                                        e





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


IN THIS ISSUE

     Meditation:

        Hope Perfectly

     Editorial:

        Dr. K. Runia on Reprobation

     Latitude iti Teaching for the Gereformeeide  Kerken

       (see: All Around Us)

     Amusing and Confusing

       (see: In His Fear)



                                             Volume XL VII/Number I O/February 15, I9 71


I    218                                                         THE STANDARD BEARER


                                                                                                           THE STANDARD BEARER
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       Hope Perfectly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .218      Editor-in-Chief: Prof.  Ii. C. Hoeksema
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       Doctrinal Tensions "Down Under" (3) . . . . . . . .220                     Van  Baren, Rev. Herman Veldman, Rev. Bernard Woudenberg
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     Meditation

                                                      Hope Perfectly
                                                                    Rev. M. Schipper

                   "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that
                   is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. "                                             IPeter  1:13.

        Hope perfectly!                                                           that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy
        For the grace that is being brought unto you!                             Ghost sent down from heaven.
        It is the grace that the prophets have prophesied                             It is the grace that is being brought unto you in the
     should come unto you. It is the grace of salvation into revelation of Jesus Christ!
     which they have enquired and searched diligently. It is                          Not all at once is this grace brought unto you, but in
     the grace the angels desire to look into. It is the grace ever increasing measure. It was brought unto you in
     of salvation which is now reported unto you by them that  first revelation of Jesus Christ, when the Son of


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                     219


God became the Son of Man; when the God of all God from the children of this world, and sets them
grace in the Person of His Son united Himself in the apart as strangers and pilgrims in the earth.
incarnation to our flesh, when He entered into our             That the apostle exhorts us to hope to the end for
state of misery and death,.and carried in His own flesh the grace that is to be brought unto us in the revelation
our sin and guilt to the accursed tree; when He died on of Jesus Christ, is due to the fact that often this hope
the cross, and suffered the pains of hell in our stead, falters. The child of God often finds himself in tension.
and rose again for our justification, and ascended up There is a drawing power that pulls him toward heaven
on high to the right hand of His Father. It was brought and the things above, but at the same time there is a
unto you in the revelation of the exalted Christ on the power of the flesh and of the world that draws him
day of Pentecost, when the Lord returned in the Spirit down to the things which are below. And when the
to pour upon His beloved all the graces He had merited latter power appears to be stronger than the former,
through the way of His perfect obedience; when He his hope grows dim. Then the object of his hope,
applies in principle  the- grace of salvation unto our namely, the grace that is to be brought unto him also
hearts, regenerating them, speaking to them of justifi- becomes strangely dim. And the apostle would not
cation and peace, comforting them with the assurance have it so. Therefore he urges that we hope to the end:
of forgiveness of sins and the right of eternal life, Literally, he says, hope perfectly!
implanting in our hearts the true and living faith             To hope perfectly means, first of all, that we hope
whereby we appropriate Him and all His benefits, and with our whole being, with body and soul, with mind
quickening in us the living hope that longingly, expect- and heart. Never should we allow room for doubting,
antly looks forward to His final and glorious revelation or halting between two opinions. It means, in the
in the Parousia when that grace shall be brought unto second place, that we hope exclusively; and that means
us in all its fulness and beauty.                            that our hope is never fixed on the earthly, but on the
  In the revelation of Jesus Christ, in the apocalypse heavenly things. 0, surely, this cannot mean that we
of His glory, shall be brought unto us the final dispen- ignore and shun the things of the world. Nor does it
sation of grace. Then the world with all its sin and mean that we isolate ourselves from the world and
corruption and evil workers shall pass away forever, dwell on some mountain top waiting for our Lord to
then our bodies shall be raised from the dead and those appear. This would be sinful indeed, as sinful as it
living shall be changed in a moment, then we shall would be to doubt the grace of God. It would be con-
stand in a new world in which righteousness shall trary to the will of God for our lives that we should be
dwell, and we shall see God and dwell in His tabernacle strangers and pilgrims in the world. But it does mean
forever.                                                     that in all our relation to the world and its things we
  The God of all grace!                                      are not captivated but captors who are controlled by
  Who in Himself is the beautiful, merciful, gracious the goal of heavenly things and our life is principled
God!                                                         from above where our citizenship is. And in the third
  Who has purposed that a people should be formed place, this means that we hope to the end - never stop
who shall forever reflect His own beauty and perfec- hoping; but each day of our lives and unto the end of
tion of goodness.                                            our pilgrimage we live out of the principle of hope.
  That is the grace that is to be brought unto us in the       There is therefore, as you can plainly see, a connec-
revelation of Jesus Christ!                                  tion, a reciprocal relation between hope and sanctifi-
  And for that grace we are exhorted to hope cation. On the one hand, sanctification is conducive to
perfectly!                                                   hope. It leads to hope. Unless we walk in sanctification
  0, indeed, if we already possessed all the grace that hope will never flourish. On the other hand, the hope
is to be given unto us there would be no need to hope, naturally is conducive to sanctification. This is the
for it. As the apostle Paul expresses it: "For we are point which the apostle stresses here. If anyone hope
saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for the true hope, he will walk in sanctification of life.
what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we This is also precisely what the apostle John writes in
hope for that we see not, then do we with patience his first epistle: "And every man that hath this hope in
wait for it."                                                him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." To be like
  And hope, as we have seen before, is begotten in us unto God, and to enjoy His perfect fellowship - that is
through the regenerating grace of the Holy Spirit Who the Christian's hope. To be delivered completely from
implants the resurrection life of Christ in us, in our sin and corruption, and to be perfect as God is perfect
hearts. Hope is that gracious activity of the regenerated - that is the believer's hope. He therefore that has the
child of God according to which he expects, looks for- true hope in him will purify himself even as He is pure.
ward to, and confidently waits for the incorruptible           Hope then becomes a power!
inheritance that is reserved in heaven and which is            A power that moves us to walk in the way of sancti-
ready to be revealed in the revelation of Jesus Christ. It fication without which no man shall see the Lord!
is precisely this hope that distinguishes the children of      Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober!


220                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



   Beautiful figure the apostle uses, though perhaps for world? Isn't it true of us that we become not a little
us occidentals a little difficult to understand. The spiritually intoxicated with our material abundance?
figure is taken from the orient where they wear long, And wouldn't you agree that because of our enjoy-
ankle-length robes both for appearance and comfort. ment of the things below, the longing; the expectancy
Such garments, however, because of their length and of our heavenly inheritance often grows weak and
looseness, would be a hindrance to one who had to negligible?
work in the field or to walk a great distance or run             The trouble is that the skirts of our robe are cover-
swiftly. To overcome this handicap, one would be re- ing our mind's eye, and we have become spiritually
quired either to remove this garment, or to tie it up drunken with the things of our natural sight.
tightly about the waist with a girdle or a belt.                 What then is the solution to the problem? Is it per-
   Strikingly, however, the apostle applies the figure to haps that we should foresake the things of the world,
the mind. This would imply that the chief hindrance to and flee out of the world to some desert place or some
the exercise of our Christian hope is to be found island in the seas? History shows there have been those
within us,  .in our inner man, in the thoughts and who have tried this and they failed utterly. And as we
intents of the mind and heart. And this implication have before suggested, this would be contrary to the
rests upon the Scriptural presupposition that as a man will of God for our lives.
thinketh in his heart, so is he; and, out of the heart are       No, the solution is not to be found in that direction;
all the issues of life. Though the robe in the figure but in heeding the Word of God in our text!
would of necessity cover the whole body, the apostle             And that means that we learn by the grace of God
limits its coverage here only to the mind, undoubtedly to live temperately, spiritually, sensitively, and be alert
for the reason that as a man is in respect to his mind, to the reality of the object of our hope. And this
so he will be in respect to his whole being. Undoubt- means that we walk in sanctification of life which
edly, too, the Word of God here means to say that should bring us to that object. The one who is spirit-
when the loins of our mind are girded up then our ually sober has all his senses contained, controlled, and
inner man which controls our outer man will also be utilized properly. The sober pilgrim knows his way
ready and able to function properly. In one word, home, and is able by the grace of God to walk directly
nothing may cover the mind and heart of the pilgrim to it. A drunken pilgrim is a contradiction in terms.
so as to obstruct his vision of hope. And if in mind and         It means, too, that the child of God lives antithet-
heart he sees clearly the object of his hope, his whole ically. He is not like the children of this world who
life and walk will respond accordingly.                        stand in the midst of God's creation and take over as if
   0, make no mistake about it!                                it were their own. But the pilgrim uses his Father's
  This admonition to gird up the loins of our mind world only as a means to attain unto a better.
and to be sober is necessary!                                    Always he lives out of the expectation of the grace
  Is it not your and my lament that what is supposed that is to be brought unto him, when his faithful
to distinguish us from the world is not so clearly seen Saviour, Jesus Christ, shall be revealed.
as it ought to be? Isn't it precisely this thought that          Beauteous grace!
saddens our hearts, that in our affluent society there is        And glorious revelation!
so little difference between us and the children of this


Editorial

                 Doctrinal Tensions "Down Under" (3)
             Dr. K. Runia on Reprobation (continued)

                                                    Frof: H. C. Hoeksema

  In the last issue we began to investigate and examine official "grievance", or gravamen, against the Canons
the charge maintained by the Reformed and  Presby- on this point. In a way, of course, these two charges
terian Fellowship of Australasia that Dr. K. Runia are related. And they are related in such a ,way that if
undermines and challenges the Canons of Dordrecht on the first charge is true, namely, that Dr. Runia openly
the eternal decree of reprobation, as well as the claim contradicts the Canons on the doctrine of reprobation,
that Dr. Runia has avoided and rejected the method of then the second charge is also true. For it is a simple


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                            221


fact that Runia has not filed a gravamen against the position with respect to the Canons and the doctrine
Canons of Dordrecht, but has expressed his ideas of election and reprobation. The reader will have to
publicly and in writing in the book, Crisis In the Re-- excuse me for some comparatively long quotations in
formed Churches,  and in his chapter in that book, this connection. For I wish to make them in the
entitled, "Recent Reformed Criticisms of the Canons." interest of fairness and completeness. First of all, Dr.
Yet, from another viewpoint, that second charge is a Runia writes as follows:
separate one. For it concerns the very important prin-            Yet Berkouwer himself also sees `certain problems'
ciple, much under discussion in recent years, of sub-           in the Canons, especially in 1, 6. While in 1, 5 the
scription to the confessions and of the binding                 Canons have clearly stated that the "cause of guilt of
character of the confessions. This, of course, involves         unbelief' is "in man himself', 1, 6 seems to go be-
the issue of so-called "doctrinal freedom", or latitude         yond this. "One's first impression is that. this is a
of teaching.                                                    simplistic way of explaining causality." Berkouwer,
  In connection with the two above charges, you will            however, tries to defend the Canons. "When we read
                                                                1, 6, we see that it directs our attention to the acts of
recall, it is our purpose to evaluate the defense of Dr.        God in the life of man." A connection is laid "be-
Runia on the part of the Board of Directors of the              tween sinfulness and stubbornness on the one hand,
Theological College at Geelong, Australia.                      and the judicial acts of God on the other hand, not in
  In order to accomplish this evaluation we are review-         the sense that either belief or unbelief become an
ing Dr. Runia's chapter, "Recent Reformed Criticisms            independent and autonomous power over against the
of the Canons," in the book, Crisis In The Reformed             counsel of God, but in the sense that non-granting is
Churches.  In this review, we are up to Dr. Runia's             evidently meant as the judicial act of God. toward
summary of recent criticisms of the Canons by theolo-           man in sin." In spite of this defense, Berkouwer is
gians of the Gereformeerde  Keuken of the Netherlands.          well aware of the fact that there are certain difficul-
  Correctly, Dr. Runia puts the finger on Dr. G. C.             ties in the formulation of the Canons. Cautiously he
Berkouwer as the one who started the new discussions            admits that `it could be wished that also in 1, 6 the
                                                                light of the epilogue had been shining more clearly
on the Canons in his volume on Divine Election, one of          and that therefore the criticism of the eodem modo
Berkouwer's well-known series of Dogmatical Studies.            had been more explicit." It is indeed "difficult to
Runia shows where his sympathies lie at once in a               indicate completely and clearly the harmony between
statement like the following: "Throughout the volume            1, 6 and 1, 5 ." But then he immediately adds, more
we observe his deep appreciation for the teaching of            or less as an excuse for the Canons that this same
the  Canons,  against  Barth's accusation of teaching a         "opaqueness" is noticed wherever these things are dis-
decretum absolutum.  "  I, for one, can  find no deep           cussed. "It is not the opaqueness of paradoxical
appreciation for the teaching of the Canons in                  irrationality, but the opaqueness which is due to (the
Berkouwer. I consider his volume on Divine Election             nature of) unbelief, and which can be described from
to be one of the most pernicious of recent writings on          two sides: from the side of God's judgment and from
                                                                the side of man's sin." "The imbalance of the 
this subject. And instead of a deep appreciation for the                                                          causa-
                                                                concept which we observe in Calvin and in the
teaching of the Canons, I find in it a studied attempt          Canons is, on the level of human insight, a proof of
to undermine and to destroy the Canons. In fact, I              the inexplicability of sin and unbelief. We prefer this
cannot understand, even in the light of Dr. Runia's             imbalance rather than any synthesis from the point of
subsequent summary of Berkouwer's position, how he,             view of the praescientia of determinism."
Runia, can discover in Berkouwer a deep appreciation          We, may notice in this connection that Dr. Runia
for the teaching of the Canons, - except, of course, on passes by in silence (and does silence mean assent here?)
the basis that Runia agrees essentially with Berkouwer the fact that Berkouwer obviously misconstrues
and is, like Berkouwer, out of sympathy with .the Canons 1, 6, the main thrust of which is not that the
teachings of the Canons of Dordrecht, particularly on non-granting of faith is the judicial act of God toward
the doctrine of eternal reprobation.                        man in sin, but the fact that the non-granting offaith
  But let us turn to Runia's summary and evaluation proceeds from God 3 eternal decree.
of Berkouwer. After all, it is not our purpose to study       But let us quote further. Dr. Runia certainly points
and criticize Dr. Berkouwer's Divine Election in this to a dominant theme in Berkouwer's view of the
connection. The reader who is interested in this may Canons when in his next paragraph he writes as
consult the rather extensive study and critique by the follows:
late Reverend Herman Hoeksema in Vols. 32 and 33 of               In the foregoing paragraph the Conclusion of the
The Standard Bearer. At present we are interested in            Canons was mentioned. This epilogue plays a domi-
Berkouwer's views only in so far as Dr. Runia presents          nating part in Berkouwer's interpretation. Two state-
                                                                ments from the epilogue are mentioned again and
them and evaluates them.                                        again. The synod rejects the idea that its doctrine
  Although in the nature of the case Dr. Runia's pre-           teaches "that God, by a mere arbitrary act of his will,
sentation is very brief, we may accept that he presents         without the least respect or view to any sin, has pre-
rather adequately the essential points of Berkouwer's           destinated the greatest part of the world to eternal


     222                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER


            damnation, and has created them for this very pur-          please, in the first place, that Dr. Berkouwer does pre-
            pose" and "that in the same manner (Latin: eodem            cisely what the Synod asks should not be done. The
            modo) in which the election is the foundation and           Synod asks that their doctrine be judged from the
            cause of faith and good works, reprobation is the           public confession of the Churches themselves and from
            cause of unbelief and impiety." We are not saying too       the declaration of the orthodox doctrine confirmed by
            much, when we call the non eodem modo in partic-
            ular the master key which Berkouwer uses to open            the unanimous consent of all and each of the members
            the  door to the real teaching of the Canons, especially    of the whole Synod (foreign delegates included!).
            its teaching about reprobation.                             Moreover, the Synod has declared concerning the
       We should pay attention especially to that last state- Canons that this is the perspicuous, simple, and ingen-
     ment. There is no question about it that Dr. uous declaration of the orthodox doctrine respecting
     Berkouwer emphasizes very much what is called the the five articles controverted in the Belgic churches
     non eodem modo in his discussion of the Canons. As is and the rejection of the errors with which they have
     suggested in- the above quotation, the reference here is been troubled for some time. Moreover, the Synod
     to the Conclusion appended to the Canons by the judges that this doctrine is drawn from the Word of
     Synod of Dordrecht. In this Conclusion you find the God and is agreeable to the confessions of the Re-
     following opening paragraph:                                       formed churches. Berkouwer, instead of judging and
              And this is the perspicuous, simple, and ingenuous        testing the doctrine of the Reformed churches from
            declaration of the orthodox doctrine respecting the         their public confession, which is perspicuous, simple,
            five articles which have been controverted in the           and ingenuous, turns to two of these false charges of
            Belgic churches; and the rejection of the errors, with      the enemy which are rejected by the Conclusion as
            which they have for some tune been troubled. This           caricatures of the Reformed truth  - instead, mind
            doctrine, the Synod judges to be drawn from the             you, of letting the Canons speak for themselves - and
            Word of God, and to be agreeable to the confessions         he insists on considering all that the Canons say with
            of the Reformed churches. Whence it clearly appears,        respect to reprobation in the light of those two state-
            that some whom such conduct by no means became,
            have violated all truth, equity, and charity, in wishing    ments, especially the "not in the same manner." He
            to persuade the public.                                     does that, in the second place, in such a way that he
       Following this, there is a long series of statements really destroys the doctrine of the Canons concerning
     giving content to the last sentence quoted above. These sovereign reprobation. For this is what Dr. Berkouwer
     are all false charges which the enemies of the Re- actually seeks to do. He uses the so-called non eodem
     formed faith and of the truth of predestination have modo against the Canons, to destroy the teaching of I,
     levelled  against the Reformed churches and their 6, namely, that the fact that some do not receive the
     doctrine. Concerning these charges the fathers of gift of faith proceeds from God's eternal decree of
     Dordrecht state that "the Reformed churches not only reprobation. He wants to get rid of the latter idea, and
     do not acknowledge, but even detest with all their he wants to limit the truth solely to the idea that "the
     soul" these false accusations. And they call upon the cause or guilt of unbelief is in man himself." But now
     public to judge of the faith of the Reformed churches notice that Dr. Runia praises this! Instead of exposing
     not from the calumnies which are heaped upon it from the fact that Dr. Berkouwer in effect perverts and
     every side, nor from the private expressions of a few subverts the plain teaching of the Canons - as Runia
     among ancient and modern teachers, often dishonestly should have done - Dr. Runia writes that Berkouwer
:    quoted or corrupted and wrested to a meaning quite uses the  non eodem modo  as "the master key . . . to
     foreign to their intention, but from the public confes- open the door to the real teaching of the Canons,
     sion of the Churches themselves and from the declara- especially its teaching about reprobation." It is plain
     tion of the orthodox doctrine, confirmed by unani- from this alone that Runia is in thorough agreement
     mous consent of all and each of the members of the with Berkouwer on this score. Otherwise he would not
     whole Synod.                                                       speak of "the master key" and of "(opening) the door
       Now what does Dr. Berkouwer do with respect to to the real teaching of the Canons" (emphasis mine,
     the doctrine of election and reprobation in the HCH). Berkouwer  militates  against the real teaching of
     Canons? He picks out two of these false charges which the Canons; Runia does the same thing when he asserts
     the Synod of Dordrecht rejected, and he uses them to that Berkouwer opens the door to the real teaching of
     color all that he says about the Canons. In fact, he tries the Canons while Berkouwer actually corrupts the
     to explain - or rather, to explain away! - all that the Canons. Berkouwer militates against the real teaching
     Canons teach concerning reprobation from the view- of the Canons without having filed an official griev-
     point of the Synod's rejection of these two false ance; Runia does the same thing by saying "Amen" to
     charges made by the enemies of the truth. The two Berkouwer.
     charges are mentioned in the paragraph just quoted                   But let us go on.
     from Runia's essay. And the so-called  non eodem                     Dr. Runia continues to summarize the teaching of
     modo  is Berkouwer's chief tool here. Now notice, Berkouwer - all without any criticism or statement of


                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER                                                              223


disagreement. In the following paragraph it becomes                      and remains very cautious, but I believe that H. N.
plain that Berkouwer does not want sovereign reproba-                    Ridderbos was right, when he wrote that although
tion. On this score, Runia explains- Berkouwer cor-                      Berkouwer is in full agreement with the basic motifs
rectly. About this we have no quarrel with him. What                     of the Canons, the emphases are definitely somewhat
we quarrel with is the fact that Runia does not                          different from those in the 
                                                        criticize                                        Canons.
Berkouwer here. Notice carefully the following:                        Notice again:
      In the chapter on `Election and Rejection'                     1) That Runia concedes that there is no place for a
    Berkouwer more than once emphatically states that                decree of reprobation in Berkouwer's theology.
    "Scripture repeatedly speaks of God's rejection as a             2) That this is plainly contrary to the Canons, I, 6 and
    divine answer in history, as a reaction to man's sin             I, 15.
    and disobedience, not as its cause." In this connec-             3) That H. N. Ridderbos nevertheless declares that
    tion he points to such texts as 1 Sam. 15  :23, 2                Berkouwer is in full agreement with the basic motifs of
    Kings  17:20; Deut.  28:15ff.;  Lament.5:22;  Ps.                the Canons.
    51:13;  78:67; Is. 50:lff.; etc. He then asks the ques-          4) That K. Runia believes the Ridderbos is right.
    tion: is there any reason to add anything to this scrip-         5) That the hocus-pocus by which this obvious contra-
    tural testimony? Is there still a `plus', the `plus' of          diction is magically made all right is an implied distinc-
    God's eternal decree? Is there a double cause, one in
    man's sin and guilt, and a second and deeper one in              tion between the Canons and the basic motifs of the
    God's predestination? According to Berkouwer Calvin              Canons.
    at times wrote as if there were such a second causa in             It is a complete conundrum to me how anyone can
    God. He even writes that "Calvin has seen the actual             deny eternal reprobation and at the same time be in
    causa in predestination." Berkouwer's own vi&w is                agreement with the "basic motifs" of the Canons. This
    that the concept of cause is altogether insufficient.            is simply preposterous! Yet this is clearly  the position
    "One can never come to an acceptable solution by                 of Runia-Ridderbos. And it is, therefore, also a conun-
    means of the concept of cause." It leads inescapably             drum to me how the Board of Directors of Geelong  -
    to some form of determinism. . . .                               if they consulted Runia's essay  - could defend the
  Notice that Berkouwer, as he is here summarized by                 professor and reject the objections of Runia's
Runia, has succeeded in getting rid of the doctrine of               opponents.
reprobation completely. He does not want any other                     Near the end of this section, Runia gets  t9 the
divine rejection than a rejection that is "a reaction to             matter of the so-called "framework" of the confession
man's sin and disobedience." He does not want a                      as over against its basic motif. Notice, please, that he
divine rejection (reprobation) which is in any sense the             has already introduced this neat little distinction rather
cause. And remember that this is not only contrary to                subtly in what we have already quoted. Now he does
Calvin, as Berkouwer intimates; but it is clearly con-               so openly:
trary to the Canons in I, 6 and I, 15. Remember, too,                          More than ten years after the publication of his
that the Canons even in the Conclusion do not deny                       book on  Divine Election  Berkouwer touched again
that reprobation is the cause of unbelief and impiety;                   upon the  Canons  in a long article on "Questions
but they deny that reprobation is the sovereign cause                    Around the Confession." This time he speaks of `ten-
of unbelief and impiety IN THE SAME MANNER as                            sions' in the Canons. On the one hand, there is 1,5,
                                                                         which clearly speaks of man's own guilt, on the other
election is the foundation and cause of faith and good                   hand, there is 1, 6, which speaks of God as the cause
works. But all this Runia passes by. In fact, in a later                 behind receiving and not receiving faith. At this point
paragraph he makes it very plain again that he agrees                    there is something problematical in the formulation.
with Dr. Berkouwer. He uses others to express this                       Berkouwer tries to solve the problem by distinguish-
agreement and to express that Berkouwer, somehow or                      ing between the basic motif and the framework of the
other, cannot be guilty of militating against the                        Canons.  The basic motif is quite clear and fully scrip-
Canons. Nevertheless, Runia makes his own position                       tural. The central intention of the Canons is to speak
very plain. Notice:                                                      of "the undeserved election, the sovereignty of grace
      The question must be asked here, whether there is                  in the way of salvation, the election as fountain of
    still a place left for a  decree of reprobation.                     every saving good. Clearly and continually we hear
    Berkouwer is very cautious. H. Berkhof of Leiden, in                 the voice of the Gospel in the references to the
    a review of Berkouwer's volume on election, wrote:                   `golden chain of our salvation' and the `in Christ.' "
    Berkouwer is silent on I, 15 and this is significant!                But the framework, within which this basic motif is
    Although Berkouwer a few times does speak of a de-                   expressed is not always clear and pure. It is the frame-
    cree of reprobation, he usually puts the word `decree'               work of `causality.' There is a `casual' approach,
    between inverted commas. I believe that we may say                   which is strongly influenced by a certain exegesis of
    that there is virtually no place for such a `decree' in              Remans 9. The sovereignty of God is apparently seen
    Berkouwer's theology. He himself stops at the two                    as something deeper or higher than the `ekloge' of
    statements from the epilogue, quoted before, and at                  Rom. 9:ll. One gets the impression that there are
    the fact that in Scripture God's rejection is always a               two themes; on the one hand, the merciful purpose of
    reaction against man's prior rejection of God. He is                 election; on the other, the absolute sovereignty of


224                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER


       God `in general.' Renewed study of Romans 9-l 1 in             bound up, remember, with the sovereignty of election
       recent years, however, has convincingly shown that             and reprobation. Notice, finally, that this detested
       there is not such a double theme. The only theme                "causality" is discarded as belonging to the  insignifi-
       Paul deals with is that of the `ekloge', the purpose of        cant framework. Hocus-pocus! You can disagree with
       election, which God works out in the history of                the Canons and yet agree with them!
       Israel. The emphasis is upon God's acts of election in            We have already noticed that in Dr. Runia's view it
       history and not on a pre-temporal decree that in a
       causal way determines all things.                              is quite possible to disagree with the Canons' doctrine
         There is no need here to go any further into the             of an eternal decree of reprobation and yet to be in
       details of the article. The central question Berkouwer         full agreement with the basic motifs of the Canons.
       discusses is whether one can still .be faithful to the         Here we see the same idea. And again, Dr. Runia has
       confession, if one is critical of its `framework' but          no criticism, either here or in his later evaluation. And
       fully agrees with its basic motif. His answer is in the        how could he have criticism? For he has made it
       affirmative, for faithfulness to the confession is not a       abundantly plain that he is in agreement with
       matter of certain terms, but rather of the total struc-        Berkouwer's view. He has made it abundantly plain
       ture of the confession. There is therefore no need to          that he wants nothing of "causality," especially with
       lodge a gravamen against the Canons at this point.             respect to reprobation. And therefore, in order to
  Notice the clever sleight of hand. Berkouwer neatly maintain himself as a presumably Reformed man under
throws the whole matter of causality with respect to the Reformed confessions and subscription to these
God's decrees into the category of non-essential frame- confessions, he must necessarily go along with
work. Such  an  imp&taut matter as sovereign reproba-. Berkouwer's disjunction between framework and
tion (and don't forget: this inevitably means election                motif, between the "system of doctrine" and the  ex-
too!) can lightly be made a matter of insignificant pression of that system of doctrine in the confessions.
terms. Throw away the terms. It is the "basic motif' One may militate against the confessions without filing
that counts. There is a false disjunction here between a gravamen.
the so-called framework (terminology) and the basic                      On all counts thus far, the Fellowship is correct; and
motif. And notice that here again we hear the refrain the Board of Directors did Geelong and the churches a
about that detested causality  - which is inseparably disfavor by upholding Dr. Runia.


All Around Us

                   latitude in Teaching for the Gereformeerde Kerken
                                                    Drugs on Campus

                                                             Prof: H. i-lank0


L A T I T U D E   I N   T E A C H I N G   F O R   T H E   GERE-           Reformed Churches now allow latitude in teaching
FORMEERDE KERKEN                                                          and thus have departed from their time-honored posi-
  After the concluding decisions taken by the General                     tion.
Synod of the Reformed Churches (Gereformeerde                                    At the meeting of the Synod, Prof. G. C.
Kerken) in the Netherlands on the so-called "new                          Berkouwer, as reported in Trouw, asked the question:
theology", the question arose whether these decisions                     "Is there room in the Reformed Churches for persons
have allowed for latitude in teaching within the                          - and I reckon myself among them - who at this
denomination. In his editorials, Prof.  Hoeksema has                      stage of the reflection have great hesitations concem-
                                                                          ing the historicity of Adam?" Apparently the Synod
quoted these decisions and discussed them. Our readers                    gave no direct definitive answer to this question.
can consult these articles as background. The latest                             The Rev. A. Vroegingdeweij expressed his opinion
edition of the  RES Newsletter  contains an article on                    on the issue in Gereformeerd Weekblad by writing:
the discussion which is presently taking place in the                     "That the .Reformed Churches, which have come out
Netherlands with respect to this issue of latitude. We                    of the Secession and the Doleantie have now also
quote it here.                                                            officially accepted latitude in teaching and thereby
         After the General Synod of the Reformed                          have let go of the bond with Scripture and Confession
       Churches in the Netherlands issued a declaration on                is a handwriting on the wall."
       the new theology taught by certain theologians, a dis-                    Prof. J. H. Velema wrote in de Wekker concerning
       cussion began concerning the question whether the                  the consequences of the. declarations of the General


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                           225


Synod by saying, "The Reformed Churches have                    origin of sin without directly considering applying
taken an important step in the direction of the                 disciplinary measures.
Netherlands Reformed Church in that they tolerate                  "We fervently hope that all members of our
latitude in teaching in fact and in the declaration.            churches will pray and work to proceed in the right
This entails that the Reformed Confessions are no               path, that is, not in the way of subjectivistic latitude
longer safe with the Reformed Churches which a half             in teaching and deconfessionalism and not in the way
century ago swore to hold the heritage of Kuyper."              of formalistic and rabbinic confessionalism. That is
  Dr. J. J. Buskes wrote in Hervormd Nederland: "I              the difficult way. It is much easier to choose either for
do not agree with Kuitert's and Lever's views on                a church without confession or for a church which
Genesis l-3. These chapters provide more than a                 attributes to the confessions practically the same
teaching model, more than an anthropology. It is a              authority as to the Word of God."
testimony concerning pre-history and therefore not                 The entire problem is still being studied, including
concerning history in the usual sense of the word; but          the meaning of the earlier Synod's statement. It has
one may not separate this testimony from its connec-            been observed that perhaps no definite answer to the
tion with the history of Israel."                               question of freedom in teaching in the Reformed
  The Rev. G. Visee wrote in Opbouw that "the                   Churches in the Netherlands can be given until action
Synod has degraded the Scripture to a difference in             is taken on the forth-coming report which the study
human opinion. It has put the matter in the refrigera-          committee will submit to the next General Synod.
tor."                                                         Thus the whole question of "latitude of teaching"
  A retired minister in the Reformed Churches, Dr.          hangs open until the next meeting of Synod. And the
C. J. Goslinga, noted that on one day of the session        question of latitude is really this: Shall the Churches
the Synod stated that the previous Synod's statement        permit teachings in the Seminary, in the pulpits and in
(1966, 67) on the teaching of the Confessions and           church papers which are declared by Synod to be con-
Scripture concerning the historicity of Adam must be
maintained and then the next day declared that no           trary to the Confessions? This point ought to be clear.
disciplinary action would be brought against Pro-           The whole question is not really whether there is to be
fessor Kuitert, who denies the historicity of Adam.         permitted certain differences of opinion in the
He asked whether the Synod did not in fact hereby           churches on non-confessional subjects. The issue is
rescind the decision of the former Synod. "Does this        whether the confessions themselves are binding on the
not mean that at this point a certain latitude in           members of the Church - particularly the leaders.
teaching has been allowed, which the Synod precisely          And, of course, this involves the question of the
wanted to avoid?"                                           Scriptures themselves. For it is still the official position
  In reply to this question concerning latitude in          of the Gereformeerde Kerken that the Confessions
teaching, Professor Herman Ridderbos wrote in Gere-         contain the truth of the Scriptures.
formeerd Weekblad and agreed that the most recent
Synod did not rescind the decision of the previous            In the quote from the  RES Newsletter  there are
Synod and that it at the same time declared the views       differences of opinion on precisely what the Synod
of Prof. Kuitert not to be in agreement with the pre-       meant. In a certain sense these differences of opinion
vious Synod. "But," he continued, "this in  fiy             are understandable, for the decisions of the Synod
opinion does not mean that one can say: there is            were ambiguous and vague. On the one hand it is true
therefore a latitude of teaching at this point. It does     that the views of Kuitert were condemned. But on the
mean that the General Synod was not ready to apply          other hand, these views were condemned rather half-
sanctions. But all that is not actively prevented is not    heartedly and weakly and no disciplinary decisions
thereby declared free or permitted. Gradations are          were taken. The result is that, while Synod expressed
necessary, also in ecclesiastical judgment, if it con-
cerns the consequences. The Synod has thus judged in        some disapproval of Kuitert's views, it did so with a
this instance and has given the reason that the con-        very weak voice and did not do anything which would
tinuing agreements, also in the issue that is at stake,     prevent Kuitert from continuing to propagate these
are too great to take further decisions at this time. It    very views which Synod disapproved.
should be added that for many the position of Pro-            It is hard to make any sense out of such a position;
fessor Kuitert is too untransparent to draw definite        i.e., if one looks at it from the point of view of princi-
confessional conclusions from it."                          ple. After all, Kuitert is either in conflict with Scrip-
  Ridderbos denies that everything is now permitted         ture and the Confessions, or he is not. If he is, Synod
in the Reformed churches: "To say that the action of        must specifically show that he is and condemn these
the Synod implies a general freedom in teaching is an
unwarranted conclusion."                                    views and ask Kuitert to confess his sin and repent. If
  The Rev. J. Overduin wrote in Centraal Weekblad           he is not, then Synod can only demonstrate that
concerning the future of the church in regard to the        Kuitert is in perfect agreement with the Scriptures and
new theology: "As long as the guilt-character of evil       the Confessions and that the charges brought against
and the necessity of a gracious redemption in Christ        him were false.
Jesus is unequivocally recognized and confessed, the          But apparently Synod took the position of expedi-
church can reject all sorts of ideas concerning the         ency. Synod weakly condemned his views, but did


226                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


                                                       --.
nothing about Kuitert. And,  -in Synod's own words,             It is difficult to tell. There are many in the  Gere-
this was because there were so many in the Church f&meerde Kerken who are deeply alarmed by all these
who agree with Kuitert. This is not principle; this is trends in their Church. Whether their alarm is great
expediency.                                                   enough and their courage strong enough to bring about
   But at the same time, because Synod took the way reformation is another question. We hope and pray
of expediency, the only conclusion that one can come that it is. For this is necessary if .the Reformed faith is
to, at least for the present, (the next Synod will have to be preserved in the land of our fathers.
to make further decisions) is that there is room in the
church for differences of opinion on matters which are DRUGS ON CAMPUS
taught in the Confessions. That is, the Confessions are         Newsweek  recently carried a brief article which
no longer binding. Men may teach what they please documented the sharp rise in the use of drugs on the
without regard for what the Confessions teach. Even campuses of the nation. We quote the article.
                                                                    In the spring of 1967, when the Gallup poll first
though the majority of those present at the Synod may            asked U.S. college students whether they had ever
not think that these views are right, men who hold               tried marijuana or LSD, only 5 percent said they had
them may continue to teach them nonetheless. No                  smoked grass and just 1 percent admitted they had
other conclusion is possible.                                    dropped acid. Last month, asking the identical ques-
   This is sad. Even from a historical point of view it is       tion of 1,063 students at 61 campuses, the Gallup
sad. It was precisely this same issue (the issue of the          organization confirmed a stunning increase in drug
binding character of the confessions) which led to the           use that many campus observers have long suspected:
reformations in the Netherlands called the Afscheiding           42 percent of all college students now concede that
and the Doleantie. (One of the correspondents quoted             they have experimented with marijuana and one in
in the  RES Newsletter  also refers to this.) Then too           seven has tried LSD.
there were those in the Hervormde Kerk who wanted                  The new Gallup poll, which was released this week,
                                                                 found that about half of the students who have
liberty to teach views contrary to the confessions. This         sampled marijuana and LSD were regular enough
was permitted within the Church. This was what                   users to have tried them within the previous month.
finally led to the break under De Cock and Kuyper.               A slightly smaller percentage of those who had exper-
But now this same denomination, the Gereformeerde                imented with amphetamines and barbiturates were
Kerken, a denomination which traces its history                  classified as regular users. . . .
directly back to the Afscheiding and the Doleantie, is             The Gallup poll also discovered that College stu-
going to do the same thing the Hervormde Kerk did.               dents are not much worried about the possible harm
   Will there be another reformation? Will there be              that marijuana might cause them. Nine out of ten
now too, as there was in the days of De Cock and                 among the regular users insisted that pot was neither
Kuyper, an element in the Church which considers                 harmful to their health nor likely to lead to harder
                                                                 drugs. And the mere fact that they admit to using
loyalty to the confessions (as the truth of the Word of          marijuana - which is against the law everywhere and
God) more important than false ecclesias&al  unity? Is           a felony in many states - indicates that college
the courage of the fathers of the Gereformeerde                  potheads are not troubled, either, about the ostensi-
Kerken to be found yet among some of the sons?                   ble criminality of their behavior.


The Strength of Youth

                                    The Sanctity of Sex
                                                 Rev. J. Korteting

  One of the great testing grounds for covenant youth gives expression to his lu.%t.
is sex. It takes a veritable mountain of faith to surface       Sex plays an important role in the degradation of
above the ocean of salacious material that the per- man into the cesspool of his depravity.
vaders of filth spew forth. round about us. The evi-            The world of the reprobate wicked is increasing in
dence is so overwhelming that one loathes to plumb iniquity. The nature of sin itself brings this about. The
the depths of such depravity, the scum that comes to root of sin is in the human heart which is full of cor-
the surface is telling enough. The public immorality of ruption, "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts,
off-broadway, x-rated movies, pornography, etc. gives murders, adulteries,  fornications, theft, false witness,
one a sufficient whiff of the  putrification that really blasphemies; these are the things which defile a man,"
lies in the soul and private lives of depraved man as he Matt. 15: 19, 20. This hatred has a direct effect upon


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 227



the will of man, causing him to lust, "But every man is    Rom. 1: 26. According to Jude 7. "Even as Sodom and
tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and          Gomorrha, and the  cities  about-them in like manner,
enticed. Then when lust hath conceived it bringeth giving themselves over to fornication, and going after
forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering
death," James 1: 14, 15.                                   the vengeance of eternal fire." These cities were so
  This nature of man expresses itself in all his evil corrupt that God sent fire upon them, and this fire
works. As history progresses, man becomes more vile typifies the eternal fire of hell. They were ripe for
in his expression of sin. This is true in the individual judgment; their sexual perversion contributed to it.
person: the older he becomes the more entrenched he Peter describes the last days in terms of sexual evil,
is in his sin. Likewise, through man's relationship to     "But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust
others, society itself becomes more corrupt, govern- of uncleanness . . . but these as natural  brute'beasts
ments fall because of moral depravity, and finally the made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the
whole world will become so wicked that God will de- things that they understand not; and shall utterly
clare that their cup of iniquity is full and Christ will perish in their own corruption," II Peter 2: 10, 11. It
return again to judge them and cast them into perdi- surely is a sign for us that the end of the world is upon
tion forever.                                              us. Man's cup of iniquity is almost full. The "new
  In this process of moral decay, illicit sex comes to morality" gives license to commit fornication and
expression. Not that sex is itself the cause of wicked- adultery and even sexual perversion. The leaders of the
ness or that sex is sinful in itself. The Scriptures make apostate church condone such evil in the "name of
abundantly clear that sex was part of the original crea- Christ." This is anti-Christ, and no greater evil can be
tion which God saw as good. The proper use of sex is imagined than "church" leaders advocating and con-
part of the fruits of grace which the child of God doning every form of sexual sin.
receives in Jesus Christ. Rather, depraved man succeeds       Covenant young people are daily. confronted by this
in taking this gift of God and using it in his lustful     assault. One cannot escape the brash appeal which the
pleasure. In the process of spiritual decline, sex plays a unbelieving world and apostate church make in behalf
significant role.                                          of such corruption. It isn't an under-ground move-
  This becomes evident in the individual life of the ment. It permeates life on every side of us. Its in-
sinner. Sexual sins undergo a process of decay. One can    fluence is felt in the news media, radio, television, the
generalize to a degree and say that nudity is the early press, all the way from lurid details of events happen-
stage. This may express itself in many forms, all of ing in our present world to advertising garbed in sex-
which have this in common, the delight in the display      appeal. It's apparent in public morals, whether it's
of the naked human body. Whether this is in the flesh,     behavior at private clubs, public rock festivals, or the
pictures, or novels, the sin is the same, to entice to     wide-open beach. It has a direct influence on styles of
lust. Usually this leads to other forms of sexual sin.     clothing, popular music, dating customs, dormitory
One soon becomes disillusioned with looking, he wants life, etc.
action. In the make believe world of the movies, the          Well may we ask, wherein lies the strength to be
customer wants more than "flicks of flesh," they want holy in the midst of all this evil. Particularly, at a time
action. Similarly in every day life, one soon looks a- in life when the sex drive is strongest and the entice-
round for the experience of sex; he wants to get in- ment to lust comes from every side, how can young
volved. This leads some to prostitution, others to illicit people resist this evil? Considering that our dating cus-
love affairs with their dates or casual acquaintances toms allow young people considerable privacy on the
they have met at the drive-in or bar. Even this becomes one hand, and yet demand of them to wait with mar-
boring after a time; it all seems too casual, the thrill riage until they have an extended education or can be
disappears. As in the movies, so in real life, the next fmancially self-supporting, how can covenant young
step is sex perversion. The only thrill left is to get people remain sexually pure through these times?
involved in something unusual. Lesbianism, homo-             You know as well as I do that there are many an-
sexuality, orgies, and other forms of sin worse than the swers offered to these questions. Almost without
beast, have their day at the theater and, according to exception the leaders around us say, you can't expect
the new media, in the every day life of many people. them to be sexless in these circumstances. They argue
  The Word of God tells us that such a corruption of from a mere physical perspective, you can just as well
sex contributes greatly to the development of sin and      tell them to go without eating as to deny them sex.
ultimately to God's full measure of righteous judgment     This is based on the idea that the sex-drive is merely
upon fallen man. It is noteworthy that Paul in             physical. The modern church agrees and therefore tries
Romans 1 describes homosexuality as the basest form        to free young people of guilt feelings by saying sex
of man's depravity, see verses 26, 27. The sexual de-      expressed with loving concern for others is not only
pravity is the result of God's present judgment upon       permissible, but encouraged.
the wicked: "God gave them up unto vile affections,"         The Scripture takes a different view of sex. Consider


228                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



the following:                                                nor female in Christ, we are all one. Our relationship to
   1. Sex was part of God's creation and therefore            Christ is not sexual, it is spiritual. We are members of
beautiful. God did not simply create the first male and His flesh and bones, Eph. 5:30. As the body of Christ,
female, He created the first married couple, husband we receive our strength and direction from our head.
and wife. The institution of marriage recorded in Gen.        Through this union of faith, our life is His life, "For to
2: 24,25 reflected upon the life of Adam and Eve.             me to live is Christ," Phil. 1: 21. .Or, "I live, yet not I
   2. Sin affected this gift of God. Through Adam's but Christ liveth in me," Gal. 2:20. This life of grace
fall, the use of this good gift became corrupted by           enables us to strive in our calling to put sex in its
natural man. God said, "The day thou eatest thereof proper place. `Sex is not just a natural drive, it is one
thou shalt die." This applied to man's use of sex as part of the body which is the temple of God and which
well. Notice carefully, sex itself is not sinful any more must be held in subjection in service to Him, I
than man's body become sinful. Rather sex was sub- Cor. 9:27.
jected to the tyrannical use of sinful man.                     Fourthly, since the life of Christ is still expressed in
  3. The promise of Christ and His redemption gave our flesh, Phil. 1: 22, we still sin. None of us is sexually
hope for the victory over evil, see Gen. 3: 15. This in- pure throughout, see Matt. 5 : 28. There is hope for the
volved two things, the payment for sins committed and sinner; we may go to God through Christ and ask for-
the freedom to cease from sin. Through Christ, Israel giveness and strength.
looked forward to the forgiveness of sins and the hope          From this we may conclude two things.
of perfect obedience. Hence in the Old Testament,               First, we must flee from everything that would
there was need for the 7th commandment. The law entice us to lust and thereby sin against God. We are
showed Israel what constituted sin and their need for not obedient children if we know that certain things
the Savior became  .evident.  The blood of the mercy lead us to sin and still continue in them. We must seek
seat pointed to the covering, the oil of the lamps what is right. "Therefore to him that knoweth to do
directed them to their future perfect obedience.              good and doeth it not, to him it is sin," James 4: 17.
  4. In Christ we have the strength to deal with all          Dirty novels, lustful movies and television, suggestive
things in life, sex included, and to subject it all in the    songs, sexy clothing, long hours in the dark on the
service of Jesus Christ to the glory of God. This in-         couch or in the back seat of the car, alcohol and drugs
cludes the following:                                         cannot produce the works of righteousness. It entices
  First, through the gospel of Christ the love of God to lust and when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth
enters our hearts. This gospel tells us what the purpose      sin. As Christian young people we must recognize that
of sex is, viz. marriage, to be used within the bonds of Christ taught us to pray, "Lead us not into temptation,
marriage for mutual happiness and godly service. but deliver us from evil." How can we sincerely pray
Hence the Bible speaks of marriage as honorable, this and deliberately walk into temptation ourselves?
Heb. 13:4 and a great mystery, Eph. 5 :3 1, 32.                 Secondly, we recognize that Christ is the source of
  Secondly, sexual expression apart from marriage is our spiritual strength and therefore we must walk in
sin. It is beneficial to read, "Ann Landers Talks to close fellowship with Him. How we must read the love
Teen-agers about Sex," or Evelyn Duvall's, "Why Wait letter our "Husband" has sent to us calling us to be
till Marriage." They give us many cogent reasons why faithful to Him and assuring us that He will return
pre-marital sex is dangerous, e.g. fear of pregnancy, shortly for the wedding. How we must resist all suitors
venereal disease, jeopardize plans for future.life, guilt who would beckon us into immorality. We must be on
feelings, sex on the sly is dirty, breaks up romances, our knees in prayer to God asking Him for grace to be
etc. Yet they do not deal with the one thing most obedient. We need the fellowship of His Church and
significant for covenant youth. It is wrong because it is the preaching of the gospel on a regular basis. We must
sin against God. We cannot express our love for God spend quiet moments reflecting upon this fellowship
by sexual immorality: rather we show contempt. In with Him.
Christ we admit this and desire to show our love by             In such a way, we will walk our way to glory with
obeying His will.                                             these two petitions on our lips, "God be merciful to
  Thirdly, the spiritual strength to overcome tempta- me a sinner," Luke 18: 3, and "Teach me thy way 0
tion is found in Christ alone. Just think, we are mar- Lord, lead me in a plain path," Ps. 27: 11.
ried to Christ. According to Gal. 3:28, we are not male


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                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER                                                               229


Contending jar the Faith
                    The Doctrine of Atonement
                                               THIRD PERIOD  - 730-l 517 A.D.
                                                                 ANSELM

                                                          Rev. H Veldman

  In our preceding article we quoted from Anselm's                  tory of Dogma, gives us his following evaluation of this
book, "Cur Deum Homo," in connection with his view of Anselm:
doctrine of the atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ.                           In appreciating Anselm's arguments we must
We now wish to conclude our discussion of Anselm's                         remember that he answers the question why God be-
view of the atonement by quoting from Rev. H.                              came man only from a single viewpoint, namely, that
Hoeksema's notes on this subject:                                          the necessity of the satisfaction of God's justice to
      As to his views, we call attention especi%lly_to the                 atone for the sin of man was rooted in God's very
    conception of the atonement of Christ. Th& he de-                      nature. The reason for the incarnation of the Son of
    veloped especially in his famous work, "Cur Deus                       God can, of course, be considered from a higher point
    Homo," or "The Necessity of the Incarnation." In                       of view. As to his conception of the atonement from
    this work he tries to find the basis for the necessity of              its forensic aspect it may be said that his view is
    the atonement in the nature of God. He reasons as                      undoubtedly correct, lucid, and also profound. It
    follows: 1) By his sin man deprived God of His glory                   may be said that it is a decided advance over what
    that was due to Him from man. Hence, man must                          had been offered beforehand. Yet it would seem that
    needs give satisfaction, for tbis is required by the jus-              his development of this doctrine is lacking in this
    tice of God. It is true that God is merciful, but His                  respect, that he does not sufficiently emphasize the
    compassion can never be in conflict with his justice.                  element that Christ is the Head of His people, and
    Nor can God ever be so merciful that He sacrifices His                 that as such He directly bore their sin on the accurs,ed
                                                                           tree.
   justice. The atonement can never be deduced from
   the mercy of God alone. 2) This satisfaction which                 The views of  Ans&lm  were opposed by Roscellinus
   man must bring he himself can never make. This is                and also by  Abelard.  Roscellinus was a contemporary
   impossible, first of all, because of the enormity of his         of Anselm and  a teacher of  Abelard. He was serving as
    sin and the fact that the value of the sacrifice must be        canon of Compiegne in the diocese of Soissons, 1092,
   equivalent to the greatness of the sin committed.                when he was obliged to recant his alleged tritheism
   Man's sin, Anselm reasons, is greater than the whole             (three gods), which he substituted for the doctrine of
   world, for it is committed against God, Who is the               the Trinity.  Abelard, 1079-l 142, was one of the most
   highest good. The whole world should not have been               conspicuous characters. of Europe. His fame was de-
   sufficient to tempt man to sin against God. And                  rived from the brilliance of his intellect. He differed
   therefore the sacrifice that is required to atone for
   that sin must be greater than the whole world. And in            widely from Anselm. The latter was a constructive
   the second place, even apart from his obligation to              theologian;  Abelard was a critic. Anselm was delib-
   bring a sacrifice, man is always a debtor to God with            erate,  Abelard was impulsive and rash. Anselm pre-
   his whole being and with all his life. He must love the          ferred seclusion;  Abelard sought publicity. Among
   Lord his God with all his heart and mind and soul and            teachers exercising the spell of magnetism over their
   strength, and that continuously, without inter-                  hearers,  Abelard stands in the front rank and probably
   ruption. The result is that man has nothing extra to             has not been excelled in France. He was a man of
   bring. He can never do more than what was required               daring thought and restless disposition, and he was un-
   of him. 3) Therefore, since God only is greater than             stable in his mental beliefs and morally unreliable.
   the world, He alone can bring this sacrifice, and it is            Roscellinus and  Abelard were nominalists whereas
   clearly established that the Mediator must be divine.            Anselm was a realist. Realism taught that the universals
   He must be God. 4) Yet he must also be man, for the              or ideas are not mere generalizations of the mind but
   justice of God requires that man suffer the conse-
   quences for his sin, which man committed. And thus               have a real existence. The Nominalists taught that uni-
   Anselm gives an answer to the question, "Cur Deus                versals or general conceptions have no antecedent
   Homo?" and establishes the necessity of the incarna-             existence. I may have an idea in my mind but this does
   tion by reasoning from the Divine nature and its re-             not necessarily mean that this idea is based upon an
   lation to man's sin. We may note here that the reason-           objective reality. We can well understand the implica-
   ing of Anselm is not unlike that in the Heidelberg               tions of such a conception. Just because I may have an
   Catechism in Lord's Days 5 and 6.                                idea of God or of Christ does not mean that this idea is
  And then Rev. Hoeksema, in his notes on the  His-                 based upon the fact that God and Christ are also  objec-


      230                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER



      tive realities. Hence, I may believe something to be                   Decrees of the council of Trent in their final state-
      true that does not exist.                                              ment.
        Another great Schoolman, if not the greatest, was                  Rev. Hoeksema gives us the following historical sur-
      Thomas Aquinas, often called the Angelic Doctor,                  vey of Thomas Aquinas:
      whose work Summa Theologica  may be considered the                        His work, Summa Theologica, may be considered
      crowning point of all the efforts of scholasticism. Of                 the crowning point of all the efforts of scholasticism.
      Aquinas, Philip Schaff, in his History of the Christian                It was widely used by all Catholic seminaries, and
      Church, Vol. V, 661-662, writes the following:                         strongly recommended as late as 1879 by Pope Leo
               In an altar piece by Traini, dating from 1341, in             XIII. Thomas Aquinas was born in a castle near
             the church of St. Caterina, Pisa, Thomas Aquinas is             Aquino in 1224. His family, like that of Anselm, be-
             represented as seated in the centre with a book open            longed to the nobility. At the early age of five he was
-.           before him. At the top of the cloth the artist has              placed in a monastery and educated by the monks of
             placed Christ, on one side of him Matthew, Luke, and            Monte Cassino. His education was continued in
             Paul and on the other, Moses, John, and Mark. Below             Naples, where, at the age of 16 and without the
             Thomas Aquinas, and on the left side, Aristotle is              knowledge of his parents, he joined the order of the
             represented standing and facing Thomas. Aristotle               Dominicans. His mother was so depressed at this that
             holds an open volume which is turned towards the                she watched for him on the road, forced him to come
             central figure. On the right hand Plato is represented,         with her, and confined him in the castle, where he
             also standing and facing Thomas with an open                    devoted himself to the study of Holy Scripture for
             volume. At the foot of the cloth there are three                two years, But they could not persuade him to de-
             groups. One at each comer consists of monks looking             nounce the step he had taken. After two years
             up admiringly at Thomas. Between them, Averrhoes                Thomas escaped his prison through a window and
             is represented reclining and holding a closed book.             went to Naples. He studied under the famous
             This remarkable piece of art represents with accuracy           Albertus Magnus, first in Cologne, later in Paris. He
             the central place which has been accorded to Thomas             was made a doctor of theology in 1255. He taught
             Aquinas in the mediaeval theology. Arabic philos-               large multitudes of students in Paris,, Rome, and
             ophy closes its mission now that the great exponent             Naples. It was in his latter years that he wrote his
             of Christian theology has come. The two chief philos-           Summa Theologica.  He died in 1274 on his way to a
             ophers of the unaided reason offer to him the results           church council at Lyons. From this description of his
             of their speculations and do him homage. The body               life we may easily gather that he was a man of a
             of monks admire him, and Christ, as it were, com-               determined character. Besides, he was known as
             mends him.                                                      devout and pious, a man who always labored dili-
               Thomas Aquinas, called the Angelic doctor,  -                 gently, as well as prayerfully. He is known as one of
       doctor angelicus, - 1225-l 274, is the prince of the                  the keenest minds of the Middle Ages, was an able
             Schoolmen, and next to St. Augustine, the most                  defender of the doctrines of the church. And the
             eminent divine of the Latin Church. He was a man of             epithet, "the Angelic Doctor," is a testimony to his
             rare genius, wisdom, and purity of life. He had an              ability as a teacher.
             unrivalled power of orderly and vigorous statement.           As to his views on the atonement, to which we are
       Under his hand the Scholastic doctrines were organ-              now calling attention, Rev. Hoeksema has the
             ized into a complete and final system. He expounded        following:
             them with transparent clearness, and fortified them               As to his views on the atonement, in the main line
       with powerful arguments -derived from Scripture,                     his doctrine agrees with that of Anselm. Yet there are
             tradition, and reason. Mystical piety and a sound               some elements, as well as some departures, from the
             intellect were united in him. As compared with many            view of Anselm by which he prepared the way for the
             of the other Schoolmen, notably with Duns Scotus,              later views of the Roman Catholic church. They are:
             Thomas was practical rather than speculative. Popes               1) He denied that atonement through satisfaction
             -and councils have repeatedly acknowledged his                 was absolutely necessary, as Anselm had strenuously
             authority as a teacher of Catholic theology. Thomas            argued. He taught a relative necessity for the satis-
             was canonized by John XXII, 1323, and raised to the            faction of Christ, that is, he taught that God's
             dignity of "doctor of the church," 1567. In 1879,              omnipotence could have ordained a different way in
             Leo XIII commended him as the corypheus (leader)               which to redeem His people than by the satisfaction
             and prince of all the Schoolmen, and as the safest             of the Mediator. But once having determined that
             guide of Christian philosphy in the battle of faith and        redemption should take place with the satisfaction of
             reason against the sceptical and revolutionary tend-           His justice, the death of Christ was necessary. It is
             encies of the nineteenth century, who "set to rest             evident that in this argument, which is wholly based
             once  for all the discord between faith and reason,            on reason, and certainly not on Scripture, Aquinas
             exalting the dignity of each and yet keeping them in           forgets that God's omnipotence cannot be in conflict
             friendly alliance." In 1880 this pope pronounced him           with His righteousness and justice. And if it is impos-
             the patron of Catholic schools. In the teachings of            sible that God deny His righteousness and justice,
             Thomas Aquinas we have, with one or two excep-                 satisfaction is strictly necessary.
             tions, the doctrinal tenets of the Latin Church in           The Lord willing, we will continue with this in our
             their perfect expositions as we have them in the           following .article.


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  231



In His Fear

                           Amusing and Confusing
                                                   Rev. John A. Heys

   It happens here in our own city and in thousands of Church in the Community."
cities across the face of our land, but it struck us as          Surely the unchurched, the world, is amused by all
pot en t  ially amusing and confusing while paging this, and Satan chuckles as he sees the churches vying
through an advertising paper when we were "out of with each other, jockeying for the best position, rather
town" recently.                                                than for the purest manifestation of the truth. And
   Scattered through the paper, which did have on a many serious-minded children of God are confused by
separate page a church directory listing the church, her it all. It seems to us, from the very wording of these
pastor's name, location of the church and time of ser- slogans that they are directed not to the unchurched,
vices, were also advertisements of the church itself, (except in some rare instances) for they use words
much as you would advertise a manufactured product, which the world cannot even understand, and phrases
a college or university, a repair service or banking ser- which only those who have a rather detailed knowl-
vice. Paging through the paper from front cover to             edge of doctrine and of church history can appreciate.
back page one got the impression that all these One gets the impression that it is exactly a case of
churches in the area were competing with each other striving to draw away from one group, or from one
for membership, the one' seeking to draw away from church, to add to its own membership. And the serious
the other, the one claiming to have something that the - minded Christian who, through no fault of his own,
other lacked, and in some instances as though only it          finds himself in a  .strange city over the Sabbath, is
could possibly have this element to offer.                     confused by all the claims and counterclaims. Likewise
  Many of the churches had mottos, slogans, procla- is the family that moves into the area and is looking
mations, or whatever you wish to call them, which for a church home.
seemed to express some superiority over the others. In           Let it be stated in parentheses here. that it is to be
some instances churches - and please note the double           deplored that men will deliberately arrange to be in a
plural - in the same denomination seemed to be seek- city where they have no assurance that on this parti-
ing to impress the readers with the fact that they had         cular Sabbath they will find a place where they can
not and do not go along with the corruptions to be receive the Bread of Life in the pure preaching of the
found in their denomination. It would seem, however, Word. Tragic it is too that men will move with their
as though all the churches in a given denomination families - those poor children!! - into new areas for a
ought to be able to use the same slogan and to identify better job, advancement into the world, more social
themselves as being the denomination that holds to life and the like, without first determining that there is
this truth or position.                                        a church there where they can receive the Word of
  In some instances the slogan or proclamation God, and where there will be men who are `seriously
stressed the doctrinal purity of the congregation. This interested in keeping them in the way of righteousness
often was combined with a statement of loyalty to the and in a walk of faith.
confessions of the denomination. We have an instance             And what about the riot of names of the churches
here in our own area where the stress is the laid upon         through the land! This, too, must be amusing to the
the fact that "Ours is the Friendly Church," and con- world and confusing to the serious-minded believer.
geniality among the members is. presented as a point of The one calls itself The Church of God, as though all
appeal to draw into its circle from other churches, the rest are not His church. Another comes along and
rather than purity of doctrine, faithfulness to the Word feels the need, because of disagreement with this
of God and insistence upon a walk of faith. Come to            group, to add to it, and wants to be called The Church
think of it, we cannot recall seeing any church adver- of God in Christ, or The Church of God of Prophecy,
tisement anywhere that sought to draw and attract by implying that the others reject- Christ and the proph-
stressing its faithful adherence to Christian discipline.      ecies of Holy Writ, and are therefore not to be trusted.
Why? Would this earmark of the true church only Then there are those words of true, orthodox, reor-
frighten away? ,Conceivably a church that would adver- ganized and even reformed, which all serve again to
tise itself as standing for the principle that all its mem-    point out that these are superior to those who cannot
`hers are free to "do their thing" would grow and use these words, or do not use them.
"prosper." Which reminds us of another slogan used by            The enemies of the church must find it amusing that
a church in the area that "Ours is the fastest Growing there is so much competition in the church of Him


232                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



Who is the Prince of Peace; that there is so much fight- of this religion business for me!" He said, "I will do my
ing, wrangling, greed, seeking of the things here below thing! " And the Cains in the church sphere today are
by the organization that condemns these activities in legion. They will decide for themselves how God ought
the world, and claims to have the solution to all the to be worshipped, and that wherein God ought to be
world's problems.                                               pleased. And since the day of the Reformation men
  Now all these lines are not written as a condemna- have confused God's speech and scattered into every
tion of the practice of a church or group of churches conceivable direction. At the tower of Babel God con-
making itself known in the midst of this wicked world. fused man's speech and scattered him to the four
We are not branding as not being In His Fear all use of corners of the earth. But in an evil interpretation of
the means at our disposal for witnessing where the the unchaining of the Scriptures by the great Reforma-
church of God may be found on the Sabbath, and tion, men have corrupted God's speech and scattered
where the pure preaching of the Word may be found in the church into factions and splinters too numerous to
a church that is dedicated to strict Christian discipline.      count. Men have felt free to interpret as they please.
In fact, if ever it was necessary to let the confused and Men have dared to free themselves from the Scriptures,
`disturbed saints know where they can still hear God's and to free a text here and there from its context.
Word instead of man's philosophies, where there still is and from the rest of Scripture and gone to some
the preaching  from  the infallible Word of God that fantastic extremes.
insists that it is infallible, it is necessary today. And we      The Roman Catholic Church is also amused by all
surely do live in a day and age when many are con- this and claims to be the true Church exactly because
fused. The foundations  ,are shaken. The clamor is to it has not been divided and has through the ages con-
restate the creeds, because they contain that which tinued as one united group of churches. It advertises
militates against the flesh and denies freedom - free- itself also as such. Its membership must also be con-
dom, that is, to walk in sin.                                   fused by all the claims and counterclaims of the Prot-
  The fifth column that comes neither from the right, estant churches. To the amusement of Satan, it only
nor from the left, makes no attack from the front or adds to the confused picture when the Romish church
from the rear, but from within the very bosom of the            advertises its claim to being the only church. And again
church, by her own sons and daughters, her own                  Satan chuckles when he hears all the answers given
pastors and professors of theology, has introduced so today to his question, "Yea, hath God said. . . .? Are
much of man's philosophies that it needs to be                  you sure that you understand what He said?"
stressed, by those who are faithful to the truth, unto            But against this Romish church where man's word is
those who miss the Word of God and hear the comfort- substituted for God's, and men are worshipped in place
less word of man, that here one may come and eat and            of God, where it is taught that salvation depends upon
drink of the Bread of Life and of the Water of Life.            man's works rather than Christ's finished work on the
  And all this is so strange in a day when - exactly            cross, the churches that want God's Word and find it
because of that fifth column  - there is so much talk to be the gospel's good news, to hear that we are saved
about the fact that it really makes no difference to            by grace and not. by works,  should  witness of this
what church you belong, as long as you belong to a truth, not for the sake of numerical growth, not with
church; when it is claimed that no church has all the the carnal satisfaction of having won a victory over
truth and all have a part of it; and when there is such a       another church (or group of men, actually), but for the
concentrated effort today to unite all the churches glory and spiritual wellbeing of His children.
under one powerful  - but not doctrinally pure  -                 If this is behind church advertisements it is In His
superchurch.                                                    Fear. And then that church or group of churches must
  Now, of course, where the advertisement is false, it be willing also to suffer the ridicule and mockery, the
certainly is not In His Fear. And in not a few instances scorn and contempt of the enemies of the truth.
this is the case. Loyalty to the Word of God and to the           Yea, that church, or group of churches, must realize
confessions of the denomination are claimed but not that such witnessing will mark it as that which will
practiced. Sometimes this is done exactly to try to receive the first blows, and is in the front line off the
keep within the fold those who are rightfully disturbed battle of faith to receive the most vicious attacks of
by what is done in that fold. Then it is not in the spirit      the antichristian forces. They must expect to be the
of competition to draw in others, but it serves to keep         first ones to have their doors closed and their meetings
in that which threatens to leave for its very spiritual broken up, their clergy cast into the dungeon and their
nourishment and life. And history will show that the officebearers fined and/or abused.
heretic always strives to convince that he is loyal to the        If we do not want to advertise that we stand for the
Word of God and the creeds of his denomination. truth today, we surely will advertise falsely in that day.
Satan himself in the beginning posed as being inter- But in this day of apostacy, when it is hard to find the
ested in what God said. He asked Eve, "Yea, hath God pure preaching of the Word, and when Christian dis-
said. . . .?" Cain did not say, "I will not sacrifice. None cipline is almost a museum piece, let those churches


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  233



who truly hold fast to the truth let their light shine      "This God is our God. Come with your mark of the
before men, that the serious-minded believer may find       beast. Come with your persecutions and vehement hate
the Word of God and with it taste and see that God is       against us because we represent God and His Christ. We
good. Let them feed the hungry, give water to the           will not silence our voice. For we are not seeking num-
thirsty and continue to say before the wicked world,        bers or earthly power but the glory of God."


Studies in Election

                                     Its Well-Spring
                                             Rev. Robert C. Harbach

   The eternal purpose of God's counsel, as we saw in       of God is one, the Husband the head of the wife, and
the foregoing article, was realized in one of its  ,most    the wife for the Husband. Yet the Husband, the Bride-
major steps in the divine incarnation. The independ- groom is the first in the order of the decree. With
ent, self-sufficient God is also sovereign and absolute     Christ and His people set up from everlasting in the
in His purpose. It is not in any way dependent upon mind and purpose of.God, He could and did love and
the creature. The creature is in every way preceded,        delight in them before all worlds. "Thou has sent Me
followed and bounded by God. So with election: God          and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me . . . for
chose His people (a covenant-related creature) in Thou  lovest Me before the foundation of the world"
Christ. He, therefore, thought of them as in Christ, to     (Jn.  17:23f).
think in terms of logical order,  before  He thought of       This is further evident in that wonderful passage,
them as in the world. In His mind they were embraced        Proverbs, chapter eight, where wisdom appears, not a
in the eternal love of Christ before the foundation of mere attribute of God, but having specific reference to
the world was planned. He knew them as His own,             Christ, who is "the Wisdom of God." (I Cor.  1:24)
perfect and glorified, before He knew them as fallen.       That a real person is in view is evident from "I love
He loved them with an everlasting love, but not for any     them that love Me." (17) That he is a divine person is
foresight of their faith or works. He first ordained the plain from, "By Me kings reign." (31) "The Lord
end, then the means. From eternity, He bounded His possessed Me in the beginning of His way, before His
children, including their works, with grace. Christ him-    works of old." (22) The Ring James Version is not the
self was foreordained before the foundation of the best at this point, inserting as it does the preposition
world to a higher purpose than the saving of His people     "in," which does not appear in the Hebrew. The
from the result of the fall of man. He himself was          American Standard Version is no improvement insert-
chosen as the object of God's supreme delight               ing "as" in its margin. If any insertion would be desir-
(Isa. 42: 1). He was so chosen of God that the fulness      able, it would be better to read the text this way, "The
and image of God might dwell in the man, Christ Jesus,      Lord possessed Me who am the Beginning of His way."
bodily. For human nature was destined to be, and in But it is best to simply translate, "The Lord possessed
Christ was actually, brought up into fellowship with        Me, the Beginning of His way." Christ who is made
the holy trinity, who eternally live a blessed covenant     unto us Wisdom speaks of Himself under one of His
l i f e .                                                   many names, The Beginning. "He is the head of the
  Thus the Father not only loved the eternal Son of         body, the church, who is. The Beginning, the Firstborn
God in the Spirit, but also loved the Son of God in-        from the dead." (Col. 1: 18) He has other names: "the
carnate, and, in Him, all the many sons He gave to          Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of
Christ in His eternal purpose. We may agree with the        the creation of God." (Rev. 3: 14) Jehovah possessed
proposition, though it be an infralapsarian motto, that     the One called The Beginning of His way. In what
God cannot love a non-entity. Who would say other-          sense He was possessed is explained where the same
wise? But Christ, the great Fountain of life, and His       word is used in Genesis 4: 1. There Eve says at the birth
people in Him, have existence in the mind of God, and       of Cain, "I have gotten (possessed) a man." The idea is
as they are there the objects of His everlasting love       that of a begetting. This begetting is probably not to
(Jer. 31  :3) and His everlasting consolation (II           be understood in the sense of the eternal generation of
Thess. 2: 16), they can not be said to be non-entities.     the son of God the Second Person of the trinity, as in
Christ was foreordained from times eternal as the           John  1:18.  (ASVm and Gk.), "the only begotten
heavenly Bridegroom, and then His bride was chosen          God," but rather in the sense of Psalm 2:7, He speaks
for Him. They were chosen together, since the decree        of himself thus, "I will tell of the decree: Jehovah said


234                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



unto Me, `Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten         ever being in the form of God while yet taking upon
Thee" (ASV). We know, from the New Testament himself the form of a servant and being made in the
commentary on this verse, that "this day" is the day of likeness of men. "I was daily His delights, rejoicing
Christ's resurrection. It was on that day that histori- always before Him," or "rejoicing toward His
cally He became the Firstbegotten from the dead. "I persons," (Hebrew; cp. same word in Lev. 19: 15) that
was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or is, here is God's Elect, in whom His soul delights, "My
ever the earth was" (23). The personal pronoun "I" Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," rejoicing in
denotes a person, not a mere abstract attribute, and the habitable part of His earth; and My delights were
"from everlasting" indicates a divine person speaking.      with the sons of men." (3 1) Here we still see from the
"I was set up," that is, ordained, established, anointed point of view of back in eternity, the decree of the
"from eternity." Christ is not ordained as the eternal      incarnation (God with men), which also includes the
Son of God in His eternal generation by the Father. He      cross, for it was through the cross that He could
is not the eternal Son by decree, but in His own being      delight in the sons of men.
and essence. But the eternal Son is ordained to be the         In the light of what we have just shown from Scrip-
Christ, the Anointed One, the Man, Christ Jesus, in the ture, we cannot understand certain brethren who cling.
great mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh.      to their non-doctrinal faith, even their aversion to docd
In that sense He comes forth from the womb of the trine, and especially their detestation of the doctrine
decree of God, and in fulfilment of that decree He of God's absolute sovereignty, and who exhort us to
historically comes forth from the womb of the Virgin busy ourselves not with our Calvinistic intricacies, but
as "that Holy Thing, begotten of thee."                     with "preaching Christ." Certainly, the way we preach
   "When there were no depths, I was brought forth; Proverbs 8 is "preaching Christ" as they never have. We
when there were no fountains abounding with water.          have had our eyes on them for years, but have never
Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was known them to preach Christ in His most important
I brought forth." (24, 25) It is the Son who is  made       character, the covenant Head of His people. They
unto us Wisdom who says, "I was brought forth," and never preach Christ as God's Elect in whom His soul
"before the hills was I brought forth," from the womb       delighteth. They cannot have a comprehensive preach-
of God's decree into the world as "the Word made            ing of Christ, because they do not begin at the begin-
flesh." "When He gave to the~sea His decree, that the ning and preach Christ as the foreordained Lamb de-
waters should not pass (transgress) His commandment:        livered up as a sacrifice to divine justice for His own in
when He appointed the foundations of the earth, then the determinate counsel and fore-knowledge of God.
I was by Him, as one brought up with Him: and I was They often boast of giving Christ the pre-eminence in
daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him." (29, all things, yet they do not give it to Him as the center
30) Here you see, in keeping with the idea above,           and revealer of the eternal purpose of God which He
Christ refers to himself not only as the second Person, purposed in Christ Jesus.
the eternal Son of God, which is an essential idea             The wonderful and utterly fundamental and indis-
inseparable from the entire passage, but as the Media- pensable truth which these superficial preachers of
tor, the ordained Head of the church, the First in the      Christ regularly omit is that which the Lord himself
book of God's decrees. Not as to time, of course, but proclaimed: "the men which Thou gavest Me . . . Thine
as to order, Christ is the Beginning of God's eternal they were, and Thou gavest them Me. I pray for them.
counsel. `"Then I was beside Him (as a co-equal), a I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou
father." (Hebrew) Christ, in His own right, is a father.    hast given Me; for they are Thine" (John  17:6,9).
He is "the Father of eternity," (Isa. 9:6) that is, beside When were these men given to Christ? In eternity, be-
the Father, He is himself a father, or a founder, and so    fore the foundation of the world, for since then God
may be said to be the father, the architect of eternity.    loved His Son, and as well loved them (cp. Jer. 31:3
He is the founder and builder, both of the universe and with John 17:24). What did God do, then, in eternity,
of the House of God (John 1:3; Ps. 127: 1). He is such      when He gave these persons to Christ? We have an
a father to us, and as such a father is not without example in the creation of Eve and the giving of her to
children. (Isa. 8 : 18)                                     Adam in the union of marriage. As Adam saw her,
   "I was daily His delights." God was always eternally loved her in the sight, and took her unto himself as his
delighting in His only begotten Son, but also as His bride, so the church was given to Christ in a marriage
Son was conceived of as the perfect Mediator, as the covenant from eternity. As Eve was given to Adam
visible representation of the invisible God. God eter- before the fall, so the church was given to Christ in the
nally delighted himself in Him as the One in His coun- mind of God before the fall, indeed, before any regard
sel seen and loved as the Son incarnate in whom             to sin.
dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. "Yea,         Preach Christ in His highest glory? Then let the
true God and Man," the express image of God's preaching show that Christ was not ordained in the
person, the brightness of His glory, His own likeness, eternal counsel of God for the church, but that the


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  235



church was ordained for Him. Adam was not created            complete without the church, which is His fulness. The
for Eve, but Eve was formed for Adam. (I Cor. 11:7-9) body is not complete without the head. Yet the head
Further, Adam was not complete in himself without needs the body. For it is through the body that the
Eve. He needed a help meet (fit) for him. In Eve he          glory of the head is manifested.
found his complement. So the Man Christ Jesus was not                       (To be continued, D.V.)


Missions

         Memories  arid Musings of Jamaica
                                              Rev. Robert C. Harbach

MEMORIES AND MUSINGS OF JAMAICA                              promise is to you believers and your seed; it is to you
  You travel in a somewhat southeasterly direction in        believing parents and your children; it is to fathers and
Jamaica along the famous tourist sight known as Bam-         mothers together with their children, "and to all that
boo Avenue as you approach a place called Lacovia.           are afar off, as many as the Lord our God shall call"
Through the bamboo arches you view the expansive             (Acts.  2:39). The Lord has always established His
fields of cane on the background of the near range of        covenant with believers and their seed. "I will establish
the Santa Cruz Mountains and the farther range of the        my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after
Figuerro Mountains. The terrain at Lacovia is some-          thee in their generations, for an everlasting covenant,
what swampy. When it rains, you wonder whether the           to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee"
road is in the swamp or the swamp in the road! Off the       (Gen. 17:7). You see that this everlasting covenant was
famous highway, where few, if any, tourists ever go,         made with Abraham and his seed, with the father, and,
there is a small church which calls itself Protestant        in him, the mother, for the two are one flesh; and with
Reformed Church, of the Protestant Reformed                  the children, as many as the Lord our God shall call.
%hurches of Jamaica. Sunlight filters down through a           Off a rather southerly highway just outside of Cam-
palm-fronded roof, nature's own glittering stained-glass     bridge, one may walk a little lane, up a rise, across
effect. The congregation crowds itself into the shaded       railroad tracks, then ascend a rocky, slippery, muddy
area, for it is swelteringly hot, even in a practically      hill under broad-leafed trees. From farther uphill, out
openair church. In the afternoon, a cooling rain falls.      of sight, the familiar strains of "Jesus Loves Me" float
Then the palm fronds must be shaken out a bit and the        down to us. A nicer welcome could hardly have been
wet cement floor swept for the evening service. Still        planned as the voices of Jamaican children at Sunday
the minster of the Word may expect throughout the            school reach us from a tiny shelter nestled among
service a gentle baptism from the dewey roof overhead.       banana trees. The children repeat the first seven
He may also expect mosquito attack and bombard-              articles of the Canons of Dordt, Head I, from memory.
ment by hordes of exotic beetles. Beyond the glow of         Our missionary explains to the Jamaican brethren the
gasoline lantern, in the darkness outside, he may have       difference between Sunday Schools and Catechism
an invisible, unknown audience, too shy to enter the         classes. The Jamaican churches are learning what is
structure. Inside, you meet friendly, dignified              better than mere Sunday Schools. These have been a
brethren, full of the joy of the Lord. Among them are        rather ineffective attempt to reach parents through the
a goodly number of men who encourage elders,                 children. Better than Sunday School, it must be
deacons, and congregation with their presence.               learned, is the Family Bible School, where there are
  This is a beautiful sight to see, for the church is not    classes for all ages, including adults, a men's class, a
a pile of odd-pieced or broken lumber, but the body,         women's class, and classes for young people. A good
of which Christ is the Head, of believers and their seed.    family Bible school will have for one of its determined
That the true church consists of believers and their         .and continued purposes the teaching of all the children
seed simply means that the church is made up of              it can. Yet this must not be the main outward thrust of
parents and. their children. Naturally, the word "chil-      either the church or its Bible school. Its main outreach
dren" in this connection is not limited to either the        must be to adults, specifically to parents. The core of
one sex or the other, but includes both, having in mind      the Family Bible School is not the children, but the
both sons and daughters. Just as naturally, the word         parents. The church's viewpoint, then, must be that of
"parents" is not limited to mothers; it includes.fathers.    a Family Bible School. The school must be family
"The promise is unto you and to your children," said         centered, the parents forming the key-stone of the
Peter, addressing the church at Pentecost. That is, the      school. Where parents are born in or converted to


236                                               THE STANDARD BEARER



 God's covenant, the children will be given a Christian      "What a wonderful thing to be free from sin!" Agreed!
training, brought up in the nurture and admonition of That is the Christian's hope and aim. But as he is now,
the Lord. Then the parents will teach their children to      can he  sing  it, or even  think  it, without committing
memorize the Scripture and its doctrine. They  will sin? Undoubtedly, many a time the song ought to die
 encourage the children to attend church every time its      on his lips as he smites the breast, his heart, that des-
 doors are open and to take in all the instruction the       perately wicked heart, which led his eyes, and feet,
 church provides. Then, as the children grow older,          too, into sin. Then with downcast eyes, which in itself
 there will also be young people in the church. As it is,    speaks much, pray, "God be merciful to me the
 "Sunday School" is entered at a certain young age,. sinner." Another line of song is caught, "Moses never
beginners or primary, and left before or at adolescence.     know Thy name." No, not quite. Delete the "n" from
When Sunday School is over, the children, as it were,        never" and you have the truth. The idea latent in the
 scatter to the winds. They do not, as a rule, remain for    song must stem from a wrong understanding of
 attendance at church. As for the young people, they,        Exodus 6:3, according to which Moses, also Abraham,
 generally, have attended neither Sunday School nor Isaac and Jacob, were deemed ignorant of the name
 church since reaching their teens. The church becomes Jehovah, that name only being for the  fast time  re:
 devoid of young people. It soon consists of only small. vealed at that point in Moses' history. But that text
 children and grandparents. The "Sunday School" is need not be taken as a negative declarative statement,
 then a useless appendage. It does not contribute to the     "by My name Jehovah was I  not known to them!" It
 church, but rather detracts and leads from the church.      may be understood as a rhetorical question: "by My
Conceivably, it would be different with the Family           name Jehovah was I not known to them?" Reference is
 Sabbath Bible School. The aim of the latter would be        to much more than intellectual knowledge, but also to
to bring also the young people under deep conviction         that experiential knowledge of His name whereby we
 of sin, to real, practical reformation of conduct, and,     live in loving communion with God, as in, "`if we
in place of idleness, worldly amusement, and vain            follow on to know the Lord" (i.e., Jehovah,
diversions, to great delight in the Word of God and, Hosea  6:3). The singing of diminutive "gospel
prayer.                                                      choruses" may go on for another half hour with no
   Coral Gardens is a fast-developing residential area of more than six different numbers used due to the fact
rich and upper middle class dwellings nestled in the that each one may be sung as many as eight or nine
 foothills east of Montego Bay. The neighborhood             times over. "Jesus is a way-maker." Whereas the one
boasts a property overlooking the blue sea known as just previous, uncorrected, sounds like Russellism, this
Cinema City, a movie sound stage fallen into disuse.         one sounds more like Christian Science. For Jesus is
Nearby the ring of builder's hammers is heard. It some- neither a way-maker, nor a way-shower. He is The
 what sets the beat for a bit of Jamaican song. As we        Way! Like "Beautiful Isle of Somewhere", some songs
 eavesdrop, we may hear such words as,                       ought to be dropped.
   I will walk with Jesus on the golden shore. . .             Good group singing may be enjoyed as an oppor-
   I will walk alone - I will never look back.               tunity for socializi~ng, but among Christians it ought to
This draws an "amen" from the listener's breast, who provide for more than emotional release or a bit of
is, indeed, walking alone, yet not alone (John 16:32),       entertainment. Especially in congregational singing, the
 and who resolutely purposes never to look back on his aim is true worship of God in spirit and in truth, not
way to "the golden shore."                                   only with the heart, but "with the understanding also"
   On the same road a happy black traveler is met, a         (I Cor.  14:15, 20). Singing has a great place in
Haitian; but that is not why he is a stranger and a          Jamaican life. That's as it should be. They are, for the
pilgrim. It is because he, too, is bound for the             most part, a happy people. It is only natural that a
Heavenly City. As to language, we are total strangers,       happy nature should frequently break out into song. It
for he speaks French;  - and his name is French,             was a great honor to visit our mission field in Jamaica.
Antoine Pierre. In heart we are not strangers, for while Next to the honor of preaching the Word on the island,
he sings hit in French, we do in English, "No one ever       another honor was my pleasure there, and that in con-
 cared for me like Jesus." He seems to sing it with the      nection with a singing incident. It was after one of the
 sincerity of personal experience. He was converted out Tuesday Bible study classes of students and ministers.
 of Haitian voodooism.                                       Traveling along the road by car, five ministers - three
   Jamaicans can sing in ear-splitting fashion. Then only black and two white  - broke out heartily into song,
 snatches of song reach you.  ". .  .Peter preach the singing from beginning to end, "Onward Christian
gospel, too!" Indeed, he did! and he maintained that         Soldiers." It was an honor to be one of that five. To
the gospel is "also a more sure word of prophecy, sing that hymn in the company of our missionary and
whereunto ye do well that ye take heed!" Then later,         of three Jamaican ministers was quite an honor!

                    Have you seen the new volume  The Triple Knowledge,  I? It's a beauty!


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                    237


                                     B O O K   R E V I E W S

  CHRISTOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, by E. W.                    a strong testimony to its intrinsic worth.
  Hengstenberg (edited by Thomas K. Arnold); Kregel Pub-           "The Christology  of  the Old Testament  began to
  lications, Grand Rapids, Michigan; 699 pages, $9.95.          appear in 1828, the same year Hengstenberg attained
     This is a recent volume in the Kregel Reprint              full professorship at the University of Berlin and was
  Library. For a long time the original four volume set,        completed in 1835. A second edition appeared in
  which I have in my personal library, has not been avail-      1854-1857. The present abridged addition preserves
  able, except on rare occasions in used book depart-           every important passage in the four volume set except
  ments. The present volume is not a complete reprint of the Angel of the Lord discussion and the important II
  those original four volumes, which, though valuable,          Samuel text. Indeed in almost every instance, up to
  sometimes tended to be a bit long-winded. But it is an        one-half of the original discussion of every important
  abridgment, which attempts to furnish the reader with passage has been captured in this brilliant abridgment
1 what might be called the "meat" of Hengstenberg's             by T. K. Arnold."
work. The value of an abridgment for the reader lies,             This reviewer agrees with the above evaluation.
  of course, in the fact that it is a time-saver; the disad-    Kregel Publications is to be congratulated on this
  vantage lies in the fact that the reader cannot decide reprint. I highly recommend,this  volume, especially for
  for himself what is important and what is unimportant.        seminarians and ministers, but also, because the use of
  If, however, the abridging is carefully done, an abridg- the Hebrew does not interfer with the reading of the
  ment can, indeed, be valuable; and it has the additional book, for all those who are interested in worthwhile
  advantage, as in this case, of a more reasonable price.       Bible study aids.
  Reprinting all four volumes of the original set, for                                                               HCH
  example, at $9.95 each would have put this work be-
  yond the pocketbook of many readers who ought to A HISTORY OF PREACHING, Vol. 2, (From the Close
  have it in their libraries.                                   oftheReformation to theEndofthe  Nineteenth Century,
    E. W. Hengstenberg was a nineteenth century                 1572-1900); by Edwin C. Dargan; Baker Book House,
  German orthodox Lutheran scholar. Although one Grand Rapids, Michigan; 591 pages, paper, $4.95.
  need not necessarily agree with all that he writes,             There is a dearth of material of a historical nature in
  nevertheless Hengstenberg belonged to an age when the field of Homiletics. This reprint by Baker Book
  men still believed in solid exegetical work. Again, while House helps to fill that lack.
  Hengstenberg must not be used as a crutch, and while            The author was Professor of Homiletics at the
  his exegesis must certainly not be swallowed uncriti- Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. In this
  cally, those students and ministers - and they are be- volume, as in the preceding one, the reader is furnished
  coming increasingly rare  - who are genuinely inter- with a rather comprehensive history of preaching,
  ested in expository preaching can profit greatly from written in lively and interesting style. In the nature of
  Hengstenberg's insights in this volume. And in this day       the case, a Reformed man might be expected to dis-
  and age $9.95 is not too much for a volume of this            agree with some of the emphases and evaluations of
  size, value, and workmanship.                                 this Baptist writer, but there is a large amount of infor-
    I have perused this volume and compared it with the mation in a book of this kind, based upon what
  original four volume English translation, and I can appears to be rather careful research.
  agree with what Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., writes in the            These large volumes, published in paperback, are
  Foreword:                                                     priced within the reach of most readers. I recommend
    "The real impact of Hengstenberg, however, comes them, particularly to seminarians and ministers, as
  from his writings and the most important, influential worthwhile and informative additions to one's library
  and ablest work he produced was The Christology of in a field of study in which there is a lack of worth-
  the Old Testament.  In this work, the reader will see while books.                                                 HCH
 Hengstenberg as the expositor, philologist, and devout
 Christian who finds in the Old Testament what those            OUR GUILTY SILENCE, by John R. W. Stott; Wm. B.
  disciples on the road to Emmaus missed because they           Eerdmans Publishing Co., 119 pp., $1.45 (paper).
were so foolish and `slow of heart', (Lk.  24:25-27).             This is a short book on the importance of evan-
 Christ is identified as the center of the Old Testament gelism. While containing some interesting and worth-
revelation and herein lies the majesty of this work.            while insights and while speaking at some length about
 Nearly every one will be delighted with the abundance the individual's "role" in evangelism, the book is not
 of material already encompassed in this work which written from the Reformed perspective and therefore
 exhibits an excellent control of the tools of philology        goes astray on some cardinal points of Scripture.
 and exegesis. Its very survival and present usefulness is                                                           H.H.


238                                                     iWE  STANDARD BEARER



SOMEWHAT LESS THAN GOD: THE BIBLICAL ing to the outside and easily scraped off. Conscience is
VIEW OF MAN,  by Leonard Verduin; Wm. B. not the testimony of God and salvation is a restoration
Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1970; 168 pp., $2.95 of conscience.
(paper>.                                                              An election which is not conditional is no election
  This book made me angry. The chief reason for this at all and a perversion of the truth in Verduin's opin-
is that the author stands in the Reformed tradition, is ion. Every truth of the Reformed faith is denied.
in fact a member of the Christian Reformed Church -                   His doctrine of Scripture, while not  explicitby set
a retired minister, but has no semblance of loyalty to forth, is clear. He blames Paul's use of pagan terms for
the Reformed faith in all the book. In fact, he openly errors which have crept into the thinking of the Church.
and blatantly denies everything for which the Re- He can, with a wave of the hand, summarize the whole
formed faith stands. It is apparently for this reason Bible in these words:
that the writer almost never speaks of the Reformed                        We have urged that in the Christian perspective
                                                                        man is a creature of option, This insight is the fruit of
faith, but rather speaks repeatedly of what he calls                    Special Revelation. The Genesis story is not so much
"authentic Christianity." This term recurs countless                    interested in telling us just how man came to be as to
times in the book.                                                      inform us as to what man is, a creature made in God's
  The book gets off on the wrong foot immediately.                      image and therefore capable of choosing and able to
Already in the preface the author writes:                               steer his ship. The next thing the Bible wants us to
          Man is a central theme in the Bible. This fact is in          know is that man steered badly by a bad exercise of
        eclipse in much of modem theology. It has been said             option. The rest of the Book informs us of the posing
        so often that the Bible is God's self-disclosure, it has        of a new option, a new chance, for "decision deter-
        been repeated so often that the Bible's message is its          mines destiny."
        portrayal of the Christ, that what it has to say about        In discussing man as a cultural creature, it is not
        man tends to recede into the background as a conse-         surprising that there is no antithesis at all in Verduin's
        quence. While it is true that one of the earmarks of        view of culture. And, in this connection, Verduin de-
        the Bible-taught man is his God-concept, or his             scribes Babel as God voting for a pluralism of cultures,
        Christ-concept, it is just as true that he may be           something reversed at Pentecost.
        known by his man-concept.                                     Such key Scriptural terms as curse, fall and grace are
       How anyone who is interested in the truth of the almost always put in quotes in the book as if to inform
Scriptures can write this way is a mystery. The whole us that these terms must not be accepted in their usual
theme of the Bible is God and His glory. If there is one            sense, but in some unexplained figurative sense.
thing wrong with modern theology in almost the whole                  Nor am I an admirer of Verduin's style of writing.
of the Church, it is its entirely un-Scriptural emphasis While it is lucid and clear, it is what Luther would
on man. One hears almost nothing about God any probably call "smart-alecky." I always get the feeling
more today; all one hears is man, man, man.                         when reading Verduin (not only in this book) that he
       Perhaps it can be said of the book that it gives a treats Scripture off-handedly, facetiously, laughingly.
most remarkable demonstration of what happens to There is no awe, no reverence, no fear for that which is
the truth of Scripture when one adopts an evolution- holy and of  God.- There is no spirit of humility, of
ary viewpoint. This Verduin is at pains to do. He re- child-like bowing before God's Word. It all somehow
jects out of hand a literal interpretation of creation comes out as a bad joke.
and the fall and puts all in the framework or some kind               No wonder then that there is almost no Scripture in
of theistic evolutionism. He speaks of a "never-begun the book. There is a great deal of philosophy and
Creator-creature relation" and rejects the immediate psychology, but there is no Scripture. In these isolated
works of God in favor of process.                                   places where Scripture is quoted, it is quoted without
       From this starting point, all sorts of terrible errors any regard for the  regula  fidei  and without any at-
are passed off as the truth of "authentic Christianity." tempt at careful exegesis.
The image of God is identified almost exclusively with                No man who so openly denies all that is Reformed
what Verduin calls "dominion having." Only a relative ought to be allowed to write under the Reformed
distinction is made between man before the fall and banner. It is a travesty on the truth and is conducive to
after the fall in this matter of dominion. There is no making a mockery of the Reformed faith.
room in Verduin's thinking for total depravity; rather                                                                               H.H.
man retains a free will. In fact, Verduin insists that
those who maintain that man's will has become de-                   THE CONTEMPORARY PREACHER AND HIS
praved so that .man is unable to choose for the good do             TASK,  By David Waite Yohn; Eerdmans Publishing
so on an erroneous acceptance of the fall as actual Co., 1969; 159 pp., $2.95 (paper).
history;                                                              In many respects this is an interesting and worth-
       Sin is defined by use of the figure of barnacles fas-        while book. The author, senior pastor of the Church of
tened to a ship, not affecting the ship itself, but cling- Christ at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hamp-


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                    239



shire, is alarmed with the quality of the preaching in                       ANNIVERSARY NOTICE
the Church. He claims, and correctly, that the Church           On February 24, 1971, Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin
has lost what he calls "sacramental preaching," by Wigger commemorate their 50th wedding anniversary.
which he means preaching which is indeed a means of           With the Psalmist of old we confess "For the Lord is
grace. Sacramental preaching, in his view, consists of        good: his mercy is everlasting: and his truth endureth
preaching which is prophetic, exegetical, and liturgical.     to all generations." (Psalm 100:5).
  In developing this theme, the author has a good dis-                                            Their grateful children
cussion of the need for Biblical preaching. He empha-                                       Mr. and Mrs. John Wigger
sizes that this is possible only on the basis of a correct                                Mr. and Mrs:Henry Wigger
view of the unity of the Scriptures  - a subject he                                    Mr. and Mrs. Peter Haverkamp
discusses at some length in connection with many                                                        11 grandchildren
erroneous viewpoints. He correctly finds the truth of
the authority of Scripture a sine qua ~lon for any kind
of authoritative preaching. In this connection, how-                      RESOLUTION OFSYMPATHY
ever, he fails to develop the idea of the authority of          The senior Mr. and Mrs. Society of the First Protes-
the preacher in connection with his office in the             tant Reformed Church of Grand Rapids extends
Church and its relation to the authority of Scripture.        sympathy to its members, Mr. and Mrs. Edward
Nor does he ground the authority of Scripture in the          Ophoff, in the recent death of her mother.
truth that Scripture is God's infallible Word.                  May the God of all grace comfort the bereaved
  He scores topical preaching, ethical preaching a la         family by His word and spirit.
Norman Vincent Peale, doctrinal preaching which is                                              Rev. G. Van Baren, Pres.
not exegetical, and other types so common in the                                                 Mrs. H. Pastoor, Sec'y.
Church; and he pleads for true expository preaching.
  The weakness of the book is a failure to discuss the          "Covenant Christian High School will need a teacher
idea of preaching as it is developed in Scripture and the     in the areas of English and Social Studies for the
idea of the gospel as power of God unto salvation.            1971-1972 school year. Applicants write: Mr. Roland
  The book is worth reading, however, and is recom-           Petersen, Covenant Christian High School, 1401
mended to our readers.                                        Ferndale .S.W., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49504
                                                      H.H.
                                                                          RESOLUTJON OF SYMPATHY
                                                                The Ladies Society, Ruth, of the Hope Protestant
                ANNIVERSARY NOTICE                            Reformed Church expresses sincere sympathy to one
  Monday, February 22, 197 1 our parents, Mr. and             of its members, Mrs. Joe King, in the loss of her sister
Mrs. Richard Dykstra will celebrate their 60th wedding                     MISS ELSIE VANDER VEEN.
                                                                "
anniversary.                                                         - The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away;
  We are thankful that the Lord has spared them for           blessed be the name of the Lord." (Job 1:21).
each other and for us these many years. And that he                                                  Mr. Alvin Rau, Pres.
will continue to bless them in the years to come.                                          Mrs. John De Vries, Sec'y.
                                  Mr. & Mrs. Arie Dykstra
                                Mr. & Mrs. Simon Dykstra
                                 Mr. & Mrs. Clarence Cole
                                Mr. & Mrs. Jack Nyenhuis
                                  Mr. & Mrs. Ben Huizinga
                                  Mr. & Mrs. Jake Postema
                                Mr. & Mrs. Clarence Klinge
                          Mr. & Mrs. Richard Dykstra, Jr.
                                        3 9 Grand Children
                                  33 Great Grand Children

  Classis West of the Protestant Reformed Churches
will meet in  Doon, Iowa on March 3, 1971, at  8:30
A.M. Delegates in need of lodging are to inform the
clerk of Doon's  Consistory.
                                     Rev. David Engelsma
                                              Stated Clerk
                                              Classis West


 THE STANDARD BEARER
        P.O. Box 6064                                                                       SECOND CLASS
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506                                                               POSTAGE PAID AT
                                                                                        GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.
                                -_.~  -    ___~~~~_.__
.240                                       THE STANDARD BEARER


                                -News  Froti Our Churched

   Two of our churches called ministers during the last from the other Christian schools in the community?
week of January. Southwest had a trio consisting of Not wishing to stress size or pedagogical methods, I
Rev. R. Moore, Rev. G. Van  Baren, and Rev. H. gave the following answer.
Veldman, while that of Grand Rapids Hope Church              "Our  school is  theocenttic  in that the emphasis of
consisted of Rev. J. Heys, Rev. M. Schipper, and Rev. prayer, curriculum, -devotional singing and study is to
H. Veldman. The calls went to Rev. Van  Baren and bring praise to God our Creator and King.
Rev. Schipper, respectively.                                 "Our school is covenantal. We believe that we are,
                         *****                             instructing the children who have received the promise
   This note from Southwest's bulletin: "If our Choral and who have been ingrafted into the vine Christ by his
Society is going to continue, it is imperative that more work of grace. Therefore, we are not evangelical in the
members join, regardless of voice range. . . . There are sense that we bring the child to a saving knowledge of
no voice tests or other requirements, only that you Christ.
enjoy singing and are able to carry a tune." Hudson-         "Our school is  parental.  In operation, the parents
ville's bulletin, in a similar appeal (due, no doubt, to an both directly at the society and indirectly through the
identical problem), added this very appropriate line: Board determine the policies and goals of the school.
"Use what talents you possess. The woods would be We are, therefore, neither private nor parochial. We
very silent if no birds sang there except those which believe that the only way in which parents can fu1fi.l
sing the best."          *****                             their baptismal vows is in a school for which they bear
Also from Hudsonville's bulletin comes this note from direct responsibility and control.
a radio listener: "Dear Sirs, Yesterday afternoon I was      "Our school is  reformed according to the confes-
fortunate enough to be listening to radio station WJBL sions. We believe that the Bible should be the guide for
from Holland, Michigan, and heard the sermon on the        the interpretation of all material taught in the school
Reformed Witness Hour. . . . I wish to order 50 copies     and that the reformed confessions are the correct inter-.
of this sermon at. once. I intend to send many of them pretation of the word of God. Thereby, we reject all
to the churches out in the East. . .  ." It's certainly false doctrines and humanistic interpretations of life
gratifying to be reminded, occasionally, that God is and of the creation contrary to literal interpretation of
using our Reformed witness in such a way that His scripture.
Word never returns void.                                     "Our school is committed to dikiplink in the spirit
                         *****                             and scope of the law of God. Love of the neighbor for
   Speaking of bulletins, may we ask, "Where are they God's sake is the only possible motive for Christian
all?" .For this particular issue of the Standard Bearer, discipline.
the U.S. Mail delivered only two envelopes to                "As we look back on a decade of instruction, we
Plymouth Terrace. So, we'll have to dig into our box must thank God for the school he has given us. We
of old school news.                                        thank him for the material gifts which make possible
   Fact of the matter is, though, we've been waiting for the support of this school. We thank him for the
just such an opportunity to get at the "Reflector" - children of the covenant who are instructed in this
the seasonal newspaper of our school in South school. We thank him for his love by which we can do
Holland. In the October, 1970, issue, there was a all things."
typically fine editorial by the Administrator, Mr. L.                             *****
Lubbers. There's no way to quote part of that editorial      If my memory of old history classes serves me
and do it any sort of justice; so we would like to use correctly, there was once an old Roman Senator who
the rest of this column to present it in its entirety. had rather strong feelings concerning the future of
We're sure that no one will consider it wasted space. Rome's arch-rival, Carthage. He ended every single one
It's entitled, "The First Decade."                         of his Senate speeches with the words,  Delenda est
   "We have entered the tenth year in this Christian Carthugo.  As it turned out, the city was, eventually,
school. By God's grace, we shall continue to strive to razed and sowed with salt. Now, I'm not at all sure
provide distinctive instruction'for  the children of Re- how much effect the Senator's persistence had on the
formed parents of our church and in this community.        outcome. But it might just be worth a try.
   "Recently I was asked, how is your school different       Mitte  nuntium.                                  D.D.


