                                        IIe

                               tandard

                                               earer


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



IN  TlilS  I S S U E


     G u e s t   E d i t o r i a l :
        The Standard Bearer and the Next Generation

     Faddist Or False Teacher?
        (Editorial)

     Meditation:
        The Nobility of God's People

     The Day of Shadows:                4
        All These Are Yours


                                               Volume XL VIII /Number 3 / November I, 1971


50                                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


                               CONTENTS:                                                              THE STANDARD  BEARER
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Editorial -                                                                        Published  by the Reformed Free Publishing Association, Inc.
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      Faddist Or False Teacher? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SO Editor-in-Chief: Prof. H. C. Hoeksema
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       Next Generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 Van  Baren, Rev. Herman  Veldman. Rev. Bernard Woudenberg
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Editorial

                                Faddist Or False Teacher?
                                                              ProJ: H.C. Hoeksema

Blatant Situation Ethics                                                                On Sunday evening June 27, the NCRV produced
      The lead article in a recent issue of the Dutch politi-                       on television an interview between Prof. Kuitert  ,and
cal paper, Tot Vrijheid Geroepen was entitled "Notes                                Mr.  Godfried Bomans which  many will recall.  :What
On A Quasi-Debate," and it is a report on,one of the                                was it really about? About the views of Prof.
                                                                                    Kuitert? One can better say - and.the professor will
most recent and perhaps the most shocking (if it is                                 apparently agree with this - that it was not about his
possible to be shocked any longer) pronouncements of                                views but about the correct understanding of God's
Dr. Harry M. Kuitert, professor of ethics and dog-                                  Word. For that is decisive, and our views are - to use
matics at the Free University of Amsterdam. The                                     a fashionable word  - relevant only in so  fdr as they
article is written by a Dr. A. Zeegers. It reads, in part,                          are based upon that Word and flow forth from it.
as follows (I translate):                                                               Permit us to say first that, at least in our  judg-


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                                           51


    ment, the choice of Godfried  Bomans as `debater' was         more. Prof. Kuitert is so kind as to dress up his free-
    definitely unhappy. We will gladly acknowledge that           thinking thought-structures a bit, out of pastoral con-
    we have, truly enjoyed that which Mr. Bomans has              siderations. But only a little, because he sees it as his
    offered both via T-V and via radio and via the written        task to furnish guidance for faith in as prickly a
    word. Engraved in our memory are the T-V produc-              manner as possible.
    tions which he brought to us from the `holy places' in           As an example of the sexual ethics for which he
    Jerusalem and Rome. Superior work, which for our              stands - which, as is known, also includes abortion -
    part could well be repeated. But for this interview           we might hear that pre-marital sexual intercourse is
    they were at the wrong address with him. How can              no longer considered wrong by him. Hence, one can
    the Roman Catholic Bomans speak with fruit and                go his own way in this respect with appeal to the
    with knowledge of matters about the tensions  which           professor of ethics at the Free University. Another
    the views of Prof. Kuitert have called forth in the           prickly observation (by Kuitert): the power of the
    Gereforwleerde  Kerken,  about the legitimacy of these        establishment must be broken, if necessary by a
    views? How can he put them to the test of Scripture           strong arm in the literal sense of the word,  - hence,
    and the confessions? Was that not an impossible task?         by revolution. In this vision it fits completely that
       The question arises why they did not let the inter-        Prof. Kuitert also accepts little or nothing from
    view with Prof. Kuitert be conducted by a reforma-            synods.
    tional theologian. We mention only a few: Dr. W.                 One can put it this way: Prof. Kuitert holds to a
    Aalders,  Dr.  Arntzen,  Dr. Graafland, or someone            theology and ethics of his own workmanship, in
    from the circle of the professors, which makes us             which he makes not even an attempt to base these
    think of Van Ittekzon, Jonker, Lekkerkerker, Van              upon Scripture and/or confession. A pseudo-religion
    Niftrik, Herman Ridderbos, Troost,  Veer&of,  or              adapted to human taste, which has nothing to do any
    Velema? Their questions would have been less face-            longer with the Reformed confession. He knows but
    tious, but would have touched on the heart of the             one principle, that of freedom, but then not in
    matter and would have put Prof. Kuitert repeatedly            the evangelical sense, but in the humanistic sense: the
    before the question in how far he can base his views          autonomy of man, who will settle matters for him-
    on Scripture and the confessions.                             self, and who guards against believing things not
  The writer goes on to describe how the interviewer,             worthy of being believed. Science has taught him not
Mr. Bomans, proceeded. He began by drawing a carica-              to do this; and he is too articulate to do it.
ture of Dutch Calvinism by picturing them as the                The writer expresses himself as being happy in a
black-stocking people who are chronic sufferers from sense about this T-V production. And here is his
the fear of hell and damnation and who find every- explanation:
thing wrong. The writer points out that this was pre-                 . ..It (the telecast) has in great measure contributed
cisely the method followed by the free-thinking liber-            to the exposing and thereby to the trying of the
als of the previous century; and that this caricature             spirits.
formed a beautiful background of narrowness and lack                 when a Minister of the Word in the Gerefonneerde
of understanding against which Prof. Kuitert's en-                Kerken  may teach these things, then those churches
lightened thought-structures might come out the more              have thereby completely given up their basis of
clearly. Then the interviewer Bomans quoted from a                existence, or, if you will, their identity. We do not see
lampoon against Kuitert in which the Professor was                why, if this may'be taught within the  Gereformeerde
likened to the Nazi's, but failed to bring out the fact           Kerken,  they do not simply immediately in this time
that numerous theologians have in a manner that                   of mergers consummate a fusion with the Hervormde
bespeaks good will raised serious objections against the          Kerk, at least if the  Gereformeerde Bond  and the
professor's views  - objections which he has never                Confessionele Verenigihg  (two conservative groups in
                                                                  the  Hervorrnde  Kerk,  HCH)  do not make objection
troubled to answer.                                               against this.
  Dr. Zeegers then points out that Kuitert presented
his views very bluntly and frankly, which leads some to         After this pointed comment, the author goes on to
praise him for his honorableness instead of blaming point out that at the Free University, where Kuitert
him for his unfaithfulness to Scripture and the confes- teaches, the work of Abraham Kuyper has been com-
sions, to which he bound himself when he signed the pletely denied. And he points out, foe, that the ques-
Formula of Subscription for`ministers of the Word, a tion concerning the training of ministers comes to
                                                              stand out as a great life-problem through such plain
formula now admittedly functions as a piece of waste
paper. And then he continues as follows:                      expressions of Kuitert, whether or not he is protected
                                                              by Prof. Berkouwer.
       Reformed people have always understood the               So there you have it!
    Bible incorrectly; all sorts of things which we con-
    sistently considered to be no cunningly devised fables      The  Standard Bearer  has from time to time called                    '
    now appear to be indeed just that, at least according     attention to the astounding and bold heretical state-
    to Prof. Kuitert. Not only were various historical        ments of Kuitert and others (for Kuitert is not alone!)
    figures relegated to the realm of fables, but also the    in the Netherlands. We have also emphasized that the
    bodily resurrection was denied. But there is even         very fact that the  Gereformeerde Kerken  have been


52                                              THE STANDARD BEARER


unable and unwilling and afraid to institute any disci-       excited nor show much concern about fads. But if you
plinary proceedings against these bold heretics - and call something a fad which is more serious than a fad,
they are heretics indeed, whether or not the  Gerefor- then you will be badly fooled, deceiving yourself into a
meerde Kevlcen have officially called them such - this lethargy and self-complacency which will spell defeat
very fact is a sad commentary on the decadence of the and destruction. This is precisely the danger of Editor
GKN.                                                          De Koster's fad-idea. Consider:
      But this is as extreme as any pronouncement of any         1) That Kuitert does not stand by any means alone,
adherent of situation ethics. The professor of ethics         either in the Free University or in the Gereformeeyde
blithely stamps his okay on fornication and revolution!       Kerken. He has thousands of adherents and supporters,
      One would be inclined to -expect that no one who        both among the people and among the clergy and the-
claims to have any Reformed sensitivities left would          ologians. He can even claim Prof. Berkouwer as a sup-
hesitate to condemn Kuitert and his kind roundly as porter. Certain it is; whatever the proximate reasons
fraudulent heretics who have not the barest claim to may have been, that the churches were not able to
the name "Reformed" and who should be cashiered condemn him officially at the Synod of Sneek, in spite
and exorcised out of their office and out of the church of numerous  protests.
without ado.                                                     2) That Kuitert's theology can hardly be classified
Not Faddist But False Teacher                                 as of the passing nature of a fad. It has been around
      Yet Editor De Koster, of the Banner, calls Kuitert a now for several years. Instead of dropping in its influ-
brother, and twice in recent issues of that Christian ence, as one might expect of a fad, it has increased.
Reformed weekly has suggested only that Kuitert is               3) That Kuitert indeed has a theology. This man
going to extremes and that he is guilty of "theological does not simply throw out wild ideas, even though he
faddism."                                                     may be rather sensationalistic in some of his  pro-
      Now a fad is "a custom, amusement, or the like,         nouncements for the sake of getting attention and
followed for a time with exaggerated zeal; a craze" abrasively setting people athinking. No, indeed, there is
(Webster). And faddism is, of course, the tendency or an entire theology behind Kuitert's practical  pro-
inclination to engage in fads.                                nouncements. Did not he himself suggest in his lecture
      There are several things which need saying about        referred to above that all of dogmatics had to be  re-
this evaluation by Editor De Koster.                          vamped? Going back to his  De Mensvormigheid Gods,
      In the first place, of course, it is a rather insulting. there is a theology at stake that is as different from
characterization of the work of one whom one calls a          Reformed theology as night from day.
brother. If Kuitert at all cares  - and I'm not sure he         In the third place, Editor De Koster's  characteriza-
does, - then I am sure that he does not consider him-         tion is beside the point. It is not church style. Before
self to be nor want to be classified as a theological         the church, the question is not faddism  - yes or no.
faddist. To this very day Kuitert insists that he is          Before the church, the question is one of true or false
teaching people how to understand the Word of God             doctrine, and that, too, according to the Church Order
aright; This is the whole burden of his booklet, "Do          and the Formula of Subscription and in the light of
You Understand What You Read?" This, I recall, was            Scripture and the Confessions. This is the question for
his plea when he spoke in the Calvin College Fine Arts        Kuitert as professor of theology and as minister. This is
Center for the Christian Reformed ministers. In fact,         the question for the Gereformeerde Kerken. This is the
one of the first things he said in his first lecture was      question for the Christian Reformed Church, in which
that he begged to be accepted as believing the Bible.         there are also adherents (how many?) of Kuitert. This
      In the second place, it is a very serious mistake to    is the question for all God's people. It is a question
underestimate a foe; and this is precisely what De            which concerns their  faith.  It is a question that  con-
Koster does when he calls Kuitert's work theological terns the very gospel.
faddism. After all, a fad in the very nature of the case        And it is the ONLY question for the church and for
cannot be very serious. It is a passing thing, a tempo-       believers who must try the spirits, I John 4: l-3.
rary craze. If  you. wait a little while and ignore it, it      And the plain answer to that question is unequivo-
will pass away into oblivion. One must not get very           tally: Kuitert is a false prophet!



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                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                                     53



Guest Editorial'

        The Standard Bearer and the Next Generation
                                                       or
The Standard Bearer I A Force To Preserve A Heritage

                             (Note: This is a transcript of the address delivered at
                             the annual meeting of the R.F.P.A. on September 30,
                             1971.)

                                               Mr. Jon J. Huisken

  In my reply to the RFPA board, I wrote that I you really do not like the subject that was assigned,
accepted this speaking assignment with a bit of trepida- there is only one thing for you to do and that is to
tion. That trepidation is as of this moment confirmed. make it fit you, to tailor it in such a way that you are
I am not atall easy up here. I am far more comfortable comfortable. That is exactly what I did.
in a classrom-type setting where the situation is one of      Consequently, I will not try tonight to give sug-
exchange and interchange. My uneasiness stems not gestions about how to arouse our interest in the Stand-
only from my inexperience as a speaker, however, but ard Bearer. It will not be my purpose to suggest neat
stems as well from the importance of the topic which little tricks and gimmicks which can be employed to
was suggested to me, a topic which interests me a great get me and my generation to read the Standard Bearer.
deal but certainly is a topic which has very grave and To me, that will never work. Rather, I have decided to
serious connotations. It was suggested to me by the take a very personal point of view with respect to this
board that I talk a bit about the relationship of the topic. And, I wish you to be aware of this as you
Standard Bearer to young people, to the next genera- patiently listen to the rest of my speech. What I have
tion. I have an immediate problem, however, in this to say must be viewed in this light: what do I want the
regard. I have trouble defining that word "young Standard Bearer  to do for me and my generation?
people." Who actually does belong in the next genera- What is its real purpose with respect to me and my
tion? The younger generation is sometimes defined as generation? I think the idea that I wish to convey to-
anyone under age 30. That puts me, you see, still in night is pretty well summed up in my title which is as
that category. That makes me feel good but it did not follows: The  Standard Bearer  and the Next Genera-
do much for my speechmaking. The quip is often made tion, or, The Standard Bearer: A Force to Preserve a
as well that "young people" do not trust anyone over Heritage. This is how I read the situation and this is
age 30. In fact, any one over that magical age of 30 is what I wish to confirm tonight: that what I wish the
immediately held suspect and is classified as being part Standard Bearer to be doing for us is to preserve, to
of the fuddy-duddy establishment. Well, to put your guard, defend, and develop our heritage.
minds at ease, my still being under 30 does not gain me       Now I am going to do another thing which I have
much respect from those somewhat younger than I nor learned from listening to ministers giving speeches. I
does it gain me much respect from those who are am going to have three points. That certainly ought to
somewhat older. In sum, I guess I would have to say make you comfortable. Consider with me then this
that the statement that one ought not trust anyone topic:  The Standard Bearer:  A Force to Preserve a
over 30 and conversely should trust everyone under 30, Heritage. Considering first, what is that heritage which
is quite absurd. I think that we can state, however, for ought to be preserved, considering next that that herit-
our purposes tonight that we will consider the next age is presently under attack, and considering finally
generation to be those of us who are under 30. This what we, mutually as  Standard Bearer  and the next
however, you understand, is arbitrary.                      generation, ought to be doing to see that that heritage
  I am not sure what the RFPA board had in mind for is preserved.
me when they asked me to speak on this topic. Conse-          First, then, let us take a look at our heritage. It must
quently I will employ an old speech-making trick be obvious from the outset that our heritage includes
which I have `learned from listening to some of our all history which precedes us. This, of course, encom-
ministers give these types of speeches, namely, that if passes centuries and centuries. It includes the Old Tes-
you are not sure about what is expected of you, or, if tament and the New Testament Church and all of the


54                                              THE STANDARD BEARER



subsequent ecclesiastical history. It ought to be but must be dispensed.
obvious, then, that I can not possibly give an outline of       The question, then, is inevitable. What is there about
that heritage in an exact, minute, detailed manner.          our heritage that makes it valuable? What are those key
      What I wish to point out, however, is that that herit- elements which are reason for our concern tonight?
age has always contained certain general elements.              It soon becomes evident from reading the Scriptures
And, these elements are what I wish to have you con- themselves and from reading the church fathers, and I
sider tonight.                                               have in mind tonight particularly three of those
      To get at these elements, then, and in particular to fathers, viz., Augustine, Calvin, and Hoeksema, that
get at what I consider to be the central thread, the the motivating force behind this heritage is, in a word,
most general, the most universal, and the most signifi- the Scriptures. And that's not all. These Scriptures
cant element of our heritage, I wish to take a closer were seen to be authoritative. They were considered to
look at that term heritage. I wish to distinguish its use be the infallibly inspired Word of God and as such
and meaning from the term inheritance. Now a herit- were the only rule of faith and life, the only guide for
age is certainly something which is handed down from one's life. This was the foundation upon which all their
one generation to the next, as is an inheritance. It de- works were built. In the final analysis, this was all
notes an activity of the older generation and a passivity there was: human reason had to bow before the
of the younger. Something is given or left by the older authority of the Word of God. The Old Testament
to the younger. This is how Webster defines it: "that prophets had come to the people of Israel with these
which is inherited; the lot, condition or status into simple yet pregnant words: "Thus saith the Lord."
which one is born."                                          There were no more questions asked. That Word was
      Something then is left to us. But I submit to you final. So, too, with these men. Read Augustine's Con-
that that something with which I am left can not be fessions. Certainly one can not leave that work without
junk or trinkets. Certainly, when a father dies and being impressed with the fact that it was the Word of
passes down his possessions to-his children, he gives God which had the primary importance in Augustine's
them something of value and something of signifi- life after his conversion. The emphasis of the Reforma-
cance, be it material or sentimental. Such is the case in tion cannot be denied. Sola Scriptura  was the motto of
both heritage and inheritance.                               the reformers. The Scriptures alone had authority over
      So far, then, the idea of heritage and inheritance are doctrine and life. Parenthetically, I would like to call
somewhat similar. Something of value is handed down your attention to the most recent issue of the  i%.eo-
from one generation to the next. But there is more. To logical Journal  in which Prof. Hanko has an article
me, an inheritance connotes that which is material, concerning this very topic. I call your attention to this
that which is tangible. The term inheritance is usually article because in it Prof.  Ha&o confirms this atten-
used in reference to those goods which are left by tion of the reformers to the idea of the sole authority
parents for their children. The other term, however, of the Word of God. I wish that you all would read it,
the term  heritage,  is to me far richer in content and and, by the way, it could be read with a great deal of
much broader in scope. A heritage does not merely profit by those of high school age. Certainly, however,
refer to material goods, but rather refers to the intan- without going into a great deal of detail it can be said
gible. It refers to a tradition, a way of life, a spiritual, that this was the emphasis of the reformers. The late
moral, intellectual environment. The term  heritage Rev. H. Hoeksema has some very pointed remarks on
carries with it the idea of a perspective of life,.a world this topic as well. I will quote but one, which is found
and life view, a way of looking at and measuring in the "Introduction" to his Dogmatics (he speaks here
things. It includes a value system and a set of beliefs. of the relation of the church to dogma): "Even
This is my idea of heritage.                                 though the church sets its seal of authority upon the
  In sum, we might say that a heritage in distinction dogmatic truths elicited from the Scriptures . . . yet
from an inheritance is ideological rather than material. their ultimate basis is not the authority of the church,
It connotes the spiritual and the philosophical.             but that of the Scriptures alone."
      But there is still more. The term inheritance gives      There can be little doubt, I think, that our heritage
the idea that one does not obtain his possessions until is rooted in this idea of the authoritative, infallible,
after the older generation has passed away. It is not inspired Word of God.
delivered until then. Not so with a heritage. A heritage       This brings us to consider what I believe to be a
connotes the idea of instruction and tutelage and, second important element in our heritage. That herit-
there is a sense of urgency in this regard. The Jewish age is not only pervaded with and founded upon the
fathers could not keep to themselves their  Sinaitic         notion of the authoritative Word, but it is also char-
heritage. They were told in no uncertain terms to in- acterized by a dogmatic stance. In this day of  anti-
struct their children in God's precepts. They had to dogma we might do well to emphasize this and the
dispense immediately that heritage. So, too, today. next generation would do well to accept this as fact.
That heritage can not be kept in escrow somewhere, Again, I can not go into great detail in this regard. If I


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 55



do nothing else, however, I do want to get this point guess I could have gone to other works, but this one is
across: our heritage is characterized by a unique dog- especially significant in light of our topic concerning
matical position and we would do well to see to it that the next generation. This book has been read primarily
this element of our heritage is not lost. If one wants a by young people; it is dedicated to them by the
capsule view of that dogmatic position, there is one author. In addition, it has already sold over a million
article in particular which comes to. my mind and that copies and has been a No. 1 bestseller. It has had an
is the speech which the late Rev. Hoeksema gave to the impact. Let me quote: "There is a tevolution coming.
student body and faculty of Calvin Seminary. It was It will not be like revolutions of the past. It will origi-
entitled "Particular Throughout" and appeared in Vol. nate with the individual and with culture, and it will
40, p. 364 of the Standard Bearer. We ought not to be change the political structure only as its  final act. It
ashamed of that dogmatical position neither ought we will not require violence to succeed, and it cannot be
to be afraid of dogmatics. In the final analysis, it will successfully resisted by violence. It is now spreading
be our dogma which sets us apart from everyone else, with amazing rapidity, and already our laws, institu-
The crucial question has always been `and will always tions and social structure are changing in consequence.
continue to be: What do you believe? Man likes to It promises a higher reason, a more human community,
change that around a bit today. He does not ask the and a new and liberated individual. Its ultimate crea-
question: What do you believe? but rather asks the tion will be a new and enduring wholeness and beauty
question: How do you feel? Brotherhood and society - a renewed relationship of man to himself, to other
must be maintained and, if need be, at the expense of men, to society, to nature, and to the land. This is the
dogma. A dogmatic position, however, must be con- revolution of the new generation. Their protest and
sidered to be a vital part of our heritage.                   rebellion, their culture, clothes, music, drugs, ways of
  In the third place, as we consider the third element thought, and liberated life-style are not a passing fad
of our  heritage< let me bring this whole idea of our or a form of dissent and refusal, nor are they in any
heritage still closer to home. Our heritage has as its sense irrational.. The whole emerging pattern, from
focal point, its foundation, the Scriptures, and it cer- ideals to campus demonstrations, to beads and bell
tainly is characterized by a dogmatic position, but it bottoms to the Woodstock Festival, makes sense and is
also includes our own unique local, ecclesiastical his- part of a consistent philosophy. It is both necessary
tory. We have a history as Protestant Reformed and inevitable, and in time it will include not only
Churches which may not be excluded from our herit- youth, but. all people in America." There is no doubt
age. That, too, might well be emphasized in our day in your mind, is there, that the emphasis is ideological.
and might well be clearly understood by the next gen- And, it takes little imagination as one continues to
eration. 1924, 1953, 1962, 1970 are all part of our read this book that this movement is diametrically op
heritage. We ought not to wish them out of existence. posed to our heritage. They are not concerned, you
  Three things, then, three essential elements, I have see, with establishing the Word of God as their base,
asked you to consider as vital parts of our heritage, the nor are they concerned with a dogmatic position, and
authoritative scriptures, our dogmatic stance, and our they are practically a-historical and traditionless.
own local ecclesiastical history. And, it is this heritage      This is one example of today's thinking, but one
which I wish to have preserved.                               could cite many more. It has become evident to me,
  We must proceed, then, to our second main point, however, that we observe a major trend in today's
viz., the idea that this heritage is presently under at- thinking and that trend is the thinking of the existen-
tack. This is not to say, however, that that heritage has itialist.
not always been under attack. That would be foolish-            Now, I have no intention of bombarding you with
ness. The history of the church shows that her heritage philosophical jargon regarding the philosophy of
is never left alone. Each era, however, has its own existentialism, nor can I delineate carefully its major
unique problems and situations to face.                       tenets, but let me nevertheless point out a few things
  Now I have stressed so far that our heritage is some- which cause `me to reject its teachings. In the  fast
thing which is ideological rather than material, and it place, the existentialist is a creature of the "now," of
would follow, then, that our battle is  -primarily ideo- the "moment." Tradition, heritage, history, do' not
logical as well. This does fit, does it not? Paul told us have much meaning for the existentialist. Secondly,
long ago that our battle was not against flesh and the rational, logical way of determining truth does not
blood but against principalities and powers, against have a great deal of meaning for them either. Their
spiritual hosts. And, it becomes very clear as he de- emphasis is on the innerlichkeit,  the intuitive and the            .
scribes the Christians' armor, that this is the case. experiential. Something inside me tells me whether or
Augustine's battles and Calvin's battles and not what I perceive is real. It becomes obvious, further-
Hoeksema's battles were of this nature. So will ours be.      more, as you read the works of the existentialist that
Let me quote for you an introductory statement from the direct result of his philosophy is that he becomes a
Charles Reich's book,  The Greening  of  America.  I relativist of the baldest sort. Having dumped tradition


56                                              THE STANDARD BEARER



and the rational, he becomes very subjective. All                It should be quite evident, then, that we have a job
things, consequently, become relative: morality,               to do. We ought never to convince ourselves that the
values, ethics, you name it. And, finally, you can easily      enemy has put down its military equipment, that
see that if all is relative, there is no authority left somehow he has gone to beating his swords into plow
other than the individual himself. The existentialist has      shares. Not so. The battle is very real, and we must
destroyed every ounce of objective authority.                  mutually fight side by side as older and younger, as
      This philosphy, of course, has its practical results.    former and next generations. Our heritage must be pre-
We need not look.far in today's society to determine served.
that. But I am not primarily interested in what is com-          This is, of course, where the Standard Bearer comes
monly labeled as "the world." My feeling is, and conse- in. I intimated in my title that I conceive the Standard
quently my emphasis will be, that this type of thinking Bearer to be doing exactly this; it is a force to preserve
has had an effect upon us as well. Let's bring this            a heritage. It has a responsibility in this regardand that
matter a little closer to home.                                responsibility has not been negated. It is my conten-
      The ecclesiastical world certainly has been affected. tion further tonight and I believe that the Standard
Report 36 of the 1971 Synod of the Christian Re- Bearer has more than adequately met this responsi-
formed Church certainly is no cause for joy. For all bility. Rehearse for a moment the central characteris-
practical purposes, they have dumped the authority of tics of our heritage and then review in your mind some
the Scriptures out the window. Is there little wonder,         of the articles in just this last year's issues of the Stand-
then, why men can talk freely of The Scripture as sitz         ard Bearer.  Certainly no lack of emphasis or lack of
im Zeben, the new hermeneutic, and situational ethics?         effort was exhibited there.
The Dooyeweerdians are no cause for joy either. In                The responsibility, however, to preserve our heritage
many .instances  they appear to be conservative, ortho-        does not lie solely with the Standard Bearer. That re-
dox and Reformed, but certainly the recent writings of         sponsibility also lies with us, the reader. That perhaps
De Graff, Seerveld, and Hart on the Scriptures are no          is the biggest problem when one views the relationship
cause for jubilation. This is not to mention the modern        of the  ,Standard  Bearer  and the next generation. Our
ecumenical movement with its stress on brotherhood             fears are that the Standard Bearer is not being read by
and tolerance at the expense of dogma and confessions          that next generation. It appears as if the next genera-
and an absolute, authoritative Word of God. The edu-           tion is not interested. It appears further, that perhaps
cational world is not immune. The authority of the             the older generation did not use the Standard Bearer as
teacher, both in discipline and in pedagogy, has been          an important medium to help them in the preservation
questioned. Behaviorism, with its blatant denial of the        of our heritage. Certainly, the material was there.
depravity of man, has become the philosophical back-
drop of the educational scene. What about the home?              The problem, then, as I see it, is not with the Stand-
Marriage doesn't mean much these days. And, in the ard Bearer, but rather with the attitude of the reader.
                                                               From my viewpoint, I can only say, 
face of an unbridgeable generation gap, parents have                                                    "Go to it, Stand-
retreated to the level of their children.                      ard Bearer. Continue to defend that precious heritage.
      But, you say, that's all out there. Somehow or other If you need a vote of confidence, you have mine."
we always remain immune. But I wish to submit that               To the next generation, and as far as that goes, to
the attack on that heritage does not always come from the older generation as well, I can only say, "Get with
without. The history of the church ought to teach us it, you had best assume your responsibility for the
that the most serious attacks come from within. We preservation of our heritage before it is too late.  I&se
hear rumblings, do we not, about being bored by doc- the Standard Bearer; it has proven to be a mighty force
trine and the subsequent need to be fired up by  so- in that preservation."
called practical preaching. We want a short course in            In conclusion, let me relate to you what I heard
how-to-do-it theology. We hear talk, do we not,- that recently from a man called William Ewald. Ewald is a
our devotional lives at home are slipping. We hear talk, city planner and as such has become very concerned
do we not, that we ought to forget about 1924 and the about the future of mankind in the next fifty years. In
whole issue of common grace. I can recall from my the course of his speech he made a statement which
own experience a paper in a young people's meeting to          came home to me. He said: "If man is to survive in the
this effect. We ought to talk more, this young person next fifty years, he will be forced to choose between
said, about what is happening in today's -society; we an existential, relativistic, float-with-the times men-
ought to talk about today's problems; we ought to talk tality in which he will have to accept changing mores,
more about culture. Strange, isn't it, that this is what       changing values, changing everything; or, he will be
1924 was all about. Probably the quickest way to kill a forced to cling to a system of absolutes, he will be
heritage is to neglect it. That's the point I wish to forced to exercise his faith in them as never before."
emphasize. We have not been untouched, you see, by God give us grace and the spiritual courage to make the
the philosophy of relevancy and relativity.                    latter choice.


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  57



Meditation
                    The Nobility of God's People
                                                Rev. M. Schipper

          But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an, holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye
          should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous
          light:
             Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not
          obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
                                                                                           I Peter 2-9, 10.

  What a glorious "but" that is, which introduces this people - they are born again, from above, and by the
portion of Scripture!                                        Words of God which liveth and abideth forever.
  For it depicts for us a deliberate contrast; the con-        Nor does the nobility of this people of God consist
trast, namely, between two classes of people. On the in the fact that historically they became a nation, in
one hand, the people of God; a people which is pecul- distinction from all the nations of the world, namely,
iarly distinguished by their election, by their royal the nation called Israel. Oh, indeed, it is true that for a
priesthood, by their separation from the world, in or- time the people of God could be found peculiarly in
der that they should shew forth the praises of God. On that nation, yet we may say without fear of contradic-
the other hand, a people distinguished by their dis- tion that Israel as such was never the people of God.
obedience to the Word, and their stumbling over Nor because one was a Jew, was he necessarily of the
the rock of  offence, which rock shall break them to people of God. Nor because one could historically re-
pieces. Concerning the latter the apostle had written in fer to Abraham as his father, was he necessarily of the
the preceding verses of this chapter. Concerning the people of God. This the Scripture makes abundantly
former he speaks in the words of our text.                   clear when. it informs us "they are not all Israel which
  A contrast, if you will, which the Word of God here are called Israel." (Romans  9:6) "He is not a Jew
draws between the objects of election and the objects which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision
or reprobation. For God has chosen Sion, which in which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew which is
time past was not a people and had not obtained one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart."
mercy; but now have obtained mercy, and are the (Romans 2:28, 29) "Neither because they are the seed
people of God. But the rest He has rejected through of Abraham are they all children: but in Isaac shall thy
the way of their disobedience, and stumbling over the seed be called. That is, They which are the children of
chief corner stone.                                          the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the
  Not so were the people of God appointed that they children of the promise are counted for the seed."
should stumble, that they should be disobedient to the (Romans 9:7, 8)
Word, that they should fall over the chief corner stone;'      Oh, indeed, it is true that for a time the people of
but they were chosen to be the people of God, to be a God in the old dispensation were to be found in the
royal priesthood, an holy nation, a people which is nation called Israel. Also it is true that they could refer
God's peculiar possession, and former for His praise.        their ancestry back to Shem, who was the father of the
  Herein, indeed, is described the high nobility of Semitic race; and to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, p&i-
God's people!                                                archs in the generations of the covenant, progenitors of
  That people is distinguished, first of all, by their the Israelitish nation. And because God's people and
birth. Not, you understand, by their natural birth; but the generations of the covenant were to be found al-
by their spiritual birth. Oh, to be sure, the people of most entirely in that nation, God often addressed them
God also have a natural birth. In time they are born through Moses and the prophets as His people. "And
out of the race of men, all descendants of their first ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy
father, Adam. However, there is nothing that distin- nation." (Exodus  19:6a) And again, "For thou art a
guishes them from all other people through this natural holy people unto the Lord thy God: The Lord thy
birth. Rather, with all other people they are alike - all God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto him-
are children of darkness by nature. All are conceived self, above all the people that are upon the face of the
and born under sin and guilt, in corruption. But some- earth." (Deuteronomy 7:6) And again, "But now thus
thing wonderful and heavenly and spiritual has come saith the Lord that created thee, 0 Jacob, and he that
to the people of God, in distinction from all other formed thee, 0 Israel, Fear not, for I have redeemed


     58                                                THE STANDARD BEARER


     thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.           But ye are a chosen generation! And election is that
     The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and eternal and sovereignly free decree of God whereby He
     the owls; because I give drink to my people, my cho- determined upon a certain people, their identity and
     sen. This people have I formed for myself: they shall number, whom He gave to Christ (the Elect) as mem-
     shew forth my praise." (Isaiah 43: 1, 20, 2 1)               bers of His body; in distinction from others whom He
           Yet it was not those by natural birth, called Israel, determined should serve the election of grace, and
     that constituted the people of God; but those who who, through the way of their sin, would be destroyed
     were born of the Spirit of God. Born they were, "by forever. Indeed, election has to do with a certain num-
     the word of God which liveth and abideth for ever." (I ber of persons, and is therefore very personal. Yet, as
     Peter 1: 23)                                                we said before, we should not conceive of election
~          A chosen generation!                                   merely as the divine determination of certain individ-
           Notice once more, that the apostle does not speak uals, but as an organic whole, who with Christ make up
     of this people as mere individuals, but as a generation. the body of Christ. As God has fashioned the human
     The people of God are never looked upon as mere body, composed of many members, all fitted into their
     individuals, but as a generation. Though, as we shall see own proper place under the head; so God has also
     in a moment, election is very personal, and redemption chosen His people in Christ. He is the elect Head, and
     comes to the individual and is a very personal experi-      all of His people constitute His body.
     ence, yet God's people are never looked upon as mere           And as God has chosen His people in Christ from
     individuals, but always as belonging to others. All be- eternity, so has He given them unto `Christ to be re-
     long to one spiritual Father, all address Him as Abba, deemed by Him.
     loving Father; all are covenant seed, and connected            Their redemption is the second cause of their nobil-
     to the Seed, which is Christ.                               ity!
           And the generation becomes a nation!                     When the text speaks of a peculiar people, as the
           An holy nation!                                       translation has it, it means literally: a people for or
           Typically and historically this was beautifully dem- unto a possession. God has obtained them for Himself.
     onstrated in the nation Israel. There was one people; And if you ask, "How was this done?" then the answer
     one King (God), one place of worship - Mount Zion; is: they were bought with a price  - the price of the
     one land  - the land of Canaan. The reality is the blood of the Only Begotten Son of God. This idea is
     Church of Christ as she is gathered in both dispensa- also implied in the last part of the text, where the
     tions, from all peoples, tribes, and tongues. Realized in apostle, referring to a passage in the prophecy of
     the generations of the believers and their seed.            Hosea, chapters 1 and 2, quotes from these passages.
           A royal priesthood!                                   We quote here only Hosea 2:23: "And I will sow her
           Not only are they a priesthood that stands in the unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her
     service of God, and who consecrate themselves and all that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them
     that they have unto God in that service; but they also which were not my people, Thou art my people; and
     -are a royalty. They belong to a royal family. Royalty they shall say, Thou art my God." That mercy of God
     runs in their spiritual veins. In principle now they reign is as eternal as the election; but as it is realized in time
     over all things and bring them into subjection to the in this people, it is that grace of God according to
     rule of Christ, the King; and for ever they shall reign which He wills to bend down to objects in misery, with
     with Him. Herein we see especially their high nobility. the fervent desire to make them blessed as He is bles-
     An holy nation they are, because God has separated sed. And so God finds His people in time. They were
     them from the world, sanctified them through the no people, they had not obtained mercy, and were
     blood of Christ, and has given to them the Spirit therefore miserable and wretched. But He through His
     whereby they are dedicated unto God.                        Son in the flesh redeemed them and showed unto them
           A peculiar people!                                    His mercy. Thus He makes them His own possession,
           That is, a people for a possession!                   and peculiarly they are separated from all the peoples
           They are not their own, but with body and soul, in of the world.
     life and in death, for time and eternity, they are God's       And as God has chosen them and redeemed them in
     precious possession. Peculiar they are, because they are Christ, so also He has called them out of darkness into
     distinct from all other peoples `- yea, from the world. His marvelous light.
           God's noblemen!                                          This calling is the third cause of their nobility!
           But how are we to account for this nobility? How         Out of the darkness of natural depravity and death,
     did they become so noble and come to such high es- into the marvelous, wonderful light of His life and fel-
     tate?                                                       lowship He has efficaciously called them. Outwardly
           The text underscores three causes.                    He called them through the Word of the gospel which
           The first mentioned cause of their nobility is their was preached unto them. Inwardly He called them by
     election.                                                   bringing that Word into the inner recesses of their


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  59


hearts. Thus "they heard the voice of Jesus say: come people all His perfections. He is full of infinite perfec-
unto Me and rest." Powerfully and irresistibly He calls tions. And to praise Him is to enumerate, speak out,
them, and they come unto Him. Such is the nature of recount these perfections. That is His praise.
the calling. When He calls, they come! Out of igno-             This is in harmony with that which also the prophet
miny and the darkness and shame of their natural Isaiah declared: "This people have I formed for myself,
plight, into the glorious liberty, life, and nobility of they shall show forth my praise."
the children of God, He calls them.                            This that people do now in principle, even while
   Wondrous and mighty calling!                              they walk in this vale of tears. They publish abroad the
   That exalts them to the highest heavens!                  mercy and grace, the truth and the righteousness, the
   And unto what purpose? Unto what end must this lovingkindness of their God. And presently, when all
high nobility serve?                                         this weary night is over, they shall do this in heavenly
   That ye should shew forth the praises of Him who perfection for ever.
hath called you!                                                They shall see the glory of God, and bathe in it unto
   The praises are the virtues, the excellencies of our endless ages!
God!                                                           This is the high estate of the people of God!
   The God of our salvation who has chosen us, re-              Amen!
deemed us, and called us, is pleased to show unto His


Come Ye Apart. . . And Rest A While

                                       Good Stewardship
                                                   Rev. C. Hanko

   I cannot affort it.                                       my first conscious act a prayer? Did I eat my breakfast
   Those words pass so readily over our lips. Almost consciously seeking the glory of God? And how about
every day we are confronted with buying something, that telephone conversation I just had?, My friend did
indulging in some luxury, enjoying some pleasure; and not give me the impression that God was foremost in
each time the question must be answered: Can we af- his thoughts, but neither `did I give him that  impres-
fort it? Children hear their parents say in almost sion, even though our conversation centered about the
wearisome monotony: We cannot afford it,, forget it. church. And then I think about the many things I do
Often parents and children can differ violently on the all day long, the many things I say, the making of
question whether or not the family can afford this or sermons, my Sunday worship, and last but not least,
that.                                                        my prayers. Am I a good steward in God's house?
   It becomes a matter of values. What is essential for When I appear before God to give an account of my
my daily existence? When I pray for my daily bread, stewardship, will I be weighed in the balance and
what do I include in that long list of daily needs? When found wanting? No, at the moment I am not even
I realize that all that I am and all that I have comes thinking of the sins that I am aware of and confess
from the Lord and belongs to Him, it becomes a ques- from day to day. What bothers me is more like a secret
tion of: What does the Lord require of me? How does sin, because I am so little burdened by it. It is my
He want me to use His gifts?                                 failure to be a good steward, my failure to use the gifts
 ~- Actually it is all much more serious than that. It is a and means entrusted to me only to the glory of God
question of Christian stewardship, using the means and the coming of His kingdom.
God has entrusted to us in His fear and'to His glory. God      And so my mind wanders to those masses of people
has given us knowledge and wisdom, gifts and talents, who live in complete involvement of sin. They cannot
even all our possessions down to our dollars and cents, afford what might well be considered the barest neces-
not to use for our own selfish interests, but for the sities of life, a decent home, respectable furniture, a
glory of His Name. So readily we forget the admoni- dependable car to drive to work, and the like. They
tion of the apostle Paul, "Whether therefore ye eat, or have their beers, their liquors, their TV set, but as for
drink, or whatsoever ye do, do it all to the glory of the rest they are content to struggle along. If you were
God."                                                        to ask them, I suppose they would tell you that they
   And so I pause a moment to consider: When I cannot afford a better home, better furniture, and all.
`awoke this morning, was my first thought of God, and that.


60                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



      And then there are others who do have a beautiful When he died God sent an escort of angels to give him
home with modern furniture and every conceivable a hearth welcome into Father's House, where a man-
convenience. They have their cars, their camper, their sion awaited him. Carefully these angels laid their
boat, and many other necessities for enjoying their lei- charge in Abraham's bosom.
sure time with their children. They might seem to be           And the rich man died also. He could not linger to
among those who "have everything." Yet, no doubt,            enjoy the eulogies and pomp of his fine funeral. His
they also say of one thing or another: "I cannot afford      soul hastened on, and in the next moment of con-
it."                                                         sciousness he opened his eyes to torment. Still worse,
      As children we were taught that the kingdom of those tear-stained eyes looked `about and focused upon
heaven comes first in our thoughts and in our giving.        - Lazarus. There was that same beggar of the.street,
We were constantly reminded that we had to give of but now enjoying the bounties of the heavenly wed-
our small earnings or allotments to the church and to        ding feast, reclining right next to Abraham. Suddenly
kingdom causes. As we eyed our small handful of coins        the "rich man" became a beggar, pleading for a drop of
with visions dancing through our heads of some dain- water to quench his thirst, just as poor Lazarus had
ties or of a bike, we were told not to be selfish. Yet begged for a crumb of bread. But he who showed no
how soon we forget.                                          mercy receives no mercy. God is just. To him come
      That brings me almost unawares to the parable of those accusing, condemning words: "Son, remember!"
the Rich Man and Lazarus. The rich man was a mem-            Let him but remember the things he had set his heart
ber of the church and proud of his prominent position        on, which he deemed so essential for his happiness. Let
in it, which certainly no one dared to challenge. How        him realize what he had done with God's gifts; how he
freely he referred to Abraham as his father. Even in had failed in his stewardship. Eternity is a long time to
hell he still made an appeal to father Abraham to send       chew one's tongue in remorse under the righteous judg-
him a bit of relief in his misery. He was rich, and proud    ment of God.
of his riches. He dressed like a king in purple. He care-      And so I got to thinking about kingdom causes.
fully chose his fine linens. Why should he not insist on There are not so many Lazaruses lying at our gate at
the best? He could afford it, and he had worked hard         present, at least not in that physical form. But we do
for it. In his stately mansion only choice foods and         manage to find a number of income tax reductions
wines were served to satisfy his ravenous appetite. By each year. And we do know our obligations to the
his own-right he was a connoisseur of the most delec-        church and to kingdom causes. Many churches have a
table foods and liquors. One thing he did enjoy, and that    high budget. Many families are burdened with high tui-
was his meals.                                               tion for the instruction of their children. These obliga-
      But there was that Lazarus that someone had depos- tions- often force us to forego some desired luxury.
ited at his gate, without even consulting him. Well, he And the last synod also made some far-reaching deci-
could lie there as far as Dives was concerned. It was a      sions. The delegates felt as good stewards in the house
shame that the priests neglected their poor, and that        of God that our churches should call another mission-
the city fathers were not more concerned about ecol- ary, call a third professor for the seminary, and work
ogy in the Holy City. But if others allowed such rub- toward a new seminary building. They felt that in
bish on the streets, why should he be bothered? That         times like these we must not hide our light under the
Lazarus with his ugly, ulcerous sores! It made him           bushel, but proclaim wherever possible the truth our
shudder to think of touching him.                            Sovereign God has entrusted to us. We must properly
      And then those dogs that were attracted by the foul    train our pre-seminary and seminary students, if we are
smell of this beggar! At least, they licked the poor to have ministers that can properly serve our churches
man's sores. But why must' that Lazarus be placed in in the future. And they did not consider a new semi-
front of the rich man's house? Must rich men have nary building a luxury.
their pleasant life disturbed by a beggar who cries for        Also for us it becomes a matter of good stewardship.
crumbs?                                                      And therefore voices already are heard: Can we afford
      Then the day came that the beggar was delivered it? Good stewardship requires that we ask ourselves
from his misery. Who would have thought that.Lazarus         whether this is to the glory of God, for the extension
had a stewardship to fulfill? And he who bore the            of His kingdom, and the ingathering of the church.
beautiful name "God is my Helper" had even fulfilled         Does it belong to your stewardship and mine? The
that stewardship amid all his poverty and misery! No, 1. question could also be turned about: "Can we afford
do not know how he did it, but he did. Just. imagine.        not to have them?"


                          I<now the standard, and follow it.  Read the Standard Bearer


                                             THE.STANDARD  BEARER                                                    61



Feature

                       The Concern of the Reformation
                                 for Christian Education (8)
                                               Rev. David Engelsma

  In several articles we have now set forth the concern grace is preached. It also implies biology classes in
of the Reformation of the 16th century for Christian which the foundation and the goal of the instruction
education. The Reformation in both its branches, are the adoration of Psalm 139: 14: "I will praise thee;
Lutheran and Reformed, called for Christian instruc- for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous
tion of the children of believers not only in the home are thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well."
but also in Christian schools. The result was the estab- It implies astronomy classes that climax in the out-
lishment of Christian schools very early in the develop- burst, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the
ment of the Reformation. It remains to evaluate this firmament sheweth his handywork" (Psalm 19: 1). It
indisputable fact of history.                                implies history classes that study the arising and over-
  Apparent in the emphasis upon Christian education throw of kingdoms in the light of Daniel 2: 20, 21:
is the importance of Christian education in the minds "Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for
of the Reformers. One might think that the Reformers wisdom and might are his: And he changeth the times
would have been too busy to concern themselves with and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up
Christian schools, occupied as they were with opposing kings. . . ." It implies science classes that begin with
the whole Roman Church, withstanding the Empire, the assertion of Genesis 1: 1: "In the beginning God
and recovering and proclaiming the gospel. That they created the heaven and the earth." Having this zeal for
did set forward the cause of Christian education, in the glory of God, the Reformation required that God
spite of their massive task in the Church, indicates how be praised in all His handiwork. Somewhere, Luther
important they esteemed this cause to be. In fact, con- wrote a very sad lament concerning the future of the
cern for Christian education was not so much a matter doctrine of justification by faith only. Because of the
of the personal judgment of the Reformers as it was an innate aversion of man's nature to this doctrine,
integral part of the Reformation itself. That mighty Luther feared that soon this truth would again be lost,
movement of the Holy Spirit confessed and proclaimed even among those who professed to be his disciples.
the sovereign, glorious God Who is revealed in Scrip- There is abundant reason for us, as Calvinists, similarly
ture. The heart of hearts of the Reformation, not only       to lament the loss of the hallmark of the Reformed
in Calvin but also in Luther, was Soli Deo  Gloria. To faith, Soli Deo Gloria.
God Alone be the Glory. To the glory of this great             In addition to its zeal for God's glory as a reason for
God belong His works of creation and providence. He          its demand for Christian schools, the Reformation re-
is the Maker of the universe and its sovereign King. He      garded the children who were to be taught as God's
is the Lord of its history. The reason for the existence     own children, covenant children. It is true that the
of the world and every creature in it is His praise.         doctrine of the covenant has been developed since the
Therefore, the attempt to teach concerning the crea-         time of the Reformation. But the Reformers knew the
tion (and what other subject can there be in the             essential elements of the covenant. They knew the
schools?) while ignoring or denying God is an assault        basic truth that God gathers the Church in the line of
on the glory of God. To concede the possibility of generations, that children of believers are, as infant
education which ignores God is to acquiesce in the baptism signifies, included in the Church and covenant
robbery of God of His most precious treasure, His            of God, and that, for this reason, these children are to
glory. This is the crime that the ancients were unani-       be reared and instructed in the fear of the Lord.
mous in condemning as the worst of all crimes: leze            Reformed people, generally, have acknowledged the
majesty. Teaching that "merely" leaves God out is the        importance of Christian schools. Article 21 of" the Re-
lie, the fundamental lie of fallen mankind: God is not       formed "Church Order of Do&" stipulates that "The
God. The inevitable, positive formulation of this lie is:    consistories shall see to it that there are good Christian
Man is god - all glory be to man. What must then be          schools in which the parents have their children in-
said of teaching that brings the God of Scripture into       structed according to the demands of the covenant."
the instruction, only to `disparage Him, to laugh at         In. addition to Reformed Churches, the Roman Catho-
Him, and to blaspheme Him? Soli Deo Gloria d-oes not         lic Church and Lutheran Churches have historically
only imply churches in which the gospel of sovereign         advocated Christian schools. It becomes plain in our


62                                                        THE STANDARD BEARER



day, however, that the concern of Rome is shallow, for                     Obviously the schools are not Christian. Just as ob-
she is quite willing to surrender her own schools when                     viously they are not neutral. The Scriptures say that
they begin to be costly, even though she has more than                     the fear of the Lord is the chief part of knowledge;
enough wealth to support those schools and all other                       but the schools, by omitting all reference to God, give
schools besides. Nor are many Lutherans impressive on                      the pupils the notion that knowledge can be had
this score. There are in Loveland, for example, three,                     apart from God. They teach in effect that God has no
large, wealthy Lutheran Churches, but no Lutheran                          control of history, that there is no plan of events that
Christian School and, apparently, no interest in one. In                   God is working out, that God does not foreordain
                                                                           whatsoever comes to pass.  Aside from definite  anti-
this as well as many other important matters, we are                       Christian instruction, to be discussed later, the public
more "Lutheran," that is, faithful to the teachings of                     schools are not, never were, can never be neutral. Neu-
Luther, than they are.                                                     trality is impossible. Let one ask what neutrality can
      Even in those churches which have not supported                      possibly mean when God is involved. How does God
the movement of Christian education, the Christian                        judge the school system which says to Him, `0 God,
school has had its strong defenders. In an article en-                     we neither deny nor assert thy existence; and 0 God,
titled "Parochial Schools," written in 1846, the emi-                      we neither obey nor disobey thy commands; we are
nent Presbyterian theologian, Dr. Charles Hodge, urged                     strictly neutral.' Let no one fail to see the point: the
Presbyterians to repudiate the public schools in favor                     school system that ignores God teaches its pupils to
of Christian  schools.1  He noted that the principle of                    ignore God, and this is not neutrality; it is the worst
Christian education has always been maintained by the                      form of antagonism, for it judges God to be unim-
                                                                           portant and irrelevant in human affairs. It is athe-
Church: "In all ages of the Church and in every part of                    ism.  2
Christendom it has been considered a first principle
that religious teaching should be incorporated with the He also proclaims the foundation of the Christian
common school system." He regarded the attempt of school:
the public schools in America to give instruction in                       There is only one metaphysics, one philosophy, that
"secular" subjects apart from "religion" as "a novel                      can really unify education and life. That philosophy
and fearful experiment. The idea of giving an educa-                      is the philosophy of Christian theism; that meta-
tion to the children of a country from which religion is                  physics is the metaphysics of the Being of the Triune
to be excluded, we believe to be peculiar-to the nine-                    God. What is needed is an educational system based
teenth century." Hodge viewed this attempt with the                       on the sovereignty of God, for in such a system man
                                                                          as well as chemistry will be given his proper place,
greatest alarm :                                                          neither too high nor too low. In such a system there
       The whole system is in the hands of men of the                     will be a chief end of man to unify, and to serve as a
       world, in many of our states, and is avowedly secular              criterion for, all his activities. What is needed there-
       . . . Again, it is obvious that education without reli-            fore is a, philosophy consonant with those greatest
       gion, is irreligious. It cannot be neutral, and in fact is         creeds of Christendom, the Westminster Confession,
       not neutral. The -effort to keep out religion from all             the Canons of the Synod of Dort, and the like. And in
       the books and all the instructions, gives them of                  such a system, God, as well as man, will have his
       necessity an irreligious and infidel character.                    proper place. This alone will make education success-
The conclusion of Dr. Hodge was that it was the duty                      ful, for the social and moral disintegration of civiliza-
of Presbyterian Christians to establish their own Chris-                  tion is nothing other than the symptom and result of
tian schools:                                                             a religious breakdown, and the abominations of war
       The conviction, we are persuaded, is fast taking pos-              are the punishment of the crime,  .better the  sin,  of
       session of the minds of good people that the common                forgetting God.  3
       school system is rapidly assuming not a mere nega-
       tive, but a positively anti-Christian character; and that     Dr. Clark concludes his book with the simple question:
       in self-defence, and in the discharge of their highest        "Does not your child deserve a Christian education
       duty to God and their  couritry,  they must set them-         from kindergarten to university?"
       selves against it, and adopt the system of parochial                                     (to be continued)
       schools; schools in which each Church shall teach
       fully, fairly and earnestly what it believes to be the
       truth of God.                                                 ' Charles Hodge, 
      Another Presbyterian, the philosopher, Dr. Gordon                                   Church Polity,  Charles  Scribner's  Sons, New
                                                                        York, 1878. All of the following quotations from Hodge are
H. Clark, has more recently written in condemnation                     taken from his article, "Parochial Schools," in this work. It is
of the public school system and in defense of Chris-                    not necessary for our purposes to show why we reject the
tian, and specifically                                                  specific form of the Christian school which Dr. Hodge advo-
                            Reformed, education. In an excel-           cates, namely, the parochial school, and rather propose
lent book, A Christian Philosoehy of Education, which                   parental schools.
our teachers, Board members, and parents could very 2 Gordon H. Clark,  A Christian Philosophy  of  Education
profitably read, Clark exposes the fundamental evil of                  Eerdmans, 1946, pp. 79, 80.
the public school system:                                            3 Ibid.,  pp.  27,28.


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 63



The Day  of Shadows

                               AlI These Are Yours
                                                Rev. John A. Heys

  From nothing at all to something so vast that our created man in His own image. Here, and here only, He
minds cannot comprehend it all!                            sent His Son. And the sun, moon and stars serve that
  From a void mass which existed in total darkness to' earth. The earth does not serve them.
a radiantly lighted, beautiful and amazingly complex         We said  heavens,  because there is also a spiritual
creation!                                                  realm called heaven. This is the dwelling place of the
  All this work of God is recorded in just twenty-eight angels and the place where God reveals Himself most
short verses in the first chapter of the Bible. Once intimately. This heaven was also created for man, not
again we assume that our readers believe the Scriptures to dwell in (though for a time his soul may sojourn
to be the infallible, inerrant Word of God. They will, there) but to serve the inhabitants thereof, who are
therefore, believe that all this work of God was per- man's servants. That is right. The angels are our serv-
formed in six successive days of twenty-four hours ants. Hebrews 1: 14 asks the question, "Are they not
each. We do not purpose to say anything more about all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them
the God-dishonouring position of theistic evolution who shall be the heirs of salvation?" Indeed, all these
than to point out that the denial of the first eleven heavenly creatures also are yours!
chapters of Genesis as fact is a denial of the whole of      As far as the earth is concerned, we would note that
Scripture. For there are several elements in these it was all prepared for man, and was fully furnished for
eleven chapters that are presented elsewhere in Scrip- him, before he was created to dwell upon it. If we
ture, and emphatically so in the New Testament,  as may, we would liken it to a house which was not only
fact, and not fiction. The fall of Adam is presented as built carefully with deep concern for all its details, but
fact in Romans 5: 12-l 9. Hebrews 11 is especially rich was also made with cupboard and pantry full of the
in presenting the incidents of chapters one through food man would need when he appeared. It made life
eleven of Genesis as fact. The offering of Abel is men- on this earth in every respect delightful, comfortable
tioned there as an act of faith. The translation of and enjoyable. Man's food was there for the taking. All
Enoch, the building of the ark by Noah, and the flood around was a blaze of color and beauty, of design and
itself are presented alongside of facts that occurred texture. God's glory shone all around.
after the history of these eleven chapters. Hebrews          Consider these plants which were designed to pro-
eleven draws no line between the deeds of Abel, Enoch vide man's food. Today we speak of factories and of
and Noah and between those of Abraham, Moses and manufacturing plants. Why call them plants? They can-
the rest of those mentioned in this chapter. John men- not compare with real plants. The plants which God
tions the murder of Abel by Cain in I John 3: 12 as a created are the original and real factories which manu-
fact, not as fiction. Peter in I Peter  3:20 and II Peter facture man's food. Without them there is no life for
2:5, speaks of the flood and of the work of Noah in man. They are his link with the earth from out of
building the ark as cold, hard facts of history. And which he was created, upon which he depends, and to
they, these theistic evolutionists, lose Christ too! And which he will return.
they are  anti-Christian  as well. For Christ Himself        But we cannot eat the dust of the ground. It must
speaks in Matthew  24:37, 38 of the flood and of be transformed into carbohydrates and fats and pro-
Noah's deeds as facts, not fiction.                        teins. This the plants do for us. They manufacture our
  We do wish to point out, as our title suggests, that food. They, using the rain and the sunshine, change
all this earthly creation was made.for us. And then we that dust with its minerals into grains, vegetables and
mean both the heavens and the earth. Both were made fruits and a host of foodstuffs. They are indeed the
for us. Although man was created to live on this earth, original factories, or manufacturing plants. They are
and will, after heaven and earth are united in Christ, some very specialized factories, for plants only inches
live on the new earth, the heavens (note the plural) apart in the same soil, with the same amount of rain
were also created for man. In the material heavens is and sunshine will produce two fruits that are the exact
his light plant, his furnace, his water system, his air opposites in nature. The one will produce a sweet fruit,
conditioning system, and his clock to mark off his the other a very bitter one. The one will bring forth
times and seasons. And though the earth may not be food to nourish man's life, the other a poison that will
the center of the solar system, it is the most important take his life away. And what does the theistic science-
body that "floats" in space. Here is life. Here God worshipper say? Did our edible plants evolve from the


64                                               THE STANDARD BEARER



poisonous, or did the poisonous evolve from the food- earthly creation, yea the whole universe was man's to
bearing plants? How is it today that tares always chock serve him and work for his good. The sun shone for
out the grains, and the weeds destroy the valuable man, and the mist came up for man. Because the plants
plants?                                                         need these, and man needs the plants, the sun shone in
      After the flood God gave man the flesh of beasts the heavens for man and was man's. It is our sun. But
also for food. See Genesis 1:30 and 9:3. But even these we lost the right to all of it, to every grain of sand and
creatures depend upon those plants for the support of drop of rain, to every bit of oxygen in the air, and to
their life. Some of these animals are strictly vegetar-         stand on God's earth. For we rebelled against the
ians, as the cow, the horse, the deer. Others are carniv- Creator. And the fact that God drove man out of the
orous, that is, will only eat meat, like the lion, and          best part, out of the garden of Eden is symbolic of the
the tiger. Some, however, like the bear, eat berries and        fact that we deserve nothing any more. That is also
honey as well as fish, and flesh of beasts. It makes no why we die and thereby lose everything. We ought to
difference, these animals that will eat only meat               get that straight. We are not born free and equal. We
depend upon the plants to nourish the life of the are born in the slavery of sin with no right to any place
animals whose flesh they eat. And we would have no              but the prison of hell. And we are equal only in the
flesh to eat, were it not for the plants that give support      sense that we are equally under condemnation in
to the bodies of the beasts of the field. We would have         Adam. If we would hold on to this truth that because
no beef steak, no beef roast to eat. Take away all plant        of sin we lost the right to all of these, and to life itself,
life, and you take away man's life. It is not simply his        we would not fall into this serious error of maintaining
dainties and delicacies that you take away. You take            that we do have a right to something even better,
away his life. For you take away from him the link              namely, salvation. Some go about speaking glibly, and
between him and the earth out of which he was                   promiscuously offer salvation to everyone who hears
formed. Evolution, both the Darwinian and the the preaching. But if we lost the right to our earthly,
theistic, will concede that point. But they do not con-         natural life as punishment for our sins, how do we
sider the origin of these creatures that are so important       suddenly have the right to. a life that is far better and
for our life to be a command by God to come forth higher than it? We have no right to salvation in our-
out of the earth' and to be the work of one day of              selves. We are guilty and deserving only of a continua-
twenty-four successive hours.                                   tion of our death until we are in hell! And the natural
      The evolutionist does not see these plants as given to    man cannot say today, All these are mine! He must
man by God, but rather as producing man himself.                say, I have no right to these, nor even to life itself.
After all, as far as the theistic evolutionist is concerned       But in Christ all things are ours again. As Paul writes
God was already making man when he made the in I Corinthians 3:22, 23, "Whether Paul, or Apollos,
plants. The Darwinian evolutionist says that man was or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things
on the way to appearing and evolving when the plants present, or things to come; all are yours: And ye are
began to be formed in the process of billions of years.         Christ's, and Christ is God's." Because we are Christ's,
Scripture, and we hope to treat this more fully next            all this creation and the one to come are ours.
time, presents the creation of the plants as something            The second element to be underscored is that all
quite distinct from that of man. These plants were these are yours as tools, means, instruments wherewith
created for man, but they did not produce man. They to serve God. They are yours relatively, remaining
produce for man, but man they do not bring forth God's in the absolute sense of the word. He gives them
indirectly by bringing forth the creatures that have to us in Christ in order that we may have means where-
power of moving around. Trees, plants and animals and with to serve Him. All paradise was given Adam,
man have this in common that they are all living according to Genesis 2: 15, "to dress and to keep" it
creatures. But the plants rooted in the soil do not bring       for God. All is restored to us in order that we may
forth a living creature that overcomes this bondage to          "dress and keep" it in the service of God.
the soil, to move about at will.                                  The first object you see when you wake up in the
      These plants, together with all the earthly creation morning, do you see it as God's and as that which is
are ours by a wisdom of God that fills us with wonder.          given you to praise and glorify God? The clothes you
All these are ours not only for food, but also for put on - and have taken off - when you dress for the
shelter, for tools to work the earth, to produce our work of the day, do you see God in them, and your
paper, even the rubber for our automobiles, and our calling before God in them? The food you sit down to
coffins as well. Presently a tree of the cross wilI serve eat, and that chair and table made from the plants that
the payment for our sins and deliverance from the guilt God made, does it link you up with God? Do we
and curse of sin.                                               simply see the plants as a link between us and the earth
      However, when we say that all these are yours, there      out of which we came, or do we see God behind and
are two . items that must be emphasized. These are under it, and find ourselves by faith linked up to Him?
yours, but not all men's. Originally in Adam all the Do we know our calling with all these possessions


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                               65



  which have been given us?                                   that purpose, and presently He will bring us into the
    Take a good hard look at Genesis 1. In the beginning new creation where all the creatures shall be used by us
  God . . . Do you today rule Him out?  He  said each         and all the redeemed in a joyful service we will not
  time, "Let the water (earth) bring forth. . ." They are     want to interrupt or terminate. In Christ we not only
  His. And you are His. All these are yours only to use to    have the right again to all these, but also the power to
  the glory of His name. All these Christ used only for       use them for the purpose for which God created them.


  The  Strength  of  Youth
                               The Fear of the Lord
                                                     Rev. J. Kovtering

    We direct your attention to the well known words you. You and I have to be discerning today. When we
  of Ps. 111: 10, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning stand before God in that holy activity of prayer, one
  of wisdom."                                                 stands struck with that fact that if we don't have the
    There is nothing that is more important to young fear of the Lord in us when we pray, our prayers will
  people than wisdom. Knowledge is important, but wis- be foolish. This is what strikes me often, when I listen
  dom is even more important. Those who are involved to young people pray. I'm sure they mean well, but
  in teaching know this very well. One may have four how foolish it is to pray a so-called "pop-prayer." It
  years of college and have a great accumulation of knowl- seems that the Campus Crusade movement advocates
  edge, but knowledge doesn't make a teacher. You need and promotes this kind of praying. Sometimes you
  wisdom. You need the ability to communicate that hear prayers, "Hi God," and it makes me tremble,
  knowledge to a young person. You have to know how tremble because prayer is foolish when you talk that
  to handle the class room situation, how to deal with way to your God. 0, it started a long time ago with the
  the slow learner and the discipline problem.                changing of pronouns, but it hasn't ended with that.
    In the area of our Christian faith, wisdom is putting Now foolish man thinks he is going to bring God to the
  into practice the knowledge which we possess. This is human level, he wants Him to be a good buddy with
  important for us, because you came here to this Chris- whom he can talk. That's foolishness, that doesn't
, tian school to gain not only knowledge, but especially show the fear of the Lord.
  wisdom. You need wisdom in order to put into prac-            .There  is another area, that of Christian witnessing.
  tice your Christian faith. Until we do this we have not 0,  .I thank God that we have young people who are
  accomplished the task for which we have set out. You filled with zeal to witness in their word and life. When
  need wisdom in order to pray; what is your prayer life witnessing assumes the proportion of the Jesus move-
  like? Are you wise in your prayers? You desire to wit- ment, again I tremble before the Lord God of heaven
  ness, both to one another and to those who cross your and earth. When someone tells me that Jesus is "cool,
  path in life; this is important for-in it you serve Jesus. and that you might listen to him and follow him," I
  Are you wise in your witness? You need wisdom in all tremble. This is Jesus of the Scriptures? No, here the
  the important decisions you have to make in your Son of God is dragged down by the use of such com-
  youth, your courtship and marriage; if you truly desire mon language. He is presented as the one who can
  to establish a Christian home you need wisdom in your solve all your problems, He is the lovey-dovey Jesus
  dating.                                                     who can change the whole world, and by following
    It is this wisdom, which is so important, that is so Him, all your problems are solved. What is lacking?
  lacking today. Isn't it striking to you, as it certainly is Here it is: the fear of the Lord! Without it, witnessing
  striking to me, that there is so much foolishness going becomes foolish.
  on. Foolishness to be sure is in the world of the              This same thing applies to the most important ques-
  wicked: look at the foolishness of war, crime, drugs, tion we ever ask; how do I get into Jesus Christ? How
  and rebellion. There is also foolishness in the context can I be assured of my  salv!&ion? In this area also,
  of that which calls itself the church. This concerns me there is much foolishness. It comes under the banner
  very much and I want to share some thoughts with you of Neo-Pentacostalism. It is presented in such a way as
  on this.                                                    if somehow the credentials to enter into the kingdom
     Let's examine one aspect of putting into practice of heaven consist of an emotional experience whereby
  our Christianity; that is) our prayers. So much of that you are "turned-on" by the Holy Spirit. When this
  which is called prayer is foolish. That shouldn't shock happens, we are told you have the guarantee of enter-


66                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



ing into heaven, and if you don't have it, too bad, you some people were more afraid of God. The Word of
are out. Again, I tremble. When an emotional experi-          God tells us that it is a terrible thing for sinners to
ence is made the criterion of salvation, and the Holy         stand in the presence of the holy God. Awe, reverence!
Spirit is made so common that He turns-on people,             When you contemplate that the God before Whom we
how foolish! Why do we have this foolishness? Here it         sinners stand is holy. and just, we smite our breasts in
is: the fear of the Lord is lacking.                          humble repentance. You realize that Jesus Christ is
      I hope you understand that these three areas to         God Himself joined in human flesh. When we speak to
which we have directed your attention are crucial in Him and about Him it is in deepest reverence. The fear
our Christian experience. We need wisdom if we are to         of the Lord demands this.
be faithful in serving God in these areas of our life.          In the third place, the fear of the Lord brings us to
      We are told in our text that the fear of the Lord is    our knees and we make this one petition, "Teach me
the beginning of wisdom; By this the inspired Psalmist        thy way, 0 Lord, show me thy paths." For us it is not
does not mean that the fear of the Lord is one depart-        a question of what I want, what I think: rather, what
ment of our Christian life and that has to precede our        does the Lord God of heaven and earth have to say.
walking in wisdom. When he tells us that it is the be-        The truth, this is paramount for one who has the fear
ginning  of wisdom, he tells us that it is the principle      of the Lord. We need the truth not only to know
that permeates our whole Christian life. If we lack it,       intellectually, but to believe and to use it as a directing
our whole life will be foolish: if we possess it we will      influence in our entire life. With the fear of the Lord
certainly be wise. You sense now the importance of we will reject all false doctrine and promote an under-
the fear of the Lord." We must ask ourselves personally,      standing of the Word of God. Doctrine and life are
"Do I possess this fear of the Lord?"                         inseparably connected. We will make it our earnest
      What then is the fear of the Lord? Let's notice         pram-, "Lord, I desire to do thy will in my life, show
briefly that it includes three things.                        thy will to me as I read the Scriptures." You see the
      First, the fear of the Lord is this, that we stand point, the fear of the Lord brings us to the Word of
consciously before God. Note carefully with me that I God, whether for our belief or for our conduct. It
did not say that we stand consciously before a carica-        makes us have a profound reverence for the Word of
ture of God. There are plenty that do that; you find God.
them in darkest heathendom bowing before idols. And             With this fear of the Lord, we will be wise. Isn't this
they are foolish! The only God before whom we can             a wonderful truth. I. know it means that we will be
stand in the fear of the Lord is this, the God who has        distinguished from all that which is unbelieving and
revealed Himself in the Holy Scriptures. That God is from all pseudo-Christianity. Mark you well, young
not a buddy whom you drag down to your sinful people, that anti-christ is coming soon. This Jesus
human level; He is JEHOVAH, the God Who spoke His movement is part of the total picture. Do not be de-
creative word in the beginning and by a miracle               ceived by everything that calls itself Christian or that
brought all things into existence! This God sovereignly       assumes to itself the right to be called a follower of
wills to save His people chosen unto everlasting life in Jesus. Anti-Christ will make Jesus popular. But that
Christ, and therefore gathers, defends, and preserves Jesus is not your Jesus and mine. He is not the Jesus of
unto Himself this people. He is a righteous God, not a        the Scriptures. He is a nice man who will give you all
lovey-dovey God Who wants everybody in His fellow-            you wanted, peace, prosperity, brotherhood. For such,
ship. He is a God of vengeance upon the wicked, and a         His death on the cross was a tragedy. But the Jesus of
God of great love and mercy through Jesus Christ              the Scriptures is the very Son of God who shed His
which He bestows upon His children. When you have blood on Calvary as a payment for the ransom of
the fear of the Lord you stand consciously before this God's elect people. Don't be deceived when many
God. Then you are standing with your Bible open.              young people sing hallelujah to Jesus. We need wisdom
Then you are spending time pondering the Scriptures to be discerning in our Christian faith.
and reading diligently with the one desire that the             With such wisdom we will be repentant of our sins.
Lord God will reveal Himself to you as He has revealed Examine your lives as young people. Look at your-
Himself in the Scriptures. You reject  any. caricature,       selves in the mirror of the Word of God. How do you
any idol, and stand before Jehovah.                           live? Are you wise? With the fear of the Lord in your
      The second thing that is involved in the fear of the heart you will be wise. You know what you will do?
Lord is this: as you stand before the God who has Not beg God for a rush of the Spirit to lift you up to a
revealed Himself in His Word, you are struck with awe         cloud of ethereal bliss; no, you will get down on your
and reverence. This is what is wrong with cheap               knees and pray, "God be merciful to me a sinner."
prayers. This is what is wrong with superficial witnes- You will ask God to show you the right way and assure
sing. Where is the awe, the reverence for  the. God you that His grace will be sufficient to help you walk
whose Name we take upon our lips? No, I know the in it.
fear of the Lord is not to be afraid, but I wish that           The way  .will be open for you to pray. fervently.


                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER                                               67


With such fear of the Lord making you wise in your others about Jesus Christ. You will share this together.
prayers, you won't try to drag God to your level; you In so doing you will not cheapen Jesus: rather, with
will seek to rise up and stand consciously in the pres- reverence you will ,speak together of what Jesus means
ence of the holy God. Our prayers will not be  man- to you as your Saviour. He is the Son of God who
centered: rather, they will be God-centered. The went to Calvary in our behalf, and now He is our Lord!
purpose of our prayers will be the praise of our God.                You see, young people, wisdom is very important.
Our thankful hearts will overflow with expressions of Foolishness is so rampart. The fear of the Lord makes
adoration. Even our requests will be sanctified with the difference.
grace, we will not seek our will first of all, but the will          May God use our meditation to instill in us the fear
of God. And that is wisdom!                                       of His name in order that we may have wisdom.
  With the fear of the  Lord` we will also have the                  In this way the God of all wisdom receives the glory,
wisdom to witness properly. You will not say, I'm a for His wisdom returns unto Him in thankful praise.
Christian and it doesn't make any difference how I                   (The above is a transcript of a chapel speech pre-
live. You will witness in the words that come from                sented at Western Christian High School at Hull, Iowa
your lips; you will have a burning eagerness to tell              on Sept. 20, 1971).


Contending for the Faith

                                  The Doctrine of Atonement
                                                THE REFORMATION PERIOD
                                                    THE SYNOD OF DORDT

                                                          Rev. H. Veldman

   Continuing our quotation of the first proposition as to the Great  Synod of Dordt here set forth their belief
presented to the synod of Dordt by the delegates from in a general goodness of God as extending to the things
the Palatinate, we now complete it:                               of this present time. This is also the theory of Com-
        For He does sustain all by a general goodness;            mon Grace of the late Dr. A. Kuyper. Calvin also
     whereof Ps. 36:7; but He preserves the believers by a        taught this common grace. These delegates, however,
     special goodness and grace in Christ, Who was pre-           are also firm in their maintaining that the love of God      .
     pared for them before the ages of the world, 2 Tim.          as revealed in Christ Jesus is very particular, extending
     1:9. When we say this, then we do not destroy the            only to the elect, and they reject the notion that this
     merit of Christ and do not render useless for the elect      good pleasure of the Father also extends to the repro-
     their redemption through Christ and the reconcilia-          bates. Now we have never denied that this theory of
     tion with God. For thus did God love His elect, scat-
     tered throughout the entire world, that He, to prove         Common  Grace was taught in the past, also by John
     His righteousness, has willed to intercede, yea antici-      Calvin. And I believe that I may say that if the Chris-
     pate in the carrying out of the election a perfect satis-    tian Reformed Church, in 1924, had done nothing
     faction for their sins. Thus He elected them unto            more than speak of this general goodness of God as
     eternal life, that Christ should obtain for them, being      extending to all men and as revealed only in the things
     sinners that same life with the price of His blood, in       of this present time, no split would have occurred in
     which sense they are said to be elect in Christ, Eph.         1924 and we would not have been ejected out of that
     1:4. Although it is then true that this special love of      church at that time. The Three Points of 1924, how-
     the elect is absolutely distinguished from the first,        ever, also speak of the general grace of God, presenting
     not dependent upon any cause outside of God; never-          as general the saving love of God as revealed in Christ
     theless it is not absolutely distinguished from the
     latter, neither to be divorced from the means which          Jesus, as when they speak of the general offer of the
     God, according to His wise and righteous counsel, has        gospel, or of the general offer of salvation in the
     subordinated in order to carry out and exercise His           preaching of the gospel. Also these delegates from the
     love. Look up for this the places, John 3: 16; Rom.          Palatinate speak of this common goodness of the Lord
     3:24, 25; Eph.  1:4,5,6,7;  2 Tim. 1:9,10.  Following        in this first proposition. And it is undoubtedly true
     this clear truth, we reject and cast from us the Prop-       that many more of these synodical delegates believed
     osition  `of the Remonstrants, and we place in its           in this general goodness of God. But this, however, is a
     stead this Antithesis or contrary proposition.                striking thing: this general goodness of the Lord, re-
At the conclusion of our preceding article we have                vealing itself in the sunshine and the rain upon the just
already called attention to the fact that these delegates         and the unjust, WAS NEVER INCORPORATED IN


68                                              THE STANDARD BEARER



THE CONFESSIONS:  The fathers, as led by.the Spirit price of Christ is not only sufficient but also powerful
of God and of Christ, were therefore never led to give in all and every one, for the atoning of the original sin,
this theory a name and place in our reformed creeds. It     to accept in grace and into His covenant the entire
is true, of course, that the issue in 1618-l 619 was not human race; also finally, to impart unto it a sufficient
the theory of a general goodness of God, but the            grace." Refuting this presentation of the Arminians,
Arminian position of a. conditional predestination of these delegates declare that none disputes the suffi-
election and reprobation and a universal atonement of ciency of the ransom price of Christ for all and every
Christ upon the cross of Calvary. In 1924 the church man. But, according to these delegates, their dispute
made of this theory a dogma and demanded of us that         with the Arminians does not revolve about this ques-
we submit to this decisio'n and teach nothing contrary tion of the sufficiency of the sacrifice of Christ, but
to it. We were led by the Spirit of the Lord to reject whether the working and power of this ransom money
these declarations of 1924. And what is the result? As has any power in all and every man, so that at least any
far as our Prot. Ref. Churches are concerned, we have       of its fruits can reach all and every man. The Arminians
not departed one iota from the position we took in teach that the original sin has not been imputed to
1924. Is it not always characteristic of a heretical anyone, whether child or adult, that the entire human
church that, once it departs from the truth, it departs race, in and with Adam, has been accepted in grace out
ever farther and farther from the truth? But it is true of the general or common fall, yea, has been admitted
of our churches that we have not departed one iota to the covenant which God began with Adam, renewed
from our position of some forty-seven years ago. And with Noah, and in the last times has established and
what is true of the Christian Reformed Church which         perfected through Jesus Christ. Thereupon these dele-
cast us out and refused to tolerate us in its member- gates present to the Great Synod their own positive
ship? Has that church remained the same since those presentation of the truth as follows: "The ransom
days? Has that church consistently adhered to the faith     money of Christ, it is true, is in itself sufficient for all
of our fathers, to the truths of historic Christianity, as and every man; but it is powerful unto the atonement
they claim in their Back To God Hour? The history           of sins, whether original or actual, for the restoration
speaks for itself. There are undoubtedly many in the in grace, according to the content of the gracious cove-
Christian Reformed Church today who are very nant, finally unto the imparting of sufficient and
alarmed because of conditions within their church. powerful grace in all of the elect, and in them alone."
They have refused to discipline, synodically, a profes- Notice again the use of the word "alone.`:
sor who openly declares himself in support of a uni-           The fourth heresy of the Remonstrants which these
versal atonement of Calvary. And this is not all. Many delegates -quote and refute reads as follows: "Christ
are the departures from the historic Christian faith, died in the same sense for all sinners, but is risen and
including a denial of the literal inspiration of the Bible prays in the Heavens before the Father, with the inten-
/and the historicity of the book of Genesis.                tion to save in the same sense the believers alone." This
      And, having refuted the first proposition of the Re- ,proposition of the Remonstrants, these delegates de
monstrants, the delegates from the Palatinate submit clare, has a perceptible error, that it separates the
their own version of'what they believe to be the Scrip- acquiring and appropriation of the benefits of Christ
tural presentation of the atonement as follows: "God from the objects, and divides them, and declares that
the Father has ordained His Son Jesus Christ to be a they are not all appropriated by them for whom they
redeemer and reconciler for our sin, out of the love        were obtained. Teaching that Christ died for the entire
whereby He particularly loves His elect unto everlast- human race, all men head for head, the Arminians real-
ing life."                                                  ized, of course, that all men are not saved. Salvation
      These delegates present a second proposition of the was merited for everybody, but everybody does not
Remonstrants as follows: "Christ, according to the appropriate this salvation unto himself. So Christ died
Father's and His own purpose has obtained for all and       in the same sense for all men, head for head, but He is
every man, without distinction, as well for them who risen and prays to the Father with the intention that
perish as for those who are saved, reconciliation with      only the believers may be saved. We understand, of
God, forgiveness of sins, and everlasting life." After course, that the Arminians mean to say that Christ
refuting this presentation of the Arminians in the light prays only for the believers, but this is only because
of the Word of God, they again submit their own and         only the believers will to receive this salvation and be
Scriptural version in these words: "Christ, according to    saved. This intercessory prayer of the risen Christ is a
the Father's and His own purpose, has indeed obtained       prayer, therefore, that rests for its fulfillment upon the
for all and every elect alone the reconciliation with faith of the sinner. This separation, so these delegates
God, the forgiveness of sins, and everlasting life." No-    continue, must be made, in order that the Pelagian
tice, please, the word "alone" here.                        error of the accidental and uncertain enjoyment of the
      The third proposition of the Remonstrants which       benefits of Christ, and of the everlasting salvation, may
these delegates refute reads as follows: "The ransom        remain standing. Now the Scripture unites these two


                                                THE STANDARD -BEARER                                                     69



(the obtaining of salvation by the blood of Christ and           tions of the world, when Christ died only for the elect,
the appropriation of this salvation by the sinner) by an         when the Holy Spirit works irresistibly only in some,
inseparable knot, inasmuch as it declares that it is also        the elect of God? This charge of the Remonstrants is
appropriated by those for whom it was obtained, and              ably refuted by these delegates from the Palatinate,
that it was obtained for those who appropriate. And              and then they conclude by presenting their own posi-
then these delegates quote several passages from the             tive and Scriptural statement of the truth in the words:
Word of God, all emphasizing this oneness between the            "Christ has both died.and is risen, and prays in Heaven
meriting of salvation by Christ upon the cross and our           to the Father, for the elect and believers alone, that is,
receiving of this salvation, such as Is. 53:  11, John           partly in their stead, partly unto their good." Notice,
10:15, 18, Rom.  4:25,  8:34, 1 John  2:1, Rom.  8:32            please, that these delegates do not only speak here of
and 5: 10. And then these delegates refute the charge            the believers but of the elect and believers, and the
of the Arminians, namely that the commandment to                 idea is, of course, that only the elect of the Lord be-
believe is weakened and the obedience of the believer            come and are these believers.
is nullified, when it is declared that the obtaining of            I believe that these quotations from the delegates to
the benefits of Christ by the blood of Christ and the            the Great Synod of Dordt are of great interest to our
appropriation of the same are equally broad in scope.            readers, also and particularly to our younger readers,
Of course, this is the old, old charge of the enemies of         including our young people. This is surely instructive
the truth, namely that the emphasis upon the sovereign           also in our present day and age, characterized, as it is,
and particular character of the grace and salvation of by an ever increasing denial of the particular character
God tends to produce careless and profane Christians.            of the atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ, also and
How can anyone be admonished to believe when every-              especially in so-called reformed circles, among those
thing has been determined from before the  founda-               who claim to champion the historic reformed faith.



Studies in Election

                                         Its Exemplification
                                                        (continued)

                                                 Rev.. Robt C.  Havbach


   Instances of God's predestination we showed from Reformed churches where they hibernate, to take up
both Old and New Testament. Also we indicated how with the Unitarians, or at least go join the Arminian
this truth is opposed, especially by those of Arminian Baptists. If they had one grain of honesty, they would
thinking. We proposed to show also how this opposi- not pose as advocates of "good Calvinish." Some
tion to true Presbyterianism has and does appear in people, today, talk about being "more than a Calvi-
some of the Presbyterian bodies. In the recent confes- nist." If we may so speak, then these many have a
sional perversions being perpetrated in the United Pres- long, long way to go. For they are not only far from
byterian Church. U. S. A., the doctrine of being Calvinist, but it is the least of their intentions of
predestination was the first marked for extinction. having any kind of Calvinism. And their purpose is to
Sometimes mother-tender intimidation is employed brainwash their dupes with humanism.
against this truth. It is said that, though scriptural, it is      As the presbyterial form of government in the Pres-
too easy to misunderstand, therefore is more danger- byterian and Reformed churches is dying out, and
ous than edifying, and so unwise to preach it. So, with democracy, socialism and communism are fast pene-
increasing credal changes, we may expect that the least trating the churches and increasing in popularity every-
semblance of this doctrine will finally be expunged where, or at least are being forced on us whether we
from the modern Presbyterian churches. This has al- like it or not, while  represent@ive  authority is more
ready practically come to pass:For most Presbyterians and more despised, it is no surprise that the authority
have been sailing under a false flag, that is, their true of Scripture is denied. Following this thought, it is no
colors are deep-dyed Arminianism. Is this not true of surprise that the glorious truth of predestination
many,  many who bear the name Reformed? Many, if should find its worst enemies within its own house-
they could only bring themselves to be honest, just hold. The writer was born, baptized and raised in what
honest, for a change, would leave the Presbyterian and was then the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. Before he


70                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



was born, the denomination drew up and adopted a world, that profess the true religion together with their
document of a very shady character called "A Brief children, and is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ,
Statement of the Reformed Faith, 1902." Since the the house and family of God" (XXV, 2). The draw-
church was founded on the wonderful, truly Reformed bridge of 1902 was found too heavy for the orthodox,
Westminster standards, what was the-purpose of this the conservatives to draw up and to keep up. Then the
brief declaration? It sounded rather suspicious, but liberals, as they intended, let it down with a crash. So
nevertheless, it was prepared in order to express the the Westminster doctrine was given up to the enemy.
Reformed Faith "in untechnical terms," suggesting In all too few places is its unadulterated form retained
that the Westminster Confession is beyond evenabove and defended.
average intelligence. It was also to be understood that
the Brief Statement was only for "giving information"
and "not with a view of its becoming a substitute or an
alternative of our Confession of Faith." In this docu-
ment we read, "God, out of His great love for the
world, has given His only begotten Son to be the
Saviour of sinners, and in the Gospel freely offers His
.a&sufficient salvation to all men. . . . He has provided
a way of eternal life for all mankind" (Art. VI). This is
not "giving information," but injecting the corruption
of "universal redemption." If this is not substituting
another creed for the Westminster, it is a compromise
of that Confession. It is an Amyraldian drawbridge be-
tween Calvinism and Arminianism. At another place, .
election is said to me "unto holiness, service and salva-            ANNIVERSAR Y ANNOUNCEMENT
tion.".-It is added that "those who come to years of
discretion can receive this salvation only through faith       On the 7th of November, 1971, the Lord willing,
and repentance" (Art. VII), which implies that faith our beloved parents,
and repentance are outside salvation, are conditions                MR. AND MRS. DANIEL POORTINGA
unto it, and are the ground of election, not the results hope to celebrate their twenty-fifth wedding anniver-
of it. Faith, however, has its origin in the preordination sary. In gratitude to our Covenant God, we are thank-
of God. For He not only requires "`faith in Him that ful for the years He has given them to instruct us in the
they may be saved," but also promises "to give unto all      fear of our Lord. Our earnest prayer is that they may
those that are ordained unto life His Holy Spirit, to        continue to experience God's loving kindness and
make them willing and able to believe" (W.C., VII, 3).       tender mercies.
Further, the Brief Statement says, "the kingdom of                                Their grateful children,
God is to be made manifest" in the brotherhood of                                   Mr. and Mrs. David M. Poortinga
man (Art. XIII). But the W.C. states that the kingdom                           Mr. and Mrs. Raymond K. Poortinga
of God is to be made manifest in a brotherhood of the                                                  Kevin, Jessica
redeemed, which "consists of all those throughout the Lansing, Ill.


                                     Annual Reports
Mr. Chairman, Members of the R. F. P. A. and Friends,        new subscribers were added to our mailing list. This
      Again the Board of the R. F. P. A. comes before you indicates that our subscription list is holding, whereas
with our annual report and once again, by the grace of       the trend nowadays in the church world is that sub-
our Covenant' God, we are thankful and rejoice to in- scription lists of religious periodicals tend to decrease.
form you that we have fulfilled our mandate, which At present 1,275 copies each issue are printed; 125
according to your constitution consists in "the express      copies of which are retained for Bound Volumes, re-
purpose of witnessing to the Reformed Truth" and,            quests for back issues, and a mailing margin.
"to witness to the truth contained in the Word of God          Cooperating with the Mission Committee of our
and expressed in the Three Forms of Unity." We can           churches, we are most happy to report that several
inform you further, that our subscription list continues contacts were made in various countries of the world.
slowly, but steadily, to increase. During the past 12        For example, interest in our publications have been
months we had approximately 50 cancellations and 54 received from people in South Africa, Australia, New


                                                               THE STANDARD  BEARFR                                                                                    71

                                                                                                                      :

Zealand, England, and South America. It might also be                                    Miscellaneous'. .. :. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .166.70
of interest to the members present to learn that our                                            Receipts for the year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13,506.77
Standard Bearer is sent to many countries. 43 copies of                                         Total receipts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18,242.62
each issue are mailed to foreign countries such as                                Disbursements:
Switzerland, Japan, Hungary, The Netherlands,                                            Wobbema Printing Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . .4,582.75
England, New Zealand and Australia. Our brethren on                                      National Correct Color . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,078.00
the Island of Jamaica receive 22 copies and 14 are                                       Photo Composition Service . . . . . . . . .4,920.00
mailed to Canada. The -bulk of our subscribers reside in                                 Postage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .563.99
our own state of Michigan. The  di`stribution  in the                                    Holland Bookbinding Co. . . . . . . . . . . . .3 17.55
states is'as follows:                                                                    H. VanderWal -transportation expense . .74.96
  572 copies in Michigan                                                                 G. Pipe - transportation expense . . . . . . 100.00
    74 copies in Iowa                                                                    Miscellaneous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .156.59
    70 copies in Illinois                                                                       Disbursements for the year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11,793.84
    55 copies in California                                                     Balance on hand Sept. 1,197l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6,448.78
    16 copies in New Jersey (a state which has no Prot.                         Gifts
      Ref. church as yet).                                                      Protestant Reformed Churches
Your Board also was instrumental in the printing and                               Doon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..128.7 2
distribution of over 5,000 of the recently printed                                 Edgerton . . . . . . . . . : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45.60
folder catalog listing all the material published by the                           First . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ; . .1,005.95
R. F. P. A. and other organizations of our Prot. Ref.                              Holland....................................220.0  6
Churches. Several new subscribers were obtained by                                 Hope......................................864.4
                                                                                                                                                                         3
means of this catalog:                                                             Hudsonville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .630.37
  Mr. Gerrit Pipe continues to be our mailing clerk                                Hull . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..`...............158.8 7
and Mr. Henry Vander Wal, Business Manager.                                        Kalamazoo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36.62
  The Board heartily thanks the Editor-in-Chief and                                Loveland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125.88
department editors for their dedicated labors in the                               Lynden.....................................38.5 4
                                                                                       Oaklawn.....................................4.5 1
past year.                                                                         Randolph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..91.7 9
  Board retirees this year are: G. Bouwkamp, J. Buiter                             Redlands...................................145.12
and T. Rietsma.                                                                        Southeast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .568.55
   We are also thankful for the many gifts received from                               South Holland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .586.67
individuals, societies, and congregations enabling us to                           Southwest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82.53
"sound forth true Reformed testimony," while it is yet                          Societies
day. We wait upon our covenant God's blessing in our                               Hudsonville Ladies Aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20.00
endeavor, mindful that, "except the Lord. build the                                First Church Ladies Aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50.00
house, they labor in vain that build it, except the Lord                           Eastern Ladies League . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -50.00
keep the city the watchmen waketh but in vain."                                   -South Holland Ladies Aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25.00
                                            Respectfully submitted,                First Church Men's Sot. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30.00
                                                           G. Bol (Sec'y)              Southwest, Men's Sot. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25.00
                                                                                   Hope Men's Sot. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35.00
Balance onhand  Sept. 1,197O . 1.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4,735.$5 Total Gifts
  Receipts:                                                                        Chuiches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :. . . . . ...4,633.6 1
     Subscriptions . . . . . , . . . . . . : . . . . . . .6,406.90                 S&e&s ............ .' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .235:00
     Memberships . . . >. . . ., . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99.00                Individuals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,291.56
     Gifts . . . . . . . . . . . . . :.. . . . . . .._.. :.6,160.17     ,I~.    -'          .,                                                                6,160.17
     Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . _ . . . : . . . . . . .156:00                      ~.
     Bound Voltimes . 1 . . .`. . . . . . . . . . . . . .518.00,                                   -.       1                        - G. Bouwkamp, Treasurer
                                                                                                                 .           .             .           .


                                     .Neys From Our Churches                                                                                     . .
                                                    `
                                                     .                                                                                ,
                         CLASSIS REPORT.                                               The reports of the Stated Clerk, the Classical Com-
                                                                         I      mittee, and the Deputies  ad  Examina  were received.
   Classis began its October session with devotions by Classis was  informed  though,,these   reports  of.t.he  r--
Rev. J. Heys, chairman of the July session, -and after ceipt of th!e ministerial credentials of Rev. C; Hanko,
the credentials were read and received was duly con-                            who soon *ill be laboring in-our Hudsonville congrega-
stituted.                                                                       tion, and  of the successful classical examination and


 THE STANDARD BEARER
          P.0, Box 6064
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506



72                                              THE STANDARD BEARER


subsequent ordination of Candidate Rodney Miersma, Lubbers from Covenant, Mr. Fred Hanko and Mr.
who from here on in will be known as- the Rev. Darrel Huisken and Mr. Gerald Kuiper from Hope, and
Rodney Miersma.                                                Miss Carol De Jong from Adams. Miss Beverly
      The Finance Committee constituted of Elders J. Hoekstra, from Loveland, attended part of the time.
Buiter and J. Dykstra, Jr. reported expenses of $16.40. Mr. Lamm Lubbers, of South Holland, served as direc-
The Classical Appointment Committee adopted the tor of the workshop.
following schedule for Hope Church: Oct. 17  1 H.                As you perhaps know, the workshop is sponsored by
Veldman; Oct. 31  - M.  Schipper;  Nov. 21  - G. Van the Federation of Protestant Reformed School Socie-
Baren; Dec. 5 - R. Harbach; Dec. 19 - J. Heys; Jan. 2          ties, whose membership includes, at present, our
- C. Hanko.                                                    Adams, Hope, and South Holland Protestant Reformed
      A protest against the site of the proposed Theologi-     Schools. The stated goal, or purpose, of the Federation
cal School building was submitted by a local consistory is, among other things, to "provide seminars to pro-
but was tabled because technically the time for pro- mote the- development, understanding, and presenta-
testing this synodical decision is past. The consistory tion of distinctive Christian education." To that end,
was advised to submit an overture to our January ses- the Federation has, for the past two summers, used
sion. Classis was once again requested to approve the          funds raised by assessment of member school societies,
erasure of a baptized member. After determining that           to provide stipends for teachers who attend the
the con&tory  had labored diligently with the individ- summer workshop. And, judging by the fruit of the
ual, the consent of classis was gained.                        past two workshops, the money has been very well
      A special note of thanks was expressed to the classis    spent. The work of the 1970 workshop centered
by the Hudsonville delegation for the services given by around the teaching of Literature. This past summer,
classis during their vacancy.                                  some of our teachers again met together, this time in a
      The questions of Article 41 of the Church Order two week session, and concentrated their attention on
were answered satisfactorily and classis was adjourned. the teaching of Social Studies.
Classis will meet again on January 5, 1972 at Southeast        As in the previous workshop, the  primary  benefit.
Church.                                                        was derived by the participants themselves. It's beyond
                                              Jon Huisken      doubt that the participants are better equipped, as a
                                 Stated Clerk, Classis East result of attendance at the seminar, to provide educa-
                           ******                              tion from a truly Protestant Reformed Christian per-
      We have several short items of interest with which       spective. The attending teachers spent some time de-
we would like to begin this time. Our church in Red-           veloping and discussing a set of objectives for the
                                                               teaching of Social Studies. Further, they reviewed the
lands has extended a call to Rev. D. Engelsma, from a          current Social Studies curricula in our schools and con-
trio which included also Rev. R. Harbach and Rev. G.
Van Baren.                                                     sidered possible improvement. And, perhaps most
      The congregation at  Redlands planned to hold a          importantly, they directed their attention to specific
                                                               problems or concerns which arise repeatedly in the
Farewell for Rev. and Mrs. Hanko and Alice on Friday,          study of history. Each member volunteered to "under-
October 22.                                                    take a study" of such a `problem, to "search for
      On September 27 there was a congregational meet-
ing in our South Holland church, for the purpose of Biblical directives," and present a paper, which was
considering "the council's proposal for the plan and then discussed and modified. Topics included the Bibli-
contractor's bid for the new parsonage."                       cal position with regard to war, revolution, economic
                                                               systems, decline of nations, linguistic development,
                           ******                              and the relationship between church and state.
      And then we have a long item, also of interest, we         The primary benefit, we said, belongs to the partici-
trust. We indicated in the news column of the last issue pants. But the intention of the Federation is that it not
of this magazine that there had been, this past summer, be limited to them. We trust, therefore, that, as was
another workshop attended by a number of teachers in the case with the Literature Studies workshop, there
our Protestant Reformed Schools. Perhaps you would will soon be a written product which will make it
be interested in hearing a little about the efforts ex- possible for other of our teachers to benefit from the
pended there.                                                  labors of the 1971 "Summer Session for Social
      We could say, first of all, that the session was         Studies."
attended by Mr. Harry Langerak and Miss Agatha                                                              D.D.


