christ's conception and birth was nine months. But the            as well as sperm banks to draw from, either a
miracle of the incarnation took place at the moment of            genetic mother or father or both could be
conception. And the fact that Christ united our human             selected for the prospective child. Men and women
                                                                  could then ignore heredity in their choice of mates.
nature with the divine nature in the Person of the Son            Within 20 years it may be possible for a couple to
of God was not terminated with Christ's birth but con-            shop in a new kind of commissary, for sperm, eggs, or
tinues eternally. This is the only example he gives - a           even frozen one-day-old embryos. But, at the same
most unusual one.) But when he speaks of the fact that            time, the mother might elect not to carry her chosen
not all miracles were performed instantaneously, he               fetus. She might instead hire out another female as a
suggests, after all, that the same was true of the miracle        surrogate mother to carry her embryo for the devel-
of creation. It could have been, in his words, "a slow            opment period. Just around the corner then is an era
process."                                                         when children perhaps will be born of geographically
  Then we are back to where we started. If creation is            separated or even long-dead parents and where virgin
a slow process, then, after all, creation could have              births are possible. This will be an era in which
                                                                  women may give birth to other women's children and
(and, indeed, did) take place by means of evolution.              one in which a few favored persons may be the
Then the question is not merely one of an old earth vs.           parents of thousands of progeny. . . .
a relatively new earth. The question is: How did crea-               Not far off even now is the perfection of several
tion take place? Did it take place by divine fiat? Or did         drugs that will emotionally incapacitate persons and
it take place by evolutionary processes? Maatman, at              disorganize brain functions to such a degree that
least suggests, that the latter is possible. But then the         physical, armed resistance cannot be maintained.
debate need not revolve around the question of the                Thus, warfare may, it is hoped, become obsolete.
meaning of the word "day." Then the debate centers                   Passion between the sexes must, of course, remain
in the very truth of the Word of God itself. Those who            a basic and fundamental human right. But this basic
shove aside much of Genesis as "myth" are more con-               and fundamental human right cannot include having
sistent than Maatman.                                             children at will. Procreation must become a matter of
  We, for our part, are                                           public concern. Man has an acute responsibility to the
                             content with the clear and           next generation of limiting the size of that
concise statement of Hebrews  11:3 : "Through faith               generation. . . .
we understand that the worlds were framed by the                This type of writing is increasingly common today.
word of God, so that things which are seen were not           One would be amazed if he knew how seriously these
made of things which do appear."                              things are considered by scientists, sociologists and,
                                                              worse, theologians. It all presents a vivid and terrifying
MAN BECOME GOD                                                picture of the kingdom of Antichrist.
  In a recent article we made mention of the fact that
the evolutionists speak of man himself controlling the        VARIA
evolutionary process to guide it in such a way that             - The World Council of Churches has initiated talks
some kind of superman is produced. What they mean is          with representatives from other religions. Included
that in the most literal sense of the word, man has it in     were Hindus, Buddhists, and Muslims. The purpose was
his power to become God.                                      to see what could be learned for future relations be-
  Christian  News, a conservative and forthright weekly       tween people of all religions.
published by a minister of the Lutheran Church  -               - The United Methodist Church, the largest of the
Missouri Synod, quotes from an article by a Dr. Lutz          nine denominations participating in COCU has ex-
which appeared originally in  Concordia Theological           pressed strong reservations about the projected new


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  401



church. Apparently the provisions made for bishops is collective sigh of relief. The total value of church
especially  t,roublesome to independently orientated property in this country is in excess of $100 billion.
Methodists. COCU may be in some trouble.                         - Reports continue to filter out from the Soviet
  - The Supreme Court, by a 7 to 1 margin (Justice             Union that the church behind the iron curtain is still
Douglas dissenting), ruled that tax exemptions for re- suffering persecution. Many Christians are held in
ligious bodies was constitutional. The case heard was prisons or labor camps. There is constant pressure of
brought by Attorney Frederick Walz who purchased a all kinds upon Christians to abandon their faith.
small plot of ground in New York on which he paid                - The World Council announced that it was sending
$5.24 tax. He argued that he was being .discriminated          $25,000 to the Viet  Gong  towards the  purchase   of
against because of the exemptions granted religious sixteen tons of medical supplies.
organizations. Much of the church world breathed a


Examining Ecumenicalism

                          Father Groppi At Calvin College
                                                  Rev. G. Van Baven

  The above title is correct. On Tuesday evening, May who ignored building codes with impunity; of children
12, Father Groppi appeared on the platform of the              who received little or no medical and dental care. And
Fine Arts Center at Calvin College. Twenty years ago           no doubt most of his descriptions were accurate. Fact
such would have been an unheard-of thing. There is, these situations exist throughout our land and the
would have been principal objections against having            world  - and have been present for many centuries.
such a man speak to the student-body of a Reformed             Revelation 6: 5-6 speaks of the third, black, horse
college. It would have been unheard-of ten years ago -         which portrays exactly this situation.
probably not because of principle, but from a fear of            The disturbing elements of the lecture, however,
offending the more conservative element of the Chris-          were Groppi's evaluation of the action of the church,
tian Reformed Church farther west. Last Tuesday, Fa-           and his own methods and tactics in combatting what
ther Groppi not only spoke, but his message was en- he considers injustices.
thusiastically received by the audience of over 800 -            The sin of the churches today, according to Groppi,
mostly students.                                               is the sin of silence. "How many sermons," he asked,
  Who is Father Groppi? Father Groppi is an assistant          "have you heard on racism? Or how often have you
pastor of St. Boniface Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. heard sermons on Viet Nam?" He insisted that though
He is a Roman Catholic priest. His parish includes the the church condemned violence as a way of removing
ghetto area within that city of Milwaukee. Repeatedly          injustice, it did not provide a viable alternative. He
in past years, this youthful priest (about 39 years old)       would not consider prayer (or recitation of the rosary)
has had his name in the news. It has appeared in Time,         or reading of Scripture as a proper solution to the
Newsweek,  as well as in all daily papers, and on all          problems of the ghetto.
news broadcasts on T.V. and radio. He has been a vocal           It was obvious that Father Groppi believed that the
advocate for civil rights for negroes; has urged the use       church must become deeply involved in social action.
of any tactic (not excluding violence) in order to attain      It must preach that social gospel. And though this man
to the goal of justice for all men. Twelve times he has        spake approvingly of "black power," there was no
been arrested and placed in prison for certain "tactics" mention of cross-power; no mention of regeneration
which he has used. Father Groppi's appearance at Cal-          and conversion as the only hope of proper change and
vin was sponsored by the Calvin College Lectureship            godly walk. He spoke disparagingly of any church
Council.                                                       which emphasizes the better life which is to come  -
  I heard Father Groppi speak. Frankly, I was                  but does little towards removing present-day injustices.
ashamed that such a lecture could be sponsored by and          He did not present Christ crucified as the "power of
given in a Reformed institution of learning. But it was        God, and the wisdom of God." (I Cor. 1:23, 24)
given - and roundly applauded by the audience.                   Groppi favored a "situational ethics," or rather,
  Obviously, Father Groppi was deeply aware of the             what might be described as "the end justifies the
frustrations, irritations, injustices of the ghetto in Mil-    means" philosophy. When certain laws are broken, that
waukee. He spoke of the gyp merchants; of rotting              might be necessary in order that "higher" laws of God
tenement buildings infested by rats; of slum landlords         are obeyed. He considered these "higher" laws to be


 402                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



 the right to eat; the right to vote; the right to basic gle" are held up in esteem within the church and
 necessities. To attain these, one had the right to break school. He boasted of his own arrests: "I've been  ar-'
 other of God's laws: the law against stealing; the law rested twelve times, and I say that with my head high'
 against adultery; etc. Repeatedly, Groppi gave exam- - I'm proud of every one of them." He compared his
 ples  .of this "situational ethics." For himself, Father position with that of Christ or of Paul. He spake con-
 Groppi confessed that he had promised to try not to cerning Christ, "Jesus Christ was in jail too. He got a
 "cuss" in his lecture - but this, he admitted, was ex- little violent - He drove out the money changers from
 tremely difficult. Apparently, he considered a breaking the temple. He died the death of a criminal: He got
 of the third commandment justified in light of the the chair - He was crucified. And I learned from the
 injustices he was describing.                               Master real good!" He spoke of Paul's difficulties be-
   Groppi described his feelings at the time of the riot- cause of racial problems. And he wanted to know what
 ing, looting and burning in Milwaukee in 1967. Said was so awful about calling the establishment "pigs";
 he, `:I felt pretty good as Milwaukee burned in 1967 - didn't Christ's chief prophet, John the Baptist, call the
 as patriotic as the founding fathers  ,must have felt at establishment of his day a "generation of snakes?" Is
 the time of the American revolution." He emphasized that not even worse than calling people "pigs?"
 that violence is sometimes justified. Why, said he, what      The message, though radical, was not unexpected. I
 happened in 1967 was not really looting or stealing - attended not so much to hear what this man's theory
 it was "restitution!" He pointed out that the gyp mer- would be, but how he would express it. What did dis-
 chants in that ghetto had always charged higher prices turb me immeasurably was the reception this man's
.to any black  - now the black man was only taking lecture received. Repeatedly the 800 in the audience
 back what he had coming to him. Groppi admitted interrupted the speech with applause. And the ap-
 that sometimes innocent parties were also hurt - but plause was in response to the most radical suggestions
 so were innocent parties hurt in the Viet Nam war. of the speaker. At the end of the speech the majority
 Stealing is justified to satisfy that higher law of "res- of the audience (mostly young people) gave a standing
 titution."                                                  ovation to the speaker. One Calvin College professor,
   There were many examples given of this "morality" whom I recognized ahead of me, also rose (after a bit
 which Groppi favored. When speaking of the rioting in of hesitation) to join the standing, clapping audience.
 his area in 1967, he described the young men walking          After the lecture, three Calvin professors (whose
 past his parish house with "stolen" furniture. One names I did not clearly hear) served on a panel, each
 young man with a piece of furniture under his arm, `asking the speaker a question on the message. Here at
 seeing Father Groppi, raised his fist in the air and said, this ,point, I thought, some objection would be raised
 "Black Power, Father!" Groppi responded, "`Black against the "tactics" presented in the lecture. Here
 Power, Joe. Don't get caught!"                              would be the opportunity for Calvinists to. present the
   At another point, Groppi spake of a young boy who positive truths of Scripture without compromise. Or
 came to him. The boy confessed: "I stole, Father." perhaps, for fear of offending the speaker, these might
What did you steal, son.7"."I stole some food from the give a mild indication of disapproval. But I misjudged..
 grocery store. " "Why did you do that, son?" "My The first professor prefaced his question with the re-
brothers and sisters were hungry at home." "No, son; mark: "Father, this was one of the best sermons I
 you didn't steal. You had a right to that food. It is not have heard in years. And it is difficult to follow it,
 right for that store to be filled .with all that food, and except to say: repent!" Could a Calvin professor say
 you go hungry. Everyone has a  ,right to food and to this of a message which spoke not one word of the
 eat.". Groppi insisted that he would never want this atoning work of Christ, which contained not one word
 boy to grow up with any sort of "guilt feelings."           of rebirth? I wonder what sort of sermons this man has
   Or again, Father Groppi spoke of a black woman been hearing the past years! But that's what he said.
 who migrated from the South to Milwaukee with her And his question of the speaker? "How would you
 five children. She worked, but earned about  5Oc an suggest that we can change. our priorities?" The second
 hour. Withsuch wages, how could she support her fam- questioner suggested that the audience there well knew
 ily? She was not eligible for welfare for the first year what "cultural separation and ethnic identity was all
 after arriving in Milwaukee. "And so," said Father, "on about." He wanted to know if we should resist or
 Saturday night she would pour shaving lotion on her- break down that type of culture which requires a color
 self and go to the neighborhood bar to sell the only T.V. set in every home. The third questioner suggested
 thing she had to sell - her body. Some pious preach- that he thought that Groppi was not so much a fol-
 ers, with their Bibles in their hands, would say, `Thou lower of Christ (who was silent often before His
 shalt not commit adultery'. I would say she is a saint." enemies), but rather a .follower of the Old Testament
   Father Groppi said much more. He told how he prophets. The questioner was a bit fearful that some in
 taught the children to chant, "Judge --- is a racist, the audience might go home thinking that Father
 children"; how those arrested in the "civil rights strug- Groppi said it fine, but that he advocates violence. This.


                                                         THE STANDARD BEARER                                                        403


     questioner wanted Groppi to emphasize that he was                  Other questions were raised from the floor. Only
     not advocating all types of violence (not war, not vio- two of these were mildly critical - the others indicated
     lence against persons), but only some forms of it. With full agreement. I could not help thinking: "What is
     this Groppi agreed. He pointed out where violence happening in the Christian Reformed Church?" What
     sometimes became necessary. He went on to point out will this church have to face in the next months and
     what a brave man was Bobby Seale. He insisted, by years - if its students and professors can be so whole-
     quoting Malcolm X, that "if you're going to preach heartedly in agreement with a man as Father Groppi?
     non-violence, preach it to both sides."                            I went home sick.


     Contending for the Faith

                                       The Doctrine of Atonement
                                                        First Period - 80-254 A.D.

                                                             Rev. H.  Veldman

       We noted in our preceding article that, as far as the              holy, and the Word is holy, the Son of the Father, by
     doctrine of the atonement is concerned as taught in                   whom He made all things, and exercises a provi-
     the period, 80 - 254 A.D., all without exception taught              dence over them all. This is the Way which leads to
     that Christ died for our sins and that His death is a                the Father, the Rock, the  Defence, the Key, the
     sacrifice for sin, and that redemption and salvation                 Shepherd, the Sacrifice, the Door of knowledge,
     were accomplished not only through His incarnation                   through which .have entered Abraham, and Isaac, and
     and by His doctrine and example but also through His                 Jacob, Moses and all the company of the prophets,
     death. And we also noted that the doctrine of vicarious              and these pillars of the world, the apostles, and the
                                                                          spouse of Christ, on whose account 
     satisfaction or atonement was not completely devel-                                                        He poured out
                                                                          His  own  blood,  as her marriage portion, that  He
     oped or defined in this period.                                      might redeem her.  (we underscore) All these things
       We first call attention to Ignatius. Almost nothing is             tend towards the,unitv of the one and only true God.
     known of the personal history of Ignatius. It is  re-                But the Gospel possesses something transcendent
     ported of him that he suffered martyrdom shortly                     (above the former dispensation), viz., the appearing
     after the beginning of the second century. In one of his             of our Saviour Jesus Christ, His passion, and the res-
     epistles, emphasizing the reality of the death of Christ,            urrection itself. For those things which the prophets
     he writes as follows:                                                announced, saying, "Until He come for whom it is
            But if, as some that are without God, that is, the            reserved, and He shall be the expectation of the Gen-
         unbelieving,  say, He became man in appearance only,             tiles," have been fulfiied in the Gospel (our Lord
         that He did not in reality take unto El& a body, that            saying,) "Go ye and teach all nations, baptizing them
         He died merely in appearance, and did not in very                in the name of the Father, and of'the Son, and of the
         deed suffer, then for what reason am I now in bonds,             Holy Ghost.
         and long to be exposed to the wild beasts? In such a            In this passage Ignatius speaks of the passion of our
         case, I die in vain, and am guilty of falsehood against      Lord Jesus Christ as He poured out His own blood and
                                                                      of redeeming His church. He also writes of all things as
I        the cross of the Lord. Then also does the prophet in
         vain declare, "They shall look on Him whom they              tending towards the unity of the one and only true
         have pierced, and mourn over themselves as over one          God, inasmuch as also Abraham, Isaac and Jacob have
         beloved." These men, therefore, are not less un-             entered through this Way, our Lord Jesus Christ, the
         believers than were those that crucified Him. But as         High Priest to Whom alone has been entrusted the se-
         for me, I do not place my hopes in one who died for          crets of the Lord. Of course, we certainly expect these
         me in appearance, but in reality. For that which is
         false is quite abhorrent to the truth.                       early Church Fathers to speak of Calvary as the sacri-
       In an epistle which Ignatius wrote to the  Philadel-           fice and redeeming blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. But
~ phians, he speaks of redemption through the blood of                the exact nature and significance of this sacrifice of
Christ. He writes:                                                    Calvary was not completely developed and defined.
            The priest indeed, and the ministers of the word,         Exact definitions and development of the truths of the
         are good; but the High Priest is better, to whom the         Word of God always take place when these truths are
         holy of holies has been committed, and who alone             attacked and corrupted by the haters and enemies of
         has been entrusted with the secrets of God. The mm-          the Word of God.
         istering powers of God are good. The Comforter is               We will quote one more passage from the writings of


!
     404                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER



     Ignatius in which he speaks of the glory of the cross.                 rock." - Is. 50:7. And the prophet says again, "The
     This passage occurs in an epistle which he wrote to the                stone which the builders rejected, the same has be-
     Ephesians:                                                             come the head of the corner." - Ps. 118 :22. . . .
               The cross of Christ is indeed a stumbling-block to           What, then, again says the prophet? "The assembly of
            those who do not believe, but to the believing it is            the wicked surrounded me; they encompassed me;
            salvation and life eternal. "Where is the wise man?             they encompassed me as bees do a honeycomb, and
            where is the disputer?" Where is the boasting of those          upon my garment they cast lots." - Ps. 22:17; Ps.
            who are called mighty? For the Son of God, who was              118:12;  Ps. 22:19. Since, therefore, He was about to
            begotten before time began, and established all things          be manifested and to suffer in the flesh, His suffering
            according to the will of the Father, He was conceived           was foreshown.
            in the womb of Mary, according to the appointment             We wish to quote the following from the same
            of God, of the seed of David, and by the Holy Ghost.        author, because we believe it to be a vivid example of'
            For says (the Scripture), "Behold, a virgin shall be        allegorizing. The author is writing of the red heifer as a
            with child, and shall bring forth a son, and He shall be    type of Jesus Christ:
            called Immanuel." He was born and baptized by                     Now what do you suppose this to be a type of,
            John, that He might ratify the institution committed            that a command was given to Israel, that men of the
            to that prophet.                                                greatest wickedness should offer a heifer, and slay
       Another writer who speaks of the sufferings of                       and burn it, and that then boys should take the ashes,
     Christ is Barnabas. Nothing certain is known of this                   and put these into vessels, and bind round a stick
     author. His name is Barnabas, but scarcely any scholars                purple wool along with hyssop, and that thus the
     now identify him with the friend and companion of                      boys should sprinkle the people, one by one, in order
     Paul on his first missionary journey. Writing on the                   that they might be purified from their sins? Consider
     New Covenant, founded on the sufferings of Christ, he                  how He speaks to you with simplicity. The calf is
     writes as follows:                                                     Jesus: the sinful men offering it are those who led
               For to this end the Lord endured to deliver up His           Him to the slaughter. But now the men are no longer
            flesh to corruption, that we might be sanctified                guilty, are no longer regarded as sinners. And the
            through the remission of sins, which is effected by             boys that sprinkle are those that have proclaimed to
            His blood of sprinkling. For it is written concerning           us the remissions of sins and purification of heart. To
            Him, partly with reference to Israel, and partly to us;         these He gave authority to preach the Gospel, being
            and (the Scripture) saith thus: "He was wounded for             twelve in number, corresponding to the twelve tribes
            our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities:             of Israel. But why are there three boys that sprinkle?
            with I-Iis stripes we are healed. He was brought as a           To correspond to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob,
            sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb which is dumb             because these were great with God. And why was the
            before its shearer.                                             wool placed upon the wood? Because by wood Jesus
       It is well to call attention to the fact thai these early            holds His kingdom, so that (through the cross) those
                                                                            believing on Him shall live for ever. But why was
     Church Fathers were familiar with the Scriptures of                    hyssop joined with the wool? Because in His kingdom
     the Old Testament. They quote profusely from them,                     the days will be evil and polluted in which we shall be
     and this is something which we may well emulate, al-                   saved, (and) because he who suffers in body is cured
     though it is true that they are fond of allegorizing, of               through the cleansing efficacy of hyssop. And on this
     attributing to the Scriptures a deep and mysterious                    account the things which stand thus are clear to us,
     meaning. But they do quote the Scriptures. This  ap.                   but obscure to them, because they did not hear the
     pears also from the following quotation from the same                  voice of the Lord.
     author, in which he writes of the suffering of Christ                Writing of Baptism and the cross as prefigured in the
     and of the New Covenant as announced by the                        Old Testament, this same writer has the following:
     prophets:                                                                 Let us further inquire whether the Lord took any
               When, therefore, He has fulffled the command-                care to foreshadow the water (of baptism) and the
            ment, what saith He? "Who is he that will contend               cross. Concerning the water, indeed, it is written, in
            with Me? let him oppose Me: or who is he that will              reference to the Israelites, that they should not re-
            enter into judgment with Me? let him draw near to               ceive that baptism which leads to the remission of
            the servant of the Lord." - Is. 50:8. "Woe unto you,            sins, but should procure another for themselves . . .
            for ye shall all wax old, like a garment, and the moth          Further, what says He? "And there was a river flow-
            shall eat you up." - Is. 50:9. And again the prophet            ing on the right, and from it arose beautiful trees; and
            says, "Since as a mighty stone He is laid for crushing,         whosoever shall eat of them shall live for ever." -
            behold I cast down for the foundation of Zion a                 Ezek. 47:12. This meaneth, that we indeed descend
            stone, precious, elect, a cornerstone,  honourable."            into the water full of sins and defilement, but come
            Next, what says He? "And he who shall trust in it               up, bearing fruit in our heart, having the fear of God
            shall live for ever." - Is. 8:14, 28:16.  Is our hope,          and trust in Jesus in our spirit.
            then, upon a stone? Far from it. But (the language is         And the same writer, writing on the cross of Christ
            used) inasmuch as He laid I-l& flesh (as a foundation)      as frequently announced in the Old Testament, has the
            with power; for He says, "And He placed me as a firm        following:


                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER                                                               405


      In like manner J!ie points to the cross of Christ in                    of Him about to suffer thereon; for unless they put
    another prophet, who saith, "And when shall these                         their trust in Him, they shall be overcom&?&%?s
    things be accomplished? And the Lord saith, When a                        therefore placed one weapon above another in the
    tree shall be bent down, and again arise, and when                        midst of the hill, and standing upon it, so as to be
    blood shall flow out of wood (this is a quotation by                      higher than all the people, he stretched forth his
    Barnabas from some unknown apocryphal book).                              hands, and thus again Israel acquired the mastery.
    Here again you have an .intimation concerning the
    cross, and Him who should be crucified. Yet again He                The reference in the above quotation is to Israel's
    speaks of this in Moses, when Israel was attacked by              victory over the Amalekites in the wilderness. Another
    strangers. And that He might remind them, when                    bit of allergorizing. However, the early Church Fathers
    assailed, that it was on account of their sins they were          certainly speak of the cross, but they do not define it
    delivered to death, the Spirit speaks to the heart of             completely and distinctively.
    Moses, that He should make a figure of the cross, and


Pages from the Past

                                  Believers and Their Seed
                                                                Chapter IX
                                                 The Organic Idea in Scripture

                                                    Rev. Heman Hoeksema

  In our discussion of the question whether all that is of believers and their seed. As such they manifest the
called Israel is also truly Israel in the spiritual sense of figure of such an organic whole. He, then, who would
the word, we arrived at the conclusion that we must refuse to call that people by the name of the people of
maintain the organic view of God's covknant people as God, he who would refuse to address them as God's
they become manifest in this world. The people of people, he who would refuse to assure them as God's
God in this world, as they concretely exist and develop people of the riches of God's promises in Christ, he
in the line of successive generations, may not be who would refuse to point them as God's people to
viewed and treated as a mixed multitude. Neither may their calling as those who are of the party of the living
the view be tolerated that we may presuppose that all                 God in the midst of the world, but who would rather
in the church are elect and regenerated. The only possi- treat them as a mixed multitude, without any spiritual
bility left is that we hold fast to the organic idea,                 character or stamp - that man would surely err sorely.
which Holy Scripture presents again and again.                        Yet, on the other hand, he who would think that he
  God's people in this world are pictured to us in may presuppose that there are absolutely no unre-
nature as a plant, of which some of the branches bear generate and reprobate individuals among that people,
fruit and others do not. You are acquainted with such and who therefore would refuse to proclaim woe as
plants. Think, for example, of our well-known tomato well as weal to them if they do not walk in the paths
plant. You have there an organism, growing out of one of God's covenant, - that man would err just as sorely.
root. The entire organism is called by the name of the No, that entire people must be addressed, treated,
fi-uit-bearing plant. As such it is fertilized; as such it comforted, and admonished as the Israel of God. And
receives rain and sunshine. But when presently the or- yet, at the same time, you may never forget that not
ganism of that plant has developed, then you discover all is Israel that is called Israel. There are branches
that there are nevertheless two kinds of branches which never bear fruit, which bring forth wild fruit,
shooting forth on that one plant. There are the  fruit- and which are presently cut off.
bearing branches; but there, between them, you also                     This conception of God's covenant people as it de-
find suckers, which  indeed draw their life-sap out of velops in the world in the line of generations, as be-
the plant, but which `never bear any fruit. Such shoots lievers with their seed, is everywhere supported by
and suckers are then also cut out, in order that the                  Holy Writ.
good branches may bear more fruit. Thus it is with                      You find it already in the word which the Lord
many plants. Thus it is also, for example with the cu- addresses to Abraham. "I will establish my covenant
cumber or with the grapevine. And in this you have the between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their
Scriptural figure of the people of God as they exist in generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God
this world. God forms His covenant people in the line unto thee, and to thy seed after thee." It is very plain


406                                               THE STANDARD BEARER



from history, and especially from Romans 9, that not "Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my be-
all the seed of Abraham, but only the spiritual seed are loved touching' his vineyard. My well-beloved hath a
actually children of the promise. Yet Scripture makes vineyard in a very fruitful hill: And he fenced it, and
no distinction in this word to Abraham, but all the gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with
seed of the father of believers are here called according the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it,
to the spiritual kernel. Thus you find. it also in the             and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that
eightieth Psalm. There the poet complains: "Thou hast it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild
brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the grapes. And now, 0 inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men
heathen, and planted it. Thou preparedst room before of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vine-
it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the yard. What could have been done more to my  vine-
land. The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and yard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I
the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. She looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it
sent out her boughs unto the sea, and the sea, and her forth wild grapes? And now go to; I will tell you what
branches unto the river. Why hast thou then broken I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge
down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the
way do pluck her? The boar out of the wood doth wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: And I will
waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it. lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but
Return, we beseech thee, 0 God of hosts: look down there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also com-
from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine; And the mand the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the
`vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel,
branch that thou madest strong for thyself. It is and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he
burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for right-
rebuke of thy countenance" (VSS.  8-16).  Also  here the eousness, but behold a cry." If you do not hold fast to
people are conceived of as one organism. It is the ob- the organic presentation which you find throughout
ject of the infinite love of God. God has delivered it Scripture, you have here in this one passage a  firm
and transplanted it from Egypt to the promised land.               basis for all the errors of Arminianism. You have here
He has blessed it and made it great. And yet that then, first of all, a clear proof for the assertion that
people is also the object of God's wrath and complains grace is resistible and that it is in last instance depen-
about the destruction which God Himself has wrought dent upon the free will of those to whom it is offered.
in their midst. The vine of that people is plucked by God says here that He has done all that He could do to
"all them which pass by the way." It is devoured. It is His vineyard. There is nothing more to be done. But
rooted up by wild swine. It is burned with fire and cut His grace is simply rejected by the free will of  men.
down. And yet it is plain that that vine is still there, You have here then the presentation that God is dis-
and that presently the tender mercies of the heavenly appointed in His own work. He expected good fruits;
gusbandman will be spread abroad over it. All of this wild grapes are brought forth. You have here the
can only be understood if we cling to the organic idea, presentation that God's people fall away, and that God
an idea which is also implied in the very figure of the Himself is changeable. For the same people which He
vine. It is one vine. And that vine is, according to its           once loved He will reject and destroy. In a word,
proper essence, or core, the object of God's grace and you have here then. all the dreadful errors of  Armin-
.favor. But that same vine is, from the viewpoint of the ianism together. And do not say now that here we have
branches which bring forth no fi-uit or which bring the one line and that the other line is that of eternal
forth wild fruit, corrupt fruit, the object of God's election and irresistible grace. For those two lines are
fierce anger and wrath. That vine, then? is also saved; simply mutually exclusive. To wish to maintain both is
but some branches are pruned out.                                  impossible. That is the juggling which the Christian
  The same  phenom&on is found in Isaiah 5: l-7:                   Reformed Churches attempt.                   (to be continued)

          What is the relation between Christ as the Fount of living water and the sinner? Is it thus, that He is simply the
       overflowing Fountain of living water, that He sends out preachers to call the attention of men to this fountain,
       and that He now waits until they come, and drink? Ah, but in that case no one would come. All would despise
       the water of life! For all men are by nature children of wrath, dead through trespasses and sins, and they walk
       according to the course of this world, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. . . And if it depends upon
       the will of that man, whether or not he will come to the Fountain of living water, and drink, he &I never come.
       Nor will a veritable army of begging and hawking preachers persuade him to come; No man has of himself the will
       to come.
                                                                                 H. Hoeksema, Whosoever Will, pp. 54,55


                                                 :  T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARER    .i ,                               407



     CALL TO ASPIRANTS TO THE MINISTR Y                                     ATTENTION PRaMAR Y TEACHERS
             Seminary and Pve-seminary Students                      Hope Protestant Reformed Christian School is in
                                                                  need of two First Grade Teachers for the 70-7 1 school
  All young men desiring to begin their studies this year. Call (453-97 17) or write the school, 1545 Wilson
fall in either the pre-seminary or seminary department Ave., S.W., Gran$ Rapids, Mich. 49504, for informa-
of the Theological School of the Protestant Reformed              tion.
Churches are requested to appear before the Theologi-
cal School Committee at its mee!ing which will be held
D.V. on Friday, August 7, 1970 at the Hope Protestant                            WEDDING ANNIVERSAR Y
Reformed Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan.                             On June 14, 1970, the Lord willing, our parents,
  The qualifications requisite to enrolling in the semi-                   MR. AND MRS. JOHN KALSBEEK, SR.,
nary course are:                                                  will celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary.
   1. You must present a letter from your consistory                 We are thankful that our Heavenly Father has pro-
certifying that you are upright in walk and pure in               vided us with covenant parents all these years. We are
doctrine.                                                         grateful for their instruction and the love they gave us
  2. You must present a certificate of health, signed             as they prayerfully attempted to fulfill their covenant
by a reputable physician.                                         responsibilities.
  3. You must be a graduate from high school, being                  Their happy children and grandchildren -
able to show that you have completed a one year                                                       Mr. & Mrs. John Kalsbeek
course in General History and Church History, and                                               Jordana Lyn & Jason Nathaniel
that you have completed the following college courses:                                             Mr. & Mrs. Charles Kalsbeek
Latin-2 years, Greek-2 years, German-2 years, Dutch-2                                                   Lenore Marie & Jeffrey
years, Philosophy-l year, Psychology-l year, and                                                                       Michael
Logic- 1 semester.                                                                                         Mr. Calvin Kalsbeek
  The qualifications to enter the pre-seminary depart-                                                     Miss Karla Kalsbeek
ment are the same as the above except "3" should
read, "a graduate from high school."
  In event you cannot be present at this meeting,                                 ANNIVERSARY NOTICE
please notify the undersigned secretary of your inten-               On June 26, 1970, the Lord willing, our dear par-
tions, prior to the meeting.                                      ents,
                                                                            MR. & MRS. GERRIT VANDER LEE,
                       Rev. J. Kortering, Secretary               will commemorate their 40th wedding anniversary.
                       1551 Wilson Ave. SW.                          We thank and praise our Covenant God for them.
                       Grand Rapids, Michigan 49504               Our prayer is that our Heavenly Father may bless and
                                                                  guide them in the remaining years of their lives.
                                                                                                  Mr. & Mrs. Ralph Vander Lee
                                                                                                      Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth Vink
                      ANNIVERSAR Y                                                                             9 Grandchildren
  On the 9th of June, 1970, the Lord willing, our
beloved parents
             MR. AND MR. MARTIN DOEZEMA                                                 IN MEMORIAM
will celebrate their fiftieth anniversary.                           On May 8, 1970, it pleased the Lord to call home
  We, their children, are thankful that God has spared            unto Himself our beloved mother, grandmother and
them for us these many years. We pray that they may               great grandmother
continue to experience the lovingkindness of the Lord                           MRS. JOHN KARSEMEYER
in their remaining years as in the past.                          at the age of 83 years.
                                Mr. & Mrs. John R. Timmer            "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment,
                                  Mr. & Mrs. Jay Doezema          worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight
                             Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth Doezema           of glory, for the things which are seen are temporal;
                                              9 Grandchildren     but the things which are not seen are eternal." II Cor.
                                     2 Great-grandchildren        4:17, 18.
                                                          -                                            Mr. William Karsemeyer
                                                                                                Mr. & Mrs. Clarence Karsemeyer
                                                                                                         Mr. James Karsemeyer
  In accord with our policy, The Standard Beaver will                                            Mr. & Mrs. Albert Karsemeyer
appear only once per month during June, July, and                                                             6 Grandchildren
August.                                                                                                  3 Great-grandchildren


                                      ___.-- _---  ~-- __-


THE STANDARD BEARER
          P.O. Box 6064                                                                      SECOND CLASS
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506                                                                 POSTAGE PAID AT
                                                                                        GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.





468                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



                                News From Our Churches

  The last meetings of the season for some of the their pastor, Rev. D. Engelsma. That  number of
organizations in our churches included some very inter- pamphlets ought to go a long way in a town of 10,000
esting topics for after-recess programs. Take these, for people.
example : "Children studying homework on Sunday,",            Incidentally, Rev. Engelsma has received the call
at Hope's (G.R.) Senior Mr. and Mrs. Society; "Crea- from the congregation in Hull, Iowa; as has Rev. C.
tion Days or Periods," at Hudsonville's Mr. and Mrs. ; Hanko from our church in Randolph, Wisconsin; and
and "Why did God permit polygamy in the Old Testa- Rev. M. Schipper from Doon, Iowa.
ment?" at Southwest's Men's Society.                          Rev. Schipper did not return to his pulpit as soon as
  The Sunday School season is also drawing to a close expected after his recent operation. He suffered "a
- for some of our churches, anyway. For others, it's slight set-back" which made it necessary for him to
just beginning. Hudsonville, Southeast, and Southwest,     "wait with preaching another week." He was back for
for example, have a Sunday School season that begins the first time on Ascension Day; and according to re-
                           ;i;****                         ports, he was his "old self again."
                                                                                   *****
  We learn from the bulletin of our church in Love-           The young people of First Church in Grand Rapids
land that the congregation there has made a liturgical are trying to collect issues of the Standard Beaver and
change. The decision of its consistory was that the Beacon Lights from those in the congregation who re-
entire congregation, rather than the minister only, ceive these publications but do not save them. The
should recite the Apostles' Creed aloud in the Sunday
evening services. For their well-stated grounds we'll young people intend to place these in doctor's offices,
quote from their bulletin announcement- concerning other waiting rooms, and any place where they might
the change. "The reason for this decision is that God's possibly be picked up and read. Not a bad idea!
                                                                                   ****ri:
Word teaches us that confession is an important part of       The  1969-J.970  school year will soon be a thing of
the worship of the Church. And confession is done the past for our Protestant. Reformed schools. Miss
with the mouth. `That if thou shalt confess with thy Beverly Hoekstra, teacher in our school in Loveland
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart     (the only Protestant Reformed teacher to conduct clas-
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be      ses in the church basement), writes concerning the
saved.' (Rom. 9: 10) Therefore, beginning next Sunday year's end that "another milestone is nearly met. Our
evening, April 12, the consistory asks the congregation faithful God in his infinite mercy and love has pro-
to join the minister in confessing our faith aloud, as we vided for us every needed thing. Not only did He sup-
have our faith briefly summed up in the Apostles' ply our needs, but it also was He Who made them to be.
Creed. The children should also be prepared to partici- the way they were." We're sure that this has been the
pate."                                                     experience of all our schools.
  From that same bulletin we quote the following:             Several weeks ago Mrs. H. C. Hoeksema, teacher at
,"In the near future, the `Reformed Witness Hour' radio our Adams Street School gave a talk at that school's
program will be dropped from the local station. This P.T.A. on how the performance of students at Adams
will be ddne at the suggestion of the Missisn  Commit- compares with the average performance of students on
tee and with the approval of our Consistory. The rea- a nation-wide basis. The comparison was encouraging;
son is a lack of response from outside the congrega- but that was hardly the main thrust of the speech. She
tion."                                                     pointed out the responsibility of parents towards their
  It seems unlikely that the lack of response is due to children (gifts in themselves) who have been gifted in
any lack of effort on the part of the congregation. various ways and in varying degrees.
Their Church Extension Committee is presently having          We would like, in the future, to devote a little more
printed 2,000 pamphlets on "What is a Protestant" - space in this column to news from the schools. Right
the text of a public lecture delivered in Loveland by now, though, there's little space left for news of  any kind.
                                                                                                           D.R.D.


