                                    he

                             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





                                              Volume XLIX / Number 7 /January 1, 1973


146                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER



                            CONTENTS:
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Meditation


                             The Saint's Need For Quickening
                                                               Rev. M. Schipper

               "Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way."
                                                                                                                                                        Psalm 119:37


  New Year in an old world!                                                become days, and the days become years, and the
  All that is changed is time!                                             years become centuries,  - but when it comes to its
  Time, the succession of moments, like an ever end, its terminus is the last moment, - a twinkling of
rolling stream, taking its starting point in the                            the eye.
beginning, meandering through the centuries that are                              But the world is the same!
past and marching on unto the end. Ever changing, and                            The sun which God set in the heavens at the
bearing all its sons away, - such is the nature of the                      beginning is still in its orbit, while the earth, also
creature we call "time. It has its beginning, because it created in the beginning, continues to revolve about it.
is creature, and therefore also it has its end. And Nothing in the world under sin is changed. Murder,
always under the direction of the Almighty it rushes deceit, backbiting, stealing, adultery, and all of the rest
on to its end. Its seconds become hours, and the hours of corruption still go on at their regular pace. Wars,


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 147



and rumors of wars, mothers travailing in pain to               Though the saint, through grace, is become
deliver, morticians as busy as ever, all go on today as estranged to that world, this estrangement he
they did yesterday.                                           experiences only in principle. He still lives in the flesh;
  The wise man of God, were he to speak today as he           and his old nature, which belongs to this world, is still
did long ago, would say the same thing: "Vanity of with him. As we suggested above, the vanity of the
vanities, saith the preacher, all is vanity."                 world is strong, and he is often so weak. Out of new,
  Though the time is changed, for we are now in the regenerated heart; he expresses his need: Turn away
year of our Lord 1973, yet we are still in the same old mine eyes from beholding vanity!
world of vanity.                                                This ,negative expression of his need is so necessary
  In that world of vanity the saint is troubled because he senses his natural inability to withstand the
especially by two things. He senses that that world of allurement of vanities. He senses, too, that all his
vanity is very strong, and he is very weak. Not only senses are naturally attracted to these vanities, and
must he be delivered from the vanity of the world, but especially the sense of sight. He understands the word
he must be delivered in it. Shall he persevere to the of Jesus: "The light of the body is the eye. If,
end, he must be constantly quickened. And so he therefore, thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be
prays:                                                        full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body
  Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity!                  shall be full of darkness." As the periscope to the sub-
  And quicken thou me in thy way!                             marine, so is the eye to the body. Though all his senses
  The occasion for this need of the saint is the fact are affected by vanity, none more than the sight of the
that he dwells in the world of vanity.                        eye.
  Perhaps none among mortals, apart from the                    But does not the saint here pray for the impossible?
secondary authors of Scripture themselves, portrayed Is there anywhere he can go in this wide world that his
so  graphic.ally the vanity of the world as did John vision can escape the sight of vanities? Supposing that
Bunyan in his  Pilgrim's Progress.  To him, as to the his eyes were turned, where would he not see vanities
saint he describes, the world is a veritable vanity fair. constantly surrounding him? And isn't it precisely the
To him, as it was to the psalmist who penned the will of the Lord that His saints should see the vanities
words of our text, vanity was a lying thing. Vanity was of this world?
(is) a lie, not only opposed to the truth, but seeking to-      If we may answer the last question first, it should be
replace it. Vanity assumes such a pose that it tries to evident from all Scripture that the Lord would not
entice you into believing that it is good to embrace it. have His saints to go out of the world, even if that
Vanity is the imagination of an evil heart. Vanity is as were possible. Jesus prayed: "I pray not that thou
old as our first father, who was enticed to believe that shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou
it was good to transgress the commandment of God shouldest keep them from the evil (or, the evil one)."
not to eat of the forbidden tree, imagining himself to And we must understand well that the prayer of our
become through transgression as God knowing good text is not that of an ascetic who would flee the world.
and evil. From an auspicious beginning in which man There have been those who made this attempt, and
would continue to be in the image and likeness of God history shows that when they secluded themselves in
so long as he walked in obedience, he, through vanity, some desert place, or in the caves of  .the mountains,
the lie that .he would be like God if he trangressed His they took along with them the very vanities they had
commandment, became vain in all his thoughts, and his endeavored to escape. All Scripture points to the fact
heart was filled with lust. And this depravity he passed that it is the calling of the saints of God to be in the
on to all mankind. And the world in which he lived world, though not of it. Their calling is to live
became filled with vanities. With the help of Satan man antithetically, that is, choosing always the good, and
began to create lying vanities. Though it appeared that rejecting always the evil. And this answers also all the
with the deluge God had cleansed His world of all lying other questions we raised above. If the saint really
vanities, it soon became evident after the flood that realizes his calling', therefore, there is no way that he
this was not the case. And since that day of judgment can escape seeing the vanities.
the vanity of the world has multiplied exceedingly, and         Let us understand it well, the prayer of our text is
will continue to increase until all the vanities are the prayer of the saint who walks in the mist of the
destroyed in the final conflagration.                         world and observes all its vanities. However, by the
  In this world of vanity the saints of God are grace of God, and according to the new principle of
required to walk in this year of our Lord 1973.               life in him, he has no desire for those vanities.
  In this world the saint prays: Turn away mine eyes Nevertheless he realizes that he has but a small
from beholding vanity!                                        beginning of the new obedience, and that often the
  Everywhere he looks, he sees vanity! Vanity riches, eyes of his flesh are attracted to these vanities. So his
vanity philosophy, vanity glory, and vanity pleasure. prayer really is: Cause my eyes to see more and more
All is vanity!                                                the vanity of these vanities, and to set my heart and


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whole being with all of its affections on those things    preserving grace will enable him to persevere faithfully
which are above and beyond those vanities,  - those unto the end.
things which have an abiding value.                         And the supply of his need is to be found in his God
  This is especially emphasiged  in the last part of the alone!
prayer in its more positive aspect.                         He is the living God, and He alone can impart the
  And quicken thou me in thy way!                         life which the saint needs. -Only as his God imparts
  Literally, in thy ways cause me to live!                unto him His grace can the saint continue to live. Only
  The way or the ways of Jehovah!                         as that grace of God quickens him can the saint
  And the way of Jehovah is the way of His statutes, continue to walk in the fear of his God according to
of which every verse in the Psalm speaks. Listen to His precepts.
                                                            Such a prayer the Lord will surely hear!
what the psalmist says in the immediate context.            My reader, shall we not also take upon our lips this
"Teach me, 0 Lord, the way of thy statutes; and I prayer as we enter into the new span of time?
shall keep it unto the end. Give me understanding, and      Remember, the time is changed; but we are still in
I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my an old world that has not changed. It is still full of
whole heart. Make me to go in the path of thy vanities, vanities to which we will be attracted
commandments: for therein do I delight. Incline my according to our flesh, in which we still dwell. If we
heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness." are not able to look beyond these vanities and set our
And then you have the prayer of our text: "Turn away eyes on the heavenly verities, we will surely be
mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me swallowed up by the world. Pray then earnestly, and
in thy way."                                              daily, as you walk through vanity fair, for the grace of
  It should be abundantly evident that the saint would life, that you may walk faithfully in the light of His
have his whole life directed by the Word of his God. Word.
Cause me to live more and more that way, not in the         No confidence can we have in our flesh that we shall
way where all the vanity of the world would lead me be able to withstand the enticement of vanity.
and to which I am attracted by nature.                    Boasting in the flesh we shall surely be overcome.
   Understand well the prayer of the saint is one. The      Our victory is in prayer for God's indispensable
two parts of his prayer belong together. They are grace!
inseparably connected. His sense of need is one. What       With this prayer rising constantly from our hearts,
good would it be if he should have his eyes turned and constantly offered by our lips, we shall never be
from vanity, if he had not the grace to walk in ashamed.
Jehovah's ways? None whatsoever. But together, so           World without end!
long as he is in the state of imperfection, God's           Amen!



All Around Us

                               A Letter To My Son

                                                  Prof. H. Hanko

Dear Son,                                                 appropriate; and Moses writes there of the need to
       It seems as if the end of an old year and the count our days that we may set our hearts upon
beginning of a new year have a way of putting me into wisdom. And we know that God Himself created the
a reflective frame of mind. I suppose, when I stop to years which go and come, for He set the heavenly
think about it, that this lies in the nature of the event bodies in their courses in the sky for "signs, and for
itself: the last day of an old year when one quite seasons, and for days, and years." Yes, also for signs. It
naturally looks back on the days so quickly gone by; must be then that the end of a year speaks to us of the
the beginning of a new year when one cannot help but end of all time; and the beginning of a year speaks to
look ahead.                                               us of the beginning of the new age which shall dawn
       But Scripture seems to suggest something of this to when our Lord comes back again.
us. You know that quite often, at an Old Year's Eve          What is time? How difficult the question is to
service, Psalm 90 is read as being particularly answer. Philosophers have tried to give it definition


                                            THE STANDARD  BEARER                                                 149


over the years. So have theologians. You probably victory. Time is redeemed for us!
recall that already more than a millennium ago, St.          The urgent calling to redeem the times comes to us
Augustine asked these questions: "For what is time? breathing victory and hope for the future.
Who can readily and briefly explain this? Who can even       We are to redeem the times, Paul says. And we are
in thought comprehend it, so as to utter a word about to do this because the days are evil. It is especially this
it? But what in discourse do we mention more that I want to talk about for a few moments with you.
familiarly and knowingly, than time? And, we It is not a long look back through the year so swiftly
understand, when we speak of it; we understand also, gone by that is needed to conclude that Paul's words
when we hear it spoken of by another. What then is are surely true. The newspapers and broadcasts
time? If no one asks me, I know: if I wish to explain it throughout the year kept drumming into our minds
to one that asketh, I know not: yet I say boldly that I how evil these days really are. All of these evils we
know, that if nothing passed away, time past were not; need not speak of. But there are some of special
and if nothing were coming, a time to come were not; importance to you because they have a lot to do with
and if nothing were, time, time present were not. . . ." our calling to redeem the times in the year ahead.
   But it is not my purpose to engage you in a long          I sometimes shudder when I think of how
and wearying debate about what time is. We know, of incessantly you are bombarded with every form of
course; that God created it when He created all things. immorality. We are told that in some parts of the
Before creation there was no time. We know too, from country over half the adult population live in
bitterest experience, that in a sinful world time is an fornication so habitually that it has become a way of
enemy. After all, we still sing Psalm 90 in church - life  to them. The young people of our day live so
mostly on Old Year's eve: "Time like an ever flowing completely in adultery and fornication that there is
stream bears all its sons away." Time is an irresistible scarcely any voice raised in protest. They are permitted
force to drag us bit by bit, through a long and often to do so openly and publicly announcing to the world
agonizing series of illnesses and weaknesses, out of this their challenging defiance of God's sacred word. The
world into the grave. This is because the curse of God most revolting crimes of sex are not only openly
rests upon this creation, and time too is cursed as a practiced, but are no longer condemned as sin.
part of the world. Time is an enemy. Time ties us in Churches are even organized for homosexuals. Sexual
chains which we cannot break, dragging us along to an clinics are set up to teach people by means of "clinical
untimely death. For God will not have wicked men in adultery" to find their happiness in sex. And unwanted
His world. And time is the means to carry him out of babies are murdered before they see the light of day. If
the creation through the door of death into the grave. the heathen in Israel's time and some of Judah's worst
   But Paul tells us that we have the solemn obligation kings sacrificed their children to  Moloch,  todays
to "redeem the times." You may find this in more generations sacrifice their unwanted children on the
than one place in Scripture. Look them up yourself. altars of lust to the idols of sex in the abortion clinics
One such place is Col. 4:5. Another is Eph. 5 : 16. But of the land. The crime is really no different. And the
how is this possible for us? It has got to be because Supreme Court seems to have cut the word
Christ Himself has redeemed the times; i.e., He has "pornography" out of its dictionary.
redeemed time. He entered into our time to live in our       There is a point here that I must mention to you.
world's history. And His cross and resurrection were a There is a growing trend in this country which you
mighty victory by which He redeemed all things, time must have noticed which effectively does away with all
among them.                                               sin. It starts this way. There is some sort of practice in
   I do not intend to "preach" to you in this letter; this country which is legally forbidden but is
but surely it is important for you to understand that increasingly common. Maybe it is gambling. Then again
this has great significance for us. .Among many other it is abortion. Or perhaps it is the use of drugs  -
things, it means that Christ, from His exalted position especially marijuana. But whatever it may be, the laws,
high above all creatures rules sovereignly over all time. for some reason, seem ineffective in combatting this
He controls time, makes it serve His purpose, uses it to particular evil or sin. The problem increases in size and
gain for Himself and His (and Our) God the complete grows in seriousness. At last, with a great deal of
victory He won on the cross. Now the point is then hand-wringing and an outpouring of pious platitudes, a
that all time will be used by Him in such a way that solution is found to the "problem" so that it exists no
His own everlasting kingdom will gain the victory. We longer. That solution is simply to make the sin legal. Is
need have no doubt or fear about this; we may look gambling beyond the control of the law-enforcement
confidently ahead on this new year's day to that agencies? Well, legalize gambling. Then there is no
victory which will certainly come about.                  problem, and the state has devised a new way to fill its
   And, of course, the altogether wonderful thing is money-hungry coffers. Is abortion a problem too great
that Christ has called us to be a part of that kingdom to cope with in the courts? Well, make it legal. And
and He has given to us to participate by grace in His you not only solve the problem, but at the same time


150                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



take a long stride in the direction of ZPG. You know such thing as this is not only a legitimate way of
what that is: Zero Population Growth. Has it proved worshipping God, but is also the one proof of the
impossible to control marijuana smoking? Well, quite presence and gift of the Holy Spirit.
obviously the solution to the problem is to make it             And then there are the "Jesus people.`? We hear and
legal. Not only does the problem disappear, but there read a lot about a national revival especially among
is the added benefit of making it easier to help those young people. It turns out to be in some way or
on dope who have had "bad trips" when they go to another related to various Jesus movements. And it all
harder drugs.                                                seems so pious, so genuine, so attractive, so worth our
   There is a tremendous appeal in all these things. emulation.
Pondering it the other day the thought came to my               But is it?
mind that, at least in part, the appeal is to be found in       I cannot remind you strongly enough that in these
a more basic trouble that plagues this society. There is matters also the Word of God is our rule of faith and
no longer any conception of obedience to authority. I life. I am sometimes reminded of Christ's words  -
have talked with you often about this. I need not again a sign of His return: "For there shall arise false
repeat here what we have frequently discussed. But Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs
there is one point that needs to be made - especially and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they
for our young people. You and they are in that time of shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you
life when you must become independent. You must before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold,
stand on your own two feet. You must test your own he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the
wings and presently fly the nest. You must leave the secret chambers, believe it not. . . ."
shelter of the parental roof and build your own home.           This was true also of Explo `72 as well. Everyone is
It seems that time comes altogether too swiftly for us. shouting: Lo, here is Christ. But do not believe them.
Yet we have tried to make you independent. But                  All of these things are, I am afraid, reason to be
sometimes there is some misunderstanding about the downhearted and discouraged. The times seem so
matter. Perhaps we have not made the point clear utterly evil. The-temptations so many are great. The
enough. It is true that your obedience to your parents tendencies to drift along with the times so strong and
never ends; but the point that needs so much to be irresistible. It takes special watchfulness to avoid all
made is that you always, in all your life, owe these many pitfalls.
unquestioning obedience to the Word of God as the               But, from another point of view, these are also
rule of your faith and life. It is this which lies at the exciting times. You must not miss the significance of
basis of all the evil in our day. And, I must warn you, this. It all has to do too with redeeming the times.
the Churches are, in many instances, taking the lead in         While it is true that the world sinks deeper into the
robbing people of the infallible rule of the Scriptures. darkness of sin, and while it is true that church after
   The days are evil. 1972 was proof of how evil they church goes the long road of apostasy with increasing
are.                                                         swiftness, nevertheless, there are faithful people of
   But Christ rules over all. And, among other things, God in many places throughout the earth. They are
this surely means that all these evils too are but so never very many. But Scripture reminds us that the.
many signs of the fact that Christ is returning. Jesus elect are only a very small remnant, a hut in a garden
Himself told us that one of the signs of His coming was of cucumbers; and - let us never forget it, a besieged
to be that lawlessness would abound.                         city.
   There are other matters though which I must                  But they are there. And more and more they are
mention. I am talking now about religion in general p r o t e s t i n g the ungodly evils in their own
and our calling to worship God. The last year was denominations and churches. They are seeing how
marked with some notable developments in this horrible it is when churches, once strong defenders of
respect. For one thing, innovations in worship the truth, compromise that truth at every turn and sell
continue to be introduced in many Churches - even in their birthright for a mess of worldly pottage. And, in
Churches which seem close to the one to which you their concern, they are seeking each other out, looking
belong. These innovations in worship are often for those who still love and maintain the truth, and
characterized by that much abused word "relevancy." eagerly desiring fellowship with them of like faith.
And the idea, I see, is to make worship more attractive         This makes the times in which we live exciting. God
and appealing to young people. Film strips, musical is taking care of His Church. And there is, before our
groups playing the latest hits, sensitivity sessions, rap eyes, the evidence that there are always 7000 who do
sessions, dramatic productions - these and many more not bow the knee to the Baals of our day.
are among the substitutes for worship being tried and           We have a calling in this respect. And the calling is
practiced.                                                   urgent. We may not shrink back from it. But, surely,
   For another thing there  `is still a lot of tongue that calling, if it means anything at all, means that we
speaking going on; and we are still being told that some must, without compromise and without equivocation,


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                    151



speak loudly of the truth of the Scriptures. Let the               I must leave a personal word with you. Work your
sounds of the trumpet on the walls of Zion give a clear very hardest in the place God gives you now. Pray
note.. Let the faith of our fathers be our's in all truth often and make prayer a regular part of your life, for
and purity.                                                  the kingdom needs praying saints above all else. Read
   And so the time comes when I must bring this letter the Scriptures. Read your Church papers. Read good
                                                             -.             -
to its close.                                                literature. Read much. How does Paul put it to
   A new year lies before us. We cannot tell what the Timothy? "Give attendance to reading." Devote
year will bring - either for ourselves or for the cause yourself with all the strength of your youth and the
of Christ. We cannot tell what personal burdens will energies of your present strength to the work of the
have to be borne, what problems will have to be kingdom. Be ready always to give an answer to those
solved, what joys or sorrows await us in the year of our who ask of you a reason for the hope that is in you.
Lord, 1973. We cannot tell yet precisely and in every Let your light so shine before men that others may see
detail what our calling will be in the coming year or your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
what is the exact nature of that calling. The Lord                 The victory is ours.
always has a way of surprising us, for His ways are not            May the year ahead be filled for you with the love of
our ways. But though we do not know, Christ is in God, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the
heaven and the times are inescapably in His hands. And fellowship of the Spirit.
we beiong to our faithful Savior Jesus Christ.                                                               With love,



From Holy Writ

                        Pure and Undefiled Religion (5)
                                     An Exposition of the Epistle of James
                                                  Rev. Robert D. Decker

Chapter 1:9-l 1, The Exalted Poor, The Perishing Rich:       describes Himself as "meek and lowly in heart." We
  The Word of God stands in direct, sharp antithesis find the same idea in James 4:6 and I Peter 5 :5.
to the whole "way of life." of the world  - especially             Both senses of the term apply in this text. The
the American world and "way of life." To go from             brother of low degree is one who belongs to the elect
rags to riches, from a log hut to the "White House," in Christ, the redeemed. He has been raised up to new
to make something of one's self, power, influence, life by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the pride
money: these are the ideals of life, while the poor are of sin has been broken in his heart by the regenerating
at best pitied and more often condemned. God, work of the Spirit of Christ. He is, therefore, a saint in
however, exalts the poor and despises the rich! That is, the world of unholy wicked, a friend of God in a
God exalts the poor who are poor indeed. He exalts world of God's enemies. All his hope and trust is in the
the Seekers of His Kingdom, the church in the God of his salvation, so that in daily repentance,
dispersion. The rich, the lovers of money who are fervent prayer for the wisdom of God, fighting the
covetous and who trust in uncertain riches rather than battle of faith, he counts it all joy in divers
in the living God are made low by the righteous Judge        temptations and patiently waits for the coming of the
of heaven and earth.                                         Lord and the glory of the New Jerusalem.
  James speaks of the "brother of low degree." There               For this reason he is "of low degree" in the world.
is no difficulty in understanding him to be the child of He is persecuted and despised for his faith. That was
God, the Christian brother. He is said to be "of low         stark reality for the "twelve tribes in the dispersion" to
degree." This term is used in two senses in the whom James wrote. They literally had no place in the
Scriptures. Sometimes it refers to one's natural world. They had to flee Jerusalem for their very lives,
condition; one is poor, lowly because of a lack of the suffered loss of. possessions. Many were fed to the
necessities of food, clothing, shelter; or because of lions, slaughtered, imprisoned, burned and sawn
some natural adversity. Other times the Bible speaks of asunder. So it has been, is, and always will be for the
this in terms of the spiritual grace of humility, the brother of low degree in this world. And this is
antithesis of which is pride. Jesus uses this word "low something we apparently have a hard time
degree" in this sense when in Matthew  11:29 He understanding living in our pleasure-mad, hell-bound


152                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


world. This life is not a playground but a battle ground Abraham, Job, Solomon, Barnabas to mention a few.
for the Christian. It is that today. And it is that in Riches are not wrong as such. But that is not the point
Grand Rapids, South Holland, Iowa, California in just here. The contrast is between the poor child of God
as real a sense as it was that in the Roman world of the and the ungodly rich.
first century. The Christian brother is of low degree           The grounds for this position are:
because he seeks the things which are above and sets            1) The passage itself says of this rich man that he
not his affection on the perishing things which are shall pass away and fade away in his ways. That cannot
below (Col. 3: lff). He labors not for the meat which be said of the child of God.
perishes but for that meat which endures unto everlast-         2) The text does not address him as "brother," but
ing life. He seeks God's Kingdom first rejecting the simply calls him "the rich man."
service of Mammon and does not worry about tomorrow             3) The context of the entire Epistle indicates that
or what he's going to eat, drink, or wear, trusting that this must be a reference to the ungodly rich. In chapter
his heavenly Father Who clothes the grass of the field, 2:5-7 the rich are presented as the persecutors of the
adorns the lily with a  glory greater than Solomon's, church and in chapter 5: 1 ff James announces the just
and feeds the little sparrow, will also clothe and feed judgements of God upon the rich in the most graphic
him, for he is of more value for Jesus' sake than many of terms.
sparrows (Matt. 6): Thus he is of low degree because he         4) This same contrast is generally found throughout
presses all that he is and has in to the service of God's the Scriptures. Jesus contrasted the poor child of God
Kingdom. He educates his children in the fear of God, and the ungodly rich in the parable of the rich man
supports the ministry of the gospel, helps the poor. and Lazarus (Luke 16:  19ff). In Luke 12: 15ff the
Besides, his ability to earn a living is somewhat limited.    Savior warns us that "a man's life consisteth not in the
The better-paying factory and construction jobs are abundance of the things which he possesseth" and to
closed to him because he will not compromise the drive the point home He gives us the Parable of the
Biblical principles of master-servant relations by Rich Fool. The Apostle Paul warns, "they that will be
joining an anti-Christian  labor union. Some professional rich (wish to be rich - R.D.) fall into temptation and a
fields are closed to him because they would take him snare and into many hurtful lusts, which drown men
away from the church which preaches the true gospel, in destruction and perdition." Why is that? Because
administrates the Sacraments and administers Christian the love of money is the root of all evil. Hence, the
discipline in the name of Christ. He finds it difficult man of God is to flee these things and follow after
and in many cases impossible to climb the "ladder of righteousness, godliness, faith, love etc. and  the-rich
corporate success" because he cannot be a friend of are not to trust in uncertain riches but in the living
the enemies of God at the cocktail parties.                   God (1 Timothy 6:9ff).
  James says to him; "rejoice in your exaltation."              5) There is truth (I Cor. 1, James 2) that God has
Boast, glory in your exaltation. The brother of chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, the base
low-degree must not complain of his poverty, his and despised to destroy the wisdom of this world. And
limited resources and influence. He must be content the purpose of God in this is that no flesh should glory
with his lowly position in the world, thankful and even in His presence.
glory in it. His exaltation is his salvation. While now         James means, then, the ungodly rich who are
for a little while he is despised and lowly, a fool for consumed by covetousness and greed, the lusts of the
Christ's sake, he must glory in his deliverance from the flesh, eyes, and the pride of life. There is a word of
power and guilt of sin. In his victory by the grace of God to this rich man and it is: "Let him rejoice in that
God in Christ Jesus over every temptation he must he is made low." Literally in that he is humiliated.
rejoice. He must rejoice in the fact that he shall never There is holy irony here! The ungodly rich boasts in
die, but only pass through death into his Father's house himself and rejoices in his sin, and that amounts to
of many mansions. And, ultimately he must rejoice in rejoicing in his being humiliated. He gains the whole
the fact that his light affliction which is but for a .world but loses his own soul.
moment works for him a far more exceeding and                   His perishing is illustrated by the figure of verses
eternal weight of glory, to be revealed in the new 1Ob and 11. ". . . because as the flower of the grass he
creation (II Cor. 4).                                         shall pass away." Just as the flower of the grass
   "But," and here is the contrast, " the rich in that he flourishes for a while and then passes away so the rich
is made low." To take "the rich" as the rich brother as man shall utterly perish. Not a trace of him shall be
most commentators do is to miss the whole point of left. He becomes after all his striving for earthly gain
the text. This is not the godly rich but the ungodly but a quickly fading memory. But James extends the
rich. There are rich children of God and it is not figure in verse 11: "For the sun is no sooner risen with
impossible for them to be saved, as Jesus' disciples a' burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the
once erroneously concluded (cf. Mark  10:17-27). flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of
There are examples of rich Christians in the Scriptures; it perisheth (the beauty of its appearance is destroyed


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                                           153


- R.D.): so also shall the rich man fade away in his really means "shall waste away." It does not appear
ways." There is frightening power in these words! The that way to the natural eye. Observing the ungodly
sun rises with burning heat and dries up or withers the rich it appears that they prosper in their ways (cf.
grass, with the result that its flower falls off and the Psalm 73). Go, into the sanctuary of God, brother of
beauty of its face, appearance is destroyed  - that is low degree, and see how God places them in slippery
literally what the Word says.                               places and casts them down into destruction! The rich
   Thus, in that same manner, the rich man fades away come to a miserable end. They perish in their ways.
in his ways. "In his ways," literally "in his journey, They waste away under the "burning heat" of the
pursuits, or goings!" Think of that! The rich man in all righteous wrath of God. Hell is the final end of them. I
his feverish pursuing of uncertain riches, in which he don't want to call that common grace, do you?
has no time for God, His Church and Kingdom, in all           Let us be warned: Seek the Kingdom! First! Trust in
his home life, pleasure-seeking, fades away. His entire the living God, not in uncertain riches. Rejoice in your
life is geared to self-satisfaction, his own security apart exaltation, brother of low degree. It will not be long
from God, amassing a fortune  - those are his ways. before it's realized in the new creation. "Behold I
And in those ways he "shall fade away." That verb come quickly" is the word of,the Savior.



The Strength of Youth


                    Divorce and Remarriage  [3]

                                                Rev. J. Kortering

   In this article we will pay close attention to the teaches that adultery is grounds for the dissolution of
argument put forth by those who believe that the Bible marriage through divorce and that the parties are free
allows for divorce and remarriage. Our emphasis is to remarry afterwards. This, to say the least, is a
upon their Biblical reasoning. We will not deal with conservative position; many in the church today want
many of the emotional arguments involved in divorce divorce and remarriage for all kinds of reasons.
and the sad consequence it brings upon an individual
who has to either live alone or raise the family alone. MOSES' DIVORCE LAW
These are indeed difficult experiences and we will have       Any discussion of divorce soon leads to Deut.
something to say about this later. For now pur interest 24: l-4. Look this up in your Bible. This text deals
is in what the Word of God teaches. Are the arguments with the Mosaic law as it applied to the remarriage of
put forth by those who advocate divorce and husband and wife who were divorced and subsequently
remarriage true to the Word of God?                         had remarried someone else. Often just verses 1 and 2
   Rather than put words into the mouths of those are quoted, and then one gets the distorted view that
who teach that divorce allows for remarriage, we will Duty has. Listen.
let them speak for themselves. In fairness to this                 All a Jew had to do to divorce his wife was to give
position, we will pay attention to Rev. Guy Duty who            her the divorce bill in the presence of two witnesses.
expresses his views in  his  book,  Divorce and                 The marriage was then legally dissolved and both
Remarriage.  According to the cover insert, he was              parties were free to remarry. This "writing of
`7ordained in 1931 and has continued his pastoral and           divorcement" is recorded in Deut. 24: 1,2, page 22.
teaching work in Virginia, etc." There is no indication       Rev. Duty explains the "uncleanness" which gave
of church affiliation. This work is published by the rise to the divorce as anything which aggravated the
Bethany Fellowship Inc. of Minneapolis, Minn. We husband.
                                                                     Some argue that this "uncleanness" was
admire this work, because it deals with an exegetical           immorality, but this could not be true because the
study on this subject. Attempting to decide issues on           unfaithful Jewess was stoned to death. When the
the basis of the Word of God is all too rare today. This        Jewish theologians brought the divorce dispute to
work is the best attempt to do this that we have read,          Jesus, they argued from this Deuteronomic law that
even though we will criticize much of it in a later             divorce was allowed for "every cause". Jesus
article.                                                        conceded this, but explained that it was allowed for
  Rev. Duty defends the position that Scripture                 "hardness of heart". Jesus would not have said that


154                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER



       this divorce was for hardness of heart if the woman           debated question between the rival Rabbinical
       had been immoral. This is proved by the fact that            schools of Hillel and Shummai.
       Jesus allowed divorce for fornication, Matt.  5:32,               The subject matter of this Scripture was the
       Matt. 19:9, page 23.                                          lawfulness of the Mosaic divorce for "every cause."
   The main point is that he contends that the bill of               These Jewish scholars were able and clever men. They
divorcement referred to in Deut. 24 was a dissolution                wanted to know if it was lawful for a Jew to divorce
of the marriage. The text seems to teach this, "Let him              his wife for all the trivial causes that their famous
write her a bill of divorcement and give it in her hand              Rabbi Hillel allowed.  fizey  did not mention
and send her out of his house. And when she is                       renunriage because that was not the point at issue.
departed out of his house she may go and be another                  There was never any question about this. It was
man's wife." Concerning this he writes,                              allowed by both Hillel and Shammai," page 63.
                                                                   From this and the previous quotation, it is obvious
          We are here mainly concerned with the fact that
       the divorce dissolved the marriage and the woman        that Rev. Duty concludes that Christ took the position
       could "go and be another man's wife". If the second     of Shammai. This we believe to be a basic error which
       husband divorced her, then the second marriage was      we will show later.
       dissolved and she was free to marry the third time;        Because Duty believes that Deut. 24 teaches the
       but God specified that she could not return to her      dissolution of marriage for the Old Testament times,
       "former husband". When the woman married the            we should notice how this leads him to make the same
       second time, she did not have 2 husbands because        conclusion for New Testament times. He reasons this
       God spoke of the  fust as her  former  husband, page    way,
       23.                                                               In verses 3-9 the legal term "put away" was used
  The author insists that "divorce" means dissolve by                four times in this discussion  - twice by the Pharisees
virtue of the Greek and Hebrew words used.                           and twice by Jesus. Three times, in verses  3'7'8  on
  Read any book by those with the opposite view on                   both sides, this term meant dissolution. Then by what
divorce and you will see that not one of them has                    word-magic does it become "separation" in verse  9?
quoted a Hebrew or Greek authority on the teaching                   Jesus didn't use double talk. The meaning was not
that divorce means, "separation from bed and board".                 shifting back and. forth from dissolution to
There is none. Every lexicon I have searched has the                 separation, page 69.
same meaning of dissolution.                                      The trouble is that Duty begs the question when he
  In all Jewish divorce history, divorce was called "a assumes that he has proven that the "put away" used
cutting off'. The Mosaic divorce bill was called by by Moses and subsequently by the Pharisees means
the Jews, A Bill of Cutting Off. The Hebrew word for "dissolution."
divorce (put away) is  Kerithuth  and signifies "a                 In support of his conclusion that Christ taught that
cutting off' . . .                                             the dissolution of marriage was applicable only to one
  The Greek word for divorce (put away) in the New which involved fornication, Duty writes as follows:
Testament is  apoluo.  It is the exact equivalent of the                 Why didn't He (Christ) say, "It was not so from
Old Testament kerithuth, and it has the same precise                 the beginning and it shall not be so now?"
meaning of absolute dissolution, page 40.                                There is only one reasonable answer, fornication
  If one honestly studies the references made to                     was an exception to all that Jesus taught about
lexicons, it cannot help striking the reader that "to cut            marriage and divorce. What we learned about
off, to set free, to loose" is not in all instances the              "except" comes into play again . . . the exception
                                                                     signifies to exclude from the scope of statement or
same as to dissolve.                                                 enactment  - to exclude from an aggregate under
  In summary he teaches that  the law of Moses allowed
"for every cause" a dissolving of the marriage union                 consideration. Like this:
                                                                     1. The original male-female purpose in marriage
and remarriage for anyone but the "former spouse."                   remains in force, except for fornication.
CHRIST'S TEACHING ON DIVORCE                                         2. The man must forsake father and mother and
  In Matt. 19:3'12, Christ deals with the realtionship               cleave unto his wife, except for fornication.
                                                                     3. What God hath joined together man must not put
between the Old Testament and the New Testament                      asunder, except for fornication.
concerning divorce. The Pharisees were involved in a                 4. It was hardness of heart for a Jew to divorce his
dispute concerning lawful divorce and came to Jesus                  wife, except for fornication.
for His ideas. Christ summarized it, "And I say unto                 5. A Jew must not use the writing of divorcement,
you, whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be                 except for fornication.
for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth              The significant question is this, does the "except for
adultery; and  whoso  marrieth her which is put away fornication" apply only to the preceding clause
doth commit adultery," Matt. 19:9.                             "whoso  s h a l l   p u t   a w a y   h i s   w i f e , " o r   a l s o   t o   t h e
  In commenting on this Rev. Duty observes,                    following clause, "and shall marry another" as well?
         Here Christ met the Jewish theologians on the         This  changes the picture entirely and Duty claims that
       issue of divorce. It was, as we have seen, the hotly    it applies to both.


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                       155


PAUL'S TEACHING ON DIVORCE                                           The woman in the case of verse 11 had obtained a
  There are especially two passages in the Pauline                divorce according to Greek law, which was easy to get
Epistles that bear upon this question. The first is Rom.         but Paul refused to recognize the validity of the
7: l-4 quoted by those who believe that divorce does              divorce. The fact that the woman had obtained a
                                                                  divorce is indicated by his command for the woman
not dissolve the marriage. To this Duty responds,                to remain "unmarried'. She. was commanded to
       Paul said a woman is free from the "law of her            remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband
    husband" at his death. The husband by right of               because the decree she obtained did not dissolve the
    marriage law, ruled over his wife by the power               marriage. She was still the wife of the man she
    invested in him. She was in subjection to his marital         divorced. The divorce had left the marriage
    authority. The husband's death released the woman            undissolved as in the case `of Matt.  5:32. If she had
    from her husband's power over her and the legal               divorced her husband for adultery, the case would
    connection was broken. The dominion of a law                  have been different, page 9 1.
    ceased when the one who exercised the law died. It is       In trying to present concisely and fairly the
    fundamental with Paul that "where no law is, there is     argument of those who teach a dissolution of marriage
    no transgression," Rom.  4:15.  When a marriage is        by adultery and subsequent approval of remarriage,
    dissolved for adultery, the "Law" of the husband no       we learn one outstanding thing. The entire argument
    longer exists," page 85.                                  for this position hinges in a large part on a proper
  The second passage referred to is I Cor. 7: 1 O-15. understanding of "divorce" referred to in
"Let not the wife depart from her husband, but and if Deuteronomy 24. If Moses granted "dissolution" for
she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled almost any cause, the argument seems convincing. This
to her husband; and let not the husband put away his however, is the Achilles heel. We shall examine this
wife." Of this he writes,                                    next time, D.V.



The Day of Shadows


                      Defection and Translation
                                                     Rev. John A Heys

  Even as Adam and Eve brought forth a Cain as well             What happens when, in the covenant sphere,
as an Abel, so Seth and his sons brought forth unbelievers appear (and believers often are enticed
unbelievers as well as they, those whom God was along with them) is that the ungodly in the world and
pleased to make believers. We always bring forth the wicked in the covenant sphere seek each other's
unbelievers. We give to our children a depraved nature company. And it did not take long before Cain's
and cannot give them anything else. When they have wicked descendants and the unbelieving element of
spiritual life, it is not because they had spiritual Seth's descendants began to seek each other's
parents, but because God caused them to be born company. We read of that in Genesis 6: 1, 2, "And it
again. Spiritual life never comes to us by any physical came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face
connection we have with our parents, but by a spiritual of the earth, and daughters were born to them, That
union with Christ by His Spirit.                             the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they
  This fact, that some of the children of Seth and his were fair; and they took them wives of all which they
sons were not given this new spiritual life, explains the chose." As we said, the unbelievers in the covenant
sad truth that also in the covenant community, in the sphere often enticed along with them those who were-
little band that stayed there at the gate of paradise, sin weak in the faith. And it became quite a common
developed. All the sin in the world is not to be found practice for the two camps, which once were quite
in heathen nations. Much is to be found in the distinct, to seek each other. Defection had definitely
so-called Christian nations. On Sunday all the sin is not set in also in the covenant community.
committed by the unbeliever out on the lake or golf             Cain and his descendants were still-in their city in
course, but much is committed right in the pew and on the land of Nod, and far outnumbered the little band
the pulpit of the church. And we only add to sin, and that lived with Adam near the paradise from which he
prove the point, when we deny this.                          and his wife had been ejected for their sin. But sin was


156                                             THE STANDARD BEARER


practiced in both areas; and the flesh of the covenant the consciousness of its awful reality. Either we walk
community sought the joys of the worldly city of with God and turn our backs upon Satan, or we walk
Cain's building.                                           with Satan and we turn our backs upon God. No, we
   It was on such a background that God raised up for state it better by saying that either we turn our backs
Himself a prophet, a preacher of righteousness by the upon Satan and walk with God, or else we keep our
name of Enoch. And we may believe that his preaching backs turned against God and walk with Satan. For we
was to the wicked in both communities. He rebuked are born that way! Ever since Satan turned Adam and
the sin in Seth's descendants, and he spoke out openly Eve around by the lie, what is brought forth every time
against the rapidly developing sin among the a child is born is one whose back is turned against the
descendants of Cain. We read of him in Jude 14, "and living God, and one walking with Satan. "There is none
Enoch also the seventh from Adam, prophesied of that doeth good, no not one!"
these,, saying, Behold the Lord .cometh with ten             It is for that reason that Scripture speaks of
thousands of His saints, To execute judgment upon all,     conversion, which literally means to "turn with," and
and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all thus indicates a change of direction. That is also why
their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly                the call appears upon the pages of Holy Writ so often,
committed,' and of all their hard speeches which "Turn ye, turn ye, for why will ye die?" It also
ungodly sinners have spoken against him."                  explains Asaph's cry in Psalm 80, "Turn us again, 0
  Genesis 5:21-23 states of Enoch that he walked with Lord God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we
God, and was not because God took him. Hebrews             shah be saved."
115 speaks of his translation which prevented him            Enoch walked in the way of God's commandments.
from seeing death. The passage also speaks of him not Enoch walked in love toward God, and that is what
b.eing found because of this translation, and it tells us infuriated the ungodly of that day, both those in the
that before the translation he had the testimony that      covenant community and in Cain's city.
he pleased God. And although we find his name                All this is to be understood and not to be thought of
mentioned in other places in Holy Writ, these three as being strange. Walking with God means walking
passages, in Genesis, Hebrews and Jude, give us all the    where He walks, that is, walking in the path of
information that we have about his life and God's righteousness, walking in love and seeking to glorify
dealings with him.                                         Him. Enoch in word and in deed showed himself to be
  It would not be out of order to say that Enoch was       of the party of the living God. To see Him walk was to
the prediluvian John the Baptist. He, above all others,    see God's righteousness reflected in the life of a man.
stands out in that period before the flood as one who      It was to see a friend-servant of God, a seed of the
called for repentance and spoke of the coming wrath        woman in whose heart there was enmity against the
of God. It does not take a great deal of imagination to    serpent and his brood and all their ungodly deeds
see Enoch stand and use the words of John the Baptist,     which they ungodly committed, and all their hard
"And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the         speeches against God.
trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth         Yes, they spoke hard speeches against God, and not
good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." One      simply against Enoch. Enoch uttered pure speech.
can just imagine Enoch, as well as John the Baptist,       Speech that praised God. No wonder then that this
crying to the wicked, "0 generation of vipers, who infuriated those who had not been delivered from their
hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" enmity against God and against the seed of the woman
Jude says that he was a preacher of righteousness, and     that represented Him. No wonder was it that they in
that `he rebuked ungodly men of their ungodly deeds. their fury intended to silence that voice by bringing
He, no less than John the Baptist, struck out at the evil Enoch to his death. But their hard speeches were first
doers with severe condemnation. He, as well as John        of all against God. Cain's sneering contempt for God,
the Baptist, cried out of a coming judgment.               which he expressed upon hearing his punishment, was
  For this his walk with God was essential.                a hard speech against God. Lamech's boast to his wives
  And on the background of this fiery preaching of and his ridicule of God's vengeance upon the murder
righteousness and judgment we can also understand          he committed, again, was hard speech against God.
that phrase that he "walked with God." It certainly        And sin develops! Men became bolder and bolder in
indicates1 quite clearly that he did not walk with those their blasphemy, in their mockery of things spiritual
whom he condemned so severely. He, living in the           and in their words of defiance against the  livingGod.
community of the covenant, walked in harmony with          They did not simply break the second table of the law
the condemnation which he voiced concerning all the        and commit murder and adultery, violence and deceit.
ungodly deeds which men had ungodly committed.             One never breaks simply the second table of the law.
These ungodly were walking with Satan. Enoch was His breaking of it reveals that he has already broken
walking with God.                                          the first table and has another god whom he worships
  We do well to bear in mind that fact, and to live in     and serves.


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  157


        Their hard speeches against God brought forth walking with us, was God in our flesh walking alI the
     powerful speeches from Enoch of condemnation and way to Calvary and down to the depths of hell, so that
     warning. Hating God and hating this one who walked          when this righteous judgment of God of which Enoch
     with God and kept reminding them of the God they spoke comes to pass, Enoch and all who walk with
     hated, they plotted to kill him in order to have freedom    God will escape every bit of that holy wrath.
     to walk against God without being told off, ,and without      It means that when, by God's grace, in the midst of
     being exposed as ungodly in their wickedness.               the ungodly with all their ungodly deeds, we as the
        That only can be the meaning of Hebrews  11:5,           godly who with godly deeds witness, testify, and hold
     when it states that he "was not found." He was not forth the banner of Christ our King, we are already
     simply missed. And it was not his dead body that was        more than conquerors.
     `never found. He was not found, and Genesis 5:24 says         For Enoch did not simply escape the sword or the
     that he was not. Hebrews 11:5 speaks not only of his        fists of the ungodly against whom he testified. He was
     translation, but adds "that he should not see death." translated. God did not hide him in some comer of this
     Combine the two: Enoch was not found, which means           earth that still is under the curse. He was translated to
     that they looked for him, and he was translated that he     glory. We are again reminded of the words of the
     might not see death, and you have nothing else than         psalmist - and how true it is that God's word is one,
     the work of God whereby He snatched His faithful and that these first eleven chapters of Genesis are fact,
     prophet away from those who were looking for him to         not fiction and belong to infallible Holy Writ - "Thou
     make him see death.                                         wilt guide me with Thy counsel,- and afterward receive
       And this little notice in Genesis 5:24 that he walked     me to glory." Asaph said that after he was sorely tried.
     with God and was not;  for God took Him  is placed But Enoch could have said it, and does say it today in
     `here for our comfort as well as instruction. Not that the glory to which he was translated.
     you `and I can expect to be snatched away from the'           That assurance we' have in the midst of the fight.
     viper's brood and their hatred towards us, because we       God will guide us not only, but afterward will receive
     represent God's cause in the midst of the evil world.       us to glory, translating us from the whole world of the
     No, but it does show us His concern for His people. It      curse to the whole realm of glory.
     does underscore what the psalmist says when he says           Cain's descendants, together with the defectors from
     that "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of Seth's children, walked against God, and they will not
     His saints." It does show us that there is a reward only see death but the awful woe that follows it. Those
     of grace for a stand of faith. It teaches us not to fear    who walk with God may see death, but surely  will
     the enemy, even when you do have to stand alone. For        enjoy a life of glory with God to walk with Him in the
     you never do actually stand alone. Enoch walked with new Jerusalem. If now you walk with God, you will
     God, and that means that God was right there beside walk with Him in a more wonderful way when life is
     Enoch. God was upholding Him in His grace to make over, and in a still more delightful way when His Son
     that walk possible. And God was there in His grace in       returns to translate our bodies from the grave and
     Christ, Who. walked not only with God, but was God          death into the kingdom of light and glory.

     Contending for the Faith
                       THE DOCTRINE OF ATONEMENT
                            TiiE REFORMATION. PERIOD
I                                THE SYNOD OF DORDT
                                             THE CANONS
                                                       H. Veldman

       In Article IV of the Rejection of Errors of Head II       which man by his free will must be willing to meet in
     of the Canons of Dordt the fathers of Dordt present         order to be saved. God does not save the sinner
     the Arminian view of the atoning suffering and death        because of the work of Christ upon the cross but
     of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to these fathers of     because. of his faith. The Lord  will accept the
     Dordt, the Remonstrants set forth the condition             imperfect faith of the sinner as that sinner's
     prescribed by God in His dealings with the sinner unto      righteousness. So, the sinner's faith has become a
     his salvation. They believe that faith is a condition       work-righteousness, a work or activity of the sinner


158                                          THE STANDARD BEARER


which renders him righteous before God.                      that is associated with his name. In 1579 he proceeded
  In our preceding article, we had begun to call             to Poland, where the name Socinus had acquired fame
attention to the fathers' appraisal of this position of      from his uncle's two sojourns there, and where the
the Arminians. And we called attention.t.0 the fact that     Unitarian movement was gaining in political influence.
the Remonstrants surely violate the justice and              Here he made an earnest effort to unite the divergent
righteousness of the Lord, inasmuch as the Lord would        parties into one organization. In Cracow he endeavored
evaluate as perfect that which is very imperfect. We in vain to join with the Polish Brethren, a society of
now continue with the fathers' appraisal of the              Unitarians, but was hindered by his refusal to be
position of the Arminians.                                   rebaptized. As stated above, he died near Cracow in
  In the first place, the fathers of Dordt declare that      1604.
this position of the Arminians is contrary to Scripture,       Faustus Socinus was a Unitarian. He denied the
and they refer to Romans 3:24 and 25, and we quote:          Trinity. He denied the personality of the Holy Ghost
"Being justified freely by His grace through the             and also the Godhead of the Son. As far as his
redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set        conception of Scripture is concerned, he believed that
forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood,       the Old Testament is practically superfluous and only
to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins       of historical value. According to Socinus the sacred
that are past, through the forbearance of God." This         writers were inspired in respect to the content of
passage certainly teaches us that we are saved out of religious truth only; in secondary matters even the
grace through the work of Christ. The Arminian               apostles might err. His two criteria for the critical
separates the faith of the sinner from Christ's work         elimination of the ungenuine and for judging what is of
upon the cross; teaches that `the Lord saves the sinner,     divine content are (1) accordance .with reason, and (2)
not because of the blood of Calvary, but because of moral significance and utility. This is striking. is it not?
the faith of the sinner, which faith, although               Today the church is also playing with the truth of
imperfect, the Lord is willing to accept as the sinner's     Divine Inspiration, deeming certain parts of the
righteousness. But in this passage of Romans 3 the           Scriptures to be Divinely inspired whereas other parts
apostle emphatically declares that we are justified of the Word of God are of human and secondary
freely through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus,      importance. And also today the church is confronted
and that faith takes hold of that righteousness of with the task of differentiating between what is
Christ Jesus. Paul, therefore, connects the salvation        Divinely inspired and what is simply the work of man.
and righteousness of the sinner with the cross of Jesus      So, to deny that the Scriptures are Divinely inspired
Christ and the atoning suffering and death of the cross throughout places one in very dubious company.
of Calvary.                                                    Socinus also denied the doctrine of the Trinity. This
  In the second place, the fathers of Dordt, in this         conception of God, of course, affects all other
fourth article, identify the error of the Arminians with     doctrines. Socinus denied that God created the world
the heresy of the wicked Socinus. The history of the         out of nothing, and he believed in a preexisting matter
church and of doctrine speaks of two men who bore            from which God formed the world. Today, too, the
the name of Socinus: Faustus Socinus and Laelius             church of our day is denying the Scriptural account of
So&us. The latter was the uncle of the former. They the creation of the heavens and the earth; that is, the
were both antitrinitarian. Laelius Socinus died at denial of this Scriptural truth has advocates in the
Zurich May 16, 1562 and Faustus Socinus died at Reformed church world of today. And, again of
Luckawice, near Cracow, March 3, 1604. The nephew            course, the denial of the Trinity certainly does and
is the more prominent of the two. As far as Laelius          must affect the work of our Lord Jesus Christ. This lies
Socinus is concerned, his candid intelligence and in the very nature of the case.  So&us held that' the
pleasant manner were the cause of much homage from           Scriptures deny to Christ the Divine nature. This
the leading German and Swiss Reformers. We have this means that the work of Christ could not possibly have
information from the New Schaff-Herzog Religious been atoning, because atonement is possible only by
Encyclopedia. `Later on, though he did not expressly the eternal, Son of God. Only the eternal Son of God
deny the doctrine of the Trinity, suspicion arose could bear the eternal wrath of God upon sin. Only the
against him, and he needed the assistance of Bullinger eternal Son could merit everlasting life and glory. Only
to appease Calvin, and. to turn aside the doubt as to his    the eternal Son of God could possibly pay for the sins
belief. Thereafter he abstained from controversy, and of others and Himself be without sin. Only the Person
kept his opinions more to himself. So, he "covered up" o.f the Son of God could enter into the sin and guilt of
his feelings and opinions.' He was clever. Arminius, too, the human race and Himself be exempt from  .it. All
was clever, did not come out into the open with his          this work of our Lord Jesus Christ is rendered
beliefs, although he did work underhandedly with his impossible if one deny that Jesus Christ is the eternal
students when he became a professor.                         Son of God. Denying these fundamental truths, one
  It was Faustus Socinus who elaborated the system must reduce the work of Christ upon the cross to that


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  159


of an example. Denying the truth that the death of          is merely an example of God's righteousness of God.
Christ is vicarious atonement, the Socinians taught that    But He does not actually pay for the sins of mankind.
salvation consisted in the self-improvement and             According to this theory, God uses an innocent Christ
self-development of man, with the assistance of Divine      to display.His righteousness. However, for an innocent
influences.                                                 man to suffer does not emphasize righteousness but
  With this the Arminian conception of faith is in          unrighteousness. According  -to Scripture and the
harmony. Denying `the truth of vicarious atonement,         Reformed fathers, Christ is not innocent but guilty.
the view of the Remonstrants led to two other theories      Only, He is guilty, not because of His own sin, but
of the death of Christ: the moral and governmental          because the sins of others, His elect, were upon Him.
theories of the sufferings of Christ. The moral theory        When, therefore, the fathers of Dordt declare that the
denies the idea of expiation or of the satisfaction of      Arminians proclaim, as did the wicked Socinus, a new
justice by vicarious atonement, declares that there is      and strange justification of man before God, they are
no vindicatory justice in God which renders it              surely correct. The Arminians also denied the vicarious
necessary that sin should be punished, and sets forth       atonement of Calvary. They also taught that all a
the true purpose of the death of Christ in connection       sinner need do is to believe in Christ, confess his own
with His teachings as exerting a salutary, reformatory      sin and undoneness, and then that sinner would
influence upon the moral condition of man. The              render himself acceptable before the living God.
governmental theory of Christ's death seems to lay          Notice, please, that the fathers of Dordt speak here of
emphasis upon the righteousness of God. The death of        the "wicked Socinus." So, these fathers do not hesitate
Christ upon the cross is a vivid display of the             to "call a spade a spade." And in this we must never
righteousness of God upon sin. God presents to us in        hesitate to follow in the footsteps of these fathers. The
Christ a vivid example of what He could have done to        Scriptures, too, surely mince no words when they set
us had He treated us according to our sins and              forth and condemn heretical doctrines. The apostle, in
trespasses. To use an illustration, let us assume that a    Eph. 4: 14, declares that these winds of doctrine are
regiment of soldiers is guilty of a violation and has       born in the sleight of men who lie in wait with the
rendered itself liable to punishment. Now the               purpose of deceiving the church of the living God.
commander could punish the entire regiment. But a             One more thing. In this fourth article, the fathers
soldier steps forward and offers to free his company        conclude with the remark that the Arminians proclaim
from that punishment by offering to bear the wrath of       a teaching which is against the consensus of the whole
the commanding officer. This, according to the              church. How true! 0, it.may be true that the churches
governmental`theory, is what Christ did. Had the Lord       of the Reformation were not fully agreed on all points
visited His wrath upon mankind then all mankind             of doctrine. We know of the difference that existed
would have died the eternal death. But now Christ           between the  Calvinistic  and Lutheran views of the
offers Himself as that victim of the righteousness of       Lord's Supper. But they were certainly in agreement
God. Christ's death is an example of what God could         upon one thing: the vicarious atonement of the Lord
have done to us had He treated us and our sins              Jesus Christ. When, then, the Remonstrants deny the
according to His righteousness and justice. And if we       vicarious atonement of the cross, teach that the Lord
now only believe in that Christ, confess our sins and       accepts the faith of the sinner as his justification,
trespasses, acknowledge this righteousness of the Lord      substitute this faith of the sinner for the cross of our
and our worthiness to have suffered that eternal wrath      Lord Jesus Christ, then they certainly introduce into
of the alone living God, we will be saved. This is the      the church of God a teaching which is against the
governmental  ,theory of the death of Christ. The           consensus of the whole church. And may our churches
fundamental fallacy of this theory is that it does not      ever have the grace to maintain the wholly particular
set forth, but denies, the righteousness of God. Christ     character of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.


Editorials

                           Decision in the Kuitert Case

  Our readers will recall that ever since the Synod of him and a committee, with no final decision until now.
Sneek, 1969-`70,  the matter of the views of Dr. Harry      Now, apparently, the discussion has been ended, and a
Kuitert has been pending in the Gereformeerde Kerken        decision has been reached. A lengthy report appeared
of the Netherlands. There has been discussion between       in  the  RES News Exchange  of December 5, 1972.


160                                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


Before offering our explanation and comments, we will                                      acquiescing in evil, or succumbing to fatalism-
simply reproduce this report from the  RES News                                            - to persevere in our struggle to attain
Exchange in full. It is as follows:                                                        salvation.
  The General Synod of the Reformed Churches in                                       5) Overagainst the dark power of evil, we
the Netherlands decided November 23 that the views                                         encounter also in the world outside the
of Professor H. M. Kuitert do not deviate from the                                         church the phenomenon of `humanity' that
confessions to such a degree that special measures have                                    often shames us all. We believe that this
to be taken. The Synod and the professor together                                          fragmentary human goodness is in some way
expressed their agreement in a `further testimony'                                         related to the saving acts of God. This
which will be sent to all the congregations. When the                                      however does not deny that the Gospel of
final decision was taken, only one negative vote was                                       God's grace in Jesus Christ, that is entrusted
cast. As one member of Synod expressed it, the boat                                        to the church, is the only way in which the
of Professor Kuitert has safely been piloted through                                       whole world must be saved.
the storm of unrest in the Reformed Churches.                                       The commission'added what they called a `common
   The agreement was reached on the basis of a                                    conviction of faith': that various related questions
decision taken earlier by the Synod in January 1972.                              should be thought through in a scientific way as a
In that session the Synod requested its commission to                             "service which theology should show to the church
consider the relationship between Kuitert's theological                           and to human society ."
ideas and the confession of the church and to advise                                 An ad hoc committee of the Synod reported after
whether Kuitert's ideas regarding a `consistent                                   studying the consensus statement that it appeared that
horizontalization of faith' and the `latent kingdom' as Professor Kuitert, in regard to the questions-that had
a fruit of the `anonymous word of promise' do not                                 arisen from his publications, finds himself completely
need correcting and deepening since these ideas do not                            in accord with the confessions of the church. There
sufficiently express the incomparable `overvalue' of was no complete unanimity in the ad hoc committee,
God's salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord.                                         however, the Rev. P. Van Til submitted a separate
   From this statement of the Synod two discussion                                report in which he granted the thrust of the ad hoc
terms were distilled: (1) the humanity of man as an                               committee report but asked, "What answer shall we
expression of the full saving acts of God and (2) the                             now give to those who had objections and asked
realization of the Kingdom of God within earthly                                  concrete questions on specific passages in the books
reality.                                                                          and articles of Professor Kuitert?" Some delegates
   The commission and the teaching staff of the Free                              called the consensus statement a `curtain of smoke.'
University submitted to the Synod a consensus                                        At the close of the debate Synod issued the
statement which contained the following five points:                              following statement:
        1) The meaning of history is determined by                                   The synod has ascertained that the continuing
             God's saving acts for the redemption and                             discussion has brought clarification regarding the
            renewal of this world. In this man is involved                        theological thought processes of Dr. H. M. Kuitert in
            in his full human responsibility. Therefore the regard to the question about Genesis 2 and 3 in the
             church calls all men to faith and repentance.                        following points: a) his firm rejection of the thought
        2) The completion of the history of salvation lies that sin is a necessary phase in the development of
            in the period prior to our present existence.                         man, b) the fact that he does `not want his views on
             In this connection the following of our God                          Genesis 2 and 3 to be characterized as being only an
             and Saviour up to the consummation of the                            illumination of the present existence of every man, c)
             messianic Kingdom bears the mark of a                                his acceptance of the reality that from the beginning
             pilgrimage.                                                          man has turned away from God and therefore is fully
        3) The revelation of God's salvation does not responsible for the guilt of his sin, d) the fact that he -
             occur outside our earthly knowledge and                              although he considers the attempt to localize in time or
             world of experience; and yet not in such a in one or other way to describe precisely, the fall of
             way that God and his salvation are limited man from God's intention is not a matter of church
             thereby.                                                             confession but of a theological conception - views this
       4 ) It is true that in our life in our world we have                       willful disobedience of man as a core element of the
             t o   s u f f e r   d e e p l y   u n d e r   e v i l .   T h i s    confession that may not be relinquished.
             meaninglessness in our existence puts our                               The Synod has further determined that nevertheless
             faith to the stress of temptation. But God                           there remain differences of opinion regarding the
             tells us that He one day will triumph                                questions about Genesis 2 and 3.
             powerfully over all the forces of darkness. He                          The Synod judges that in view of the debate in the
             will cause the  fullness  of salvation to dawn                       meeting its discussion on this matter should be
             and so we are able nevertheless  - without                           terminated at this time.


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                               161



   The Synod decides:                                                  Jesus Christ, the second Adam, His Son and
   1) to maintain the declaration of the General Synod                 our Lord,
of Amsterdam 1967-68 and of Sneek 1969-70 in                    3) to communicate this statement to all churches
regard to the questions on Genesis 2 and 3,                  with the expectation that all office bearers will take
   2) in agreement herewith to issue the following           serious account hereof in the fulfillment of their
`further testimony' to the churches: as the church of official work.
Christ, listening reverently to what the Holy Scriptures
reveals in the first chapter of Genesis we declare:             The Synod requested of the theological faculty of
    a) that God created the world good;                      the Free University that in order to avoid needless
    b) that man, who was also created upright, has misunderstandings in making known the results of
         turned away from his God in willful                 their theological inquiry, they keep in mind the
         disobedience;                                       necessary- concern for the churches. The Synod also
    c) that this fall and disobedience of our first          asked the commission that confers with the theological
         parents, as this event is revealed in Genesis,      faculty to continue its discussion in order to promote
         occupies a fundamental place in Scripture and       the fruitfulness of the teaching and activity both in
         the confessions and is of essential importance      word and writing for the confession of the church in
         for the proclamation of the Gospel;                 the present time. These talks will occur within the
    d) that man can be liberated from this guilt only        framework of the normal discussions between the
         through the redeeming saving acts of God in         commission and the faculty.


                     Background of the Kuitert Decision
   As we stated in the beginning of the previous             worthy of Laodicea (cf. Standard Bearer, Vol. 47, pp.
editorial, this matter has been pending for a long time.     125-127). It attempted to straddle the issues. It
And to understand this most recent decision it is            attempted to satisfy the  verontrusten  (concerned) by
necessary to view it against the background of previous      publishing a pastoral letter to the churches, though it
developments.                                                refused to accede to the requests that the binding
   That background is, first of all, the decision of the     character of Assen-1926 be reinstated. And at the same
Synod of Amsterdam, 1967-`68,  by which the binding          time it upheld Dr. Kuitert though it admitted that he
character of the doctrinal declarations of Assen-1926        had deviated not only from Assen-1926, but even from
concerning the paradise-account was removed. Briefly,        Amsterdam, 1967/68, and therefore had deviated from
the declarations of Assen-1926 (in connection with the       the confessions even in the weak form in which the
case of  Dr, Geelkerken) concerned the literal reality       Gereformeerde Kerken  maintained them.
and the historicity of the narrative concerning the fall        Specifically, the Synod of Sneek decided as follows
of Adam and Eve. And Assen adopted the formula that          with respect to Dr. Kuitert (cf. Standard Bearer, Vol.
the garden, the trees, the serpent, etc., were               47, pp. 126, 127):
&z.tuigelijk-waarneembaar,  i.e., sensuously perceptible.       "The general synod of Sneek decided in its session
It was this decision of Assen which was made                 of November 5, 1970 with respect to the protests
non-binding in  1967-`68.  True, there had been              against Dr. H. M. Kuitert regarding his views of Genesis
considerable propaganda made and many views                  l-3 and Remans 5 to express:
expressed already prior to 1967 which were contrary             "1. that the protests filed have a fragmentary
to the stand of Assen. But by this decision the door was     character and as such have little cogency
officially opened to views concerning Genesis l-3 other      (bewijskrach  t);
than the literal interpretation.                                "2. that the synodnevertheless must affirm that the
   At the Synod of Sneek, 1969-`70,  there were many         denial by Dr. Kuitert of the historicity of the fall as
protests, more than 200 of them, which had to do with        man's turning away from his God at the beginning of
the so-called "new theology." Some of these were             human history is not in harmony with that which the
specifically directed against the views of Dr. Harry M.      synod of Amsterdam  1967/68 has indicated in its
Kuitert. These protests concerned "the honoring of the       declaration sub 3 (Acts, art. 209): `that meanwhile
authority of Holy Scripture, the interpretation of the       that which is expressed in the confessions of the
first chapters of the book of Genesis, so-called             church (Lord's Day 3 and 4 of the Heidelberg
horizontalism and the Christian expectation of the           Catechism; Art. 14 and 15 of the Netherland
future, the being bound to the creeds, the nature of Confession of Faith) about the origin of sin and the
the preaching, and other items." The Synod of Sneek          results of the fall clearly sets forth the fundamental
took what we characterized at the time as a decision         meaning which Scripture in the Old and New


162                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


Testament (among other passages, in Romans 5) the committee appointed. And as the  RES News
ascribes to this history, and therefore also as being of Exchange  reports, the matter was back in the lap of
essential importance for the preaching of the gospel by       the Synod of Dordrecht in January of 1972. At that
the church must be maintained as authoritative;               time there was progress reported, but a final decision
       "3. that meanwhile it has appeared that Dr. Kuitert    was put off until the fall of 1972. And the Synod
also at synod does not stand alone in his opinions;           decided that the committee should "consider the
       "4. that in this situation, however unsatisfying this relationship between Kuitert's theological ideas and
may be with respect to the mutual unity, it may               the confession of the church" and should "advise
nevertheless also be asserted with joy that all the           whether Kuitert's ideas regarding a `consistent
members of the synod hold fast to the confession that horizontalization of faith' and the `latent kingdom' as
God created man good and for the fellowship of love           a fruit of the `anonymous word of promise' do not
with Himself, but that man in wilful disobedience need correcting and deepening since these ideas do not
refused and refuses to live in this fellowship, that all of sufficiently express the incomparably greater worth of
humanity is alienated from God, is fallen into the            God's salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord." About these
slavery of sin, and can only be saved by God's gracious items we reported in great detail in our graduation
intervention;                                                 address on "New Theology and Old" (cf.  Standard
       "5. that she (synod) therefore judges that the unity Bearer, Vol. 48, pp. 437-442). Anyone who wishes to
of the ecclesiastical confession must not be considered refresh his memory as to the grave implications of this
to be at issue in such a manner that at present more new theology may consult that article.
specific decisions ought to be taken concerning this;             Now, apparently, from the above instruction of
       "6. that she appoints a committee to carry on the      Synod to its committee two items were distilled - the
discussion (consultation) in this situation, in an earnest two mentioned  in  the  RES News Exchange,  namely:
seeking after mutual unity, also in those matters in "( 1) the humanity of man as an expression of the full
which clear difference of opinion has been                    saving acts of God and (2) the realization of the
manifested."                                                  Kingdom of God within earthly reality."
       Since that decision of the Synod of Sneek there has        Against this background the recent decision must be
been considerable consultation between Kuitert and viewed.


                        Evaluation of the Kuitert Decision
   Apparently this is the end of the Kuitert matter as        19, 1972,  p.  15), even one of the members of the
far as the Synod of the  Gereformeerde  Kerken  is editorial staff of Waarheid en Eenheid, a Drs. Meeder,
concerned. True, there will be on-going talks. But these was happy with the decision. On the other hand, it is
will take place "within the framework of the normal           difficult for me to imagine that Waarheid en Eenheid
discussions between the commission and the faculty." and the  verontrusten   (concerned) can be satisfied. In
And this means that there is no more Kuitert case as fact, in private correspondence from the Netherlands I
such. There is a standing commission for contact              was told that one of the concerned complained,
between the Synod and the faculty of the Free                 "Mother has forsaken. me," referring, of course, to
University, due to the fact that the Free University (of mother church, and that one of the influential leaders
which Kuitert is a faculty member) is not an                  i n   t h e   N e t   herlands   h a d   g i v e n   a d v i c e   t h a t
ecclesiastical school, while its theological faculty          "nood-gemeenten" (emergency congregations) be
nevertheless prepares candidates for the ministry in the      established. If this is true, and if this advice is
Gereformeerde Kerken. Hence, these on-going talks followed, it could conceivably mean a split. However,
will be nothing extraordinary; there is always a certain      it could also mean only the further polarization of the
amount of discussion between the synod's deputies liberal and conservative wings in the GKN, wings which
and the faculty. Besides, the Synod "judges that in           will ultimately agree to live together in a modalities
view of the debate in the meeting its discussions on          church, such as. the Hewormde Kerk already is. Time
this matter should be terminated at this time." Hence, will tell. At any rate, this seems to be all that we may
this is plainly the end of the Kuitert matter as far as       expect from the GKN on the Kuitert case.
Synod is concerned. The Synod has apparently spoken              In the second place, it seems evident that Kuitert is
its last word on the matter. Moreover, it has spoken justified, that he goes Scot-free,that  he is at liberty to
with a large degree of unanimity. There was only one          continue to teach all that he has been teaching. It is
negative vote cast when the final decision was taken. not clear from the report  in RES News Exchange
And according to a letter from the Netherlands by W.          whether it was a literal decision of Synod "that the
Feenstra in the Christian Reformed De Wachter (Dec. views of Professor H. M. Kuitert do not deviate from


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                   1 6 3


the confessions to such a degree that special measures          Ktitert's teachings deviated from the confessions,
have to be taken,". or whether this is simply an                Sneek-1970.
interpretation of the implications of Synod's decision.             4. The Synod of the GKN, Dordrecht-1972, while
The report in De Wachter, rather strikingly, makes no           maintaining the decisions of Sneek-1970, nevertheless
mention of this. While we have the impression that the          refused to take any disciplinary measures with respect
Synod actually declared this, it nevertheless makes no          to Prof. Kuitert's deviations from the confessions.
real difference whether they did so or not. Kuitert is              5. The Kuitert Case is ended.
cleared. The Synod of Sneek had declared that Kuitert               6. Prof. Kuitert (and any others like him) are free to
deviated from the decision of Amsterdam, and                    propagate in the GKN their views which deviate from
therefore also from the confessions; but Sneek had              the confessions.
refrained from any disciplinary measures, recognizing               If this is not "doctrinal liberty," then I do not
that if they disciplined Kuitert, they would have to            know the meaning of that term.
discipline many more who agreed with Kuitert even on               In the fourth place, now that the Kuitert matter is
the floor of Synod. Now the Kuitert case is ended. No           supposedly finished, the picture of the dilatory
disciplinary measures have been taken. It is perfectly          dialogue-tactics of the liberals is complete. One must
plain - whether Synod literally decided this or not -           almost admire these liberals for their firm adherence to
that the Synod does not consider that Kuitert deviated          their game plan and for the large measure of success
from the confessions sufficiently to warrant any                that they achieved. Here is a clear illustration of the
special measures.                                               d e v a s t a t i n g   e f f e c t s   o f   t h i s   p r o c e s s   o f
   In the third place, it is perfectly plain in this light,     delay-and-dialogue, of two steps forward and one step
too, that officially, by Synodical decree and Synodical         backward, of upholding heresy and leaving the
default, there is "Zeervrijheid"  (doctrinal liberty) in the    impression on the churches of still adhering to the
Netherlands as of 1972  - if there was not already              confessions. The liberal forces have obviously been
before this date. Again, the correspondent in  De               completely victorious. Kuitert has admitted no wrong.
Wachtev  rejoices that Synod avoided both extremes,             He has come through smelling clean as a rose. Mind
that of "doctrinal liberty" and that of a split in the          you, there was only one opposing vote! Indeed, the
GKN. But he is simply dreaming. What else is it but             remark reported by the  RES News Exchange  is
doctrinal liberty when a man can teach that which               correct: "The boat of Professor Kuitert has safely been
according to a Synod's own-decision is contrary to the          piloted through the storm of unrest in the Reformed
confessions (Lord's Days 3 and 4 and Confession of              Churches." It took a few years. But the liberals
Faith, Articles 14 and 15)`and  can do so without being         adhered to their game-plan. And their perseverance has
disciplined? And no  synodical testimony to the                 been rewarded.
churches mitigates this in any way. In the first place,             There is a lesson of history to be learned here.
the content of the Synodical testimony (compare the             Simply stated, the lesson is that no church can afford
two as they appear in Editorial No. 1 and Editorial No.         to tolerate heretics and heresy  - no, not for a
2) is not different from what the Synod of Sneek                moment. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump! Let
already declared in point 4 of the 1970 decision. In the        him who will learn take heed!
second place, the decision is obviously vague enough                Finally, there is a lesson in the history of doctrine
and general enough that the pro-Kuitert forces,                 to be learned here. In our graduation address on "New
including Kuitert himself, can live under it. And the ad        Theology and Old" we proposed that the root of the
hoc committee of the Synod also reported, in                    new theology as there described is to be found in the
connection with the so-called consensus statement,              Kuyperian theory of common grace. This claim is
"that Professor Kuitert, in regard to the questions that        substantiated by the report in the  RES News
had arisen from his publications, finds himself                 Exchange.  True, common grace is not literally
completely in accord with the confessions of the                mentioned. But did you notice point 5 of the
church." Hence, we may cast the entire situation in the "consensus statement" of the commission and the
form of the following propositions, which show                  teaching staff of the Free University? This is obviously
conclusively that there is "doctrinal liberty" in the           "common grace." There is "fragmentary human
GKN:                                                            goodness" in the world outside the church! Note the
   1. There was a confessional issue before the GKN in          statement: "Overagainst the dark power of evil, we
connection with the teachings -of Prof. Kuitert                 encounter also in the world outside the church the
concerning Genesis l-3 and Romans 5.                            phenomenon of `humanity' that often shames us all.
   2. Prof. Kuitert did not retract one word of his             (How glorious is the fruit of  common'grace! It even
teachings, but asserted that he finds himself                   shames the people of special grace, the church! HCH)
completely in accord with the confessions of the                We believe that this fragmentary human goodness is in
church.                                                         some way related to the saving acts of God. ("latent
   3. The Synod of the GKN literally declared that              kingdom" and "anonymous word of promise" - HCH)


164                                             THE  STANDARD  BEARER



This however does not deny that the Gospel of God's            the  issue, and that there can be no real reformation
grace in Jesus Christ, that is entrusted to the church, is     here or in the Netherlands unless and until common
the only way in which the whole world must be                  grace is relinquished, eradicated root and branch from
saved."                                                        the thinking of Reformed people.
       Common grace and its "good that sinners do" is             Let those who have eyes to see (also, for example,
inseparably related to the new theology. The latter is         among the "concerned" in the Christian Reformed
the outgrowth of the former.                                   Church) learn this lesson! Before it is too late!
       We have often asserted that common grace is still          And it is, indeed, later than you think!


                      Further Delay in the Wiersinga Case
   Many of our readers will recall that there is also             Now the Wiersinga case is following the pattern of
pending before the GKN the case of Dr. H. Wiersinga.           the Kuitert case, i.e., delay and dialogue.
The latter, in a doctoral dissertation approved by the            In the same issue of  RES News Exchange  which
Theological Faculty of the Free University, openly and reported on the Kuitert case there appears this item:
blatantly contradicted the Reformed view of the                "The commission reported that it had not had
atonement and of reconciliation.                               sufficient time to complete its work and that if it
       A preliminary decision in that  case: was reached       would report at the present time it would contribute
early in 1972. On this we reported in Vol. 48, pp.             to a `blurring of the existing problematics.' " The news
338-341. We characterized that decision as a Laodicean item continues: "The Synod noted with appreciation
d e c i s i o n .   I t   w a s   a n o t h e r   o n e   o f   t h o s e that progress had been made in reaching clarity in
delay-and-dialogue decisions.                                  regard to Dr. Wiersinga's view and appointed a
       Perhaps you will recall that part of that decision      commission for continuing consultation with him. The
also was "To appoint a committee which shall speak             commission will report to the next session of the
with Dr. Wiersinga for the purpose of coming to more           Synod which will convene in May 1973."
clarity concerning his views and to seek a solution for           Anyone who trusts that anything good will come
the problems which are raised in the church by his out of this case is trusting in a broken staff!
publications and by the protests filed on account of              Can the GKN which tolerate Kuitert refuse to
them." Further, the Synod decided to request "Dr. H. tolerate Wiersinga?
Wiersinga to declare himself ready to conduct the                 And will Wiersinga show any more inclination to
discussion about his published objections against the          forsake his new theology than did Kuitert?
confessions with this committee, in the expectation               We think not.
that during this discussion Dr. H. Wiersinga and all              And we think that the handwriting is on the wall!
concerned will preserve the pastorally required reserve
and self-control."



Taking Heed To The Doctrine

               A Defense of Calvinism As The Gospel (4)

                                                  Rev. David Engelsma

  Defending Calvinism is simply a matter of defending          conquest throughout the world. Calvinism is the gospel
the gospel. Therefore, we do not defend it                     for every age. It is the truth for which and by which
apologetically, or defensively, or even as if its fortunes the Reformation of the Church of Jesus Christ took
were doubtful, dependent on our defense. As the truth          place in the 16th century. The gospel has not changed
of God, Calvinism stands and will stand - victoriously         since that time; Jesus Christ in His truth is the same
and gloriously. God Himself maintains it, and God              today as yesterday. But the truth of the gospel is
Himself sends it forth on an irresistible course of largely lost and buried in the Protestant Churches in


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   165



our day. This includes many who pride themselves on          and since its foes are the enemies of the gospel of grace,
being "evangelical." The gospel is perverted by a            our defense of Calvinism is a bold, unashamed defense.
message that is essentially the same as that message .We say of Calvinism what Benjamin B. War-field once
against which the Reformation fought and which on its        said of it: "the future of Christianity - as its past has
part bitterly opposed the Reformation. In those days,        done - lies in its (Calvinism's) hands."
the Roman Catholic Church preached a salvation that - In our defense of Calvinism today, we must reject
had to be earned by man's own works; it taught that          and refute the false accusations laid against it and the
men were righteous before God, in part, by their own         caricatures that are made of it. Men say of Calvinism
works, a teaching that Rome holds still. In our day, the     that it is destructive of good works and of the law of
overwhelmingly prevalent teaching in Protestant              God, that it produces careless Christians. Men say that,
Churches is that salvation depends on man's will, man's      it is destructive of zeal for preaching and missions,
free will. No matter how the Protestant Churches are         especially, because of its doctrine of election. Men say
otherwise divided, they are almost all united in             that it is terrifying to poor consciences, that it is cold
proclaiming that a man's salvation depends upon the          and hard, and that Calvinists are all head and no heart.
decision for Christ that he must make and that he can        These are old, old charges. You will find them, almost
make of his own free will. Of this teaching, they are        word-for-word, in the book of Romans, brought
not ashamed. Indeed, it is supposed to be the very           against Paul and against the gospel of sovereign grace
essence of the gospel. No sermon is complete without         that he preached (cf. Romans  3:8; Romans  3:31;
this message. This "gospel" of much of Protestantism         Romans 6: lff.; Romans  9:19ff.). Would that men
and the "gospel" of Rome are one and the same.               might not so readily accept the caricature of us
Essentially, there is no difference between them. This       wickedly presented by our foes, but that they would
is the reason why many so-called Protestant Churches         let us ourselves explain the truth of Calvinism by
and ministers find it possible already to co-operate         reading our confessions. Read the Heidelberg
closely with the Roman Catholic Church, especially, in       Catechism, and see for yourself whether Calvinism (or
the work of "evangelism," and this is the reason why a       as we prefer to say, the Reformed faith!) is hard and
great reunion with Rome on the part of many large            cold and cruel, or whether it is warm and comforting.
Protestant Churches is in the offing. Rome says that         Read the Belgic Confession, and see whether Calvinism
salvation depends on man's works; modem Protestant           goes lightly over the law of God and over the good
Churches say that salvation depends on man's will.           works of the Christian man, or whether it trembles
What both are,saying is this: Salvation depends upon         before the law of the God Who has saved in grace and.
man; man must save himself. Paul lumps both of these         stresses sanctification and the necessity of good works.
variations of the same basic doctrine together in            Read the Canons of Dordt, the Reformed confession
Romans 9: 16 and condemns them: "So then it is not           that is unsurpassed in its statement of eternal sovereign
of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of predestination and its defense of salvation by grace
God that sheweth mercy." Here, the apostle plainly           alone, and see whether Calvinism cuts the nerve of a
denies that salvation has its source in, or depends on,      lively preaching of the gospel, including the serious call
man's will, for he says, "it is not of him that willeth. " of the gospel to all who come under the preaching. See
He also denies that salvation has its source or basis in     also the tenderness. of the Reformed faith in the
man's works, for he says, "nor of him that runneth," Canons and its deep pastoral concern for afflicted
and "running" means "working." It makes no                   consciences. At the same time, we Reformed people
difference whether one teaches the one or the other,         and churches must refute the caricatures of Calvinism
for both of them make man the ultimate source of             by our deeds and by our life. We do well to take heed
salvation, both of them make salvation depend                to ourselves in every area. We must take heed that we
ultimately upon man himself, and both of them ascribe        are zealous for good works, not only as individuals, but
the glory of salvation to man. Having condemned these        also as churches. We must take heed that we preach the
teachings, Paul declares that the source of our salvation    gospel to every creature and give an answer to every
is God alone and the basis of our salvation is the mercy     man that asks us a reason for the hope that is in us. We
of God alone: "but of God who sheweth mercy." God            must take heed that we manifest ourselves as joyful,
in mercy elected us to be saved, us who were by nature       hopeful, confident saints. And this we will do, by
totally depraved and totally devoid of any worth on          God's grace, if we live out of the truth of Calvinism, if
account of which we should have been chosen. God in          that truth is preached and believed and obeyed.
mercy sent His Son to redeem us by His death. God in           We have a powerful motive for defending Calvinism.
mercy regenerated us, who were dead, by His Spirit           For one thing, as the gospel, it is the only hope for
and called us by His Word. God in mercy sanctifies us,       men; the only power of God unto salvation; the means
preserves us, and glorifies us. By teaching this,            of the gathering and preserving of the Church. But
Calvinism, with Paul, ascribes all of glory of salvation     even beyond this, our motive for defending Calvinism
to God alone. Since Calvinism is the gospel of grace         is our desire that God be glorified. Calvinism glorifies


166                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



God. The glory of God is the heartbeat of Calvinism and to do the right, that is, glorify His Savior-God.
and the heart of hearts of a Calvinist. Calvin's enemies        It is the one, great need of the Church today, and of
have always seen this, and so they have sneered at him God's people in these wild, fearful, Godless times, that
as "that God-intoxicated man." But the glory of God we hear, believe, and confess the gospel of God's
is the ultimate purpose of the gospel and of salvation. sovereign grace in Jesus Christ.
So we read in Ephesians 1:3-6: "(God) hath blessed us           It is the one, great calling of the Church today, as it
with all spiritual blessings . . . He hath chosen us in Him has been the calling of the Church always, that she
before the foundation of the world . . . (He hath)            confess, with adoration, with wonder, with
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by thanksgiving, with awe:
Jesus Christ . . . to the praise of the glory of His grace      "0 the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and
. . . " So we read in Ephesians 3  :21: "Unto Him be               knowledge  of. God! How unsearchable are  His
glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all                judgments, and His ways past finding out!
ages." So we read in all the Bible: Salvation is of the         "For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or
Lord. Therefore, he that glorieth, let him glory in the            who hath been His counsellor?
Lord. This is the life-principle of the Calvinist: To God       "Or who hath first given to Him, and it shall be
alone be glory. This governs not only his confession,              recompensed unto him again?
but also his entire life. Therefore, the Calvinist cannot       "For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all
be a careless man. He is an utterly humbled man. He is             things: to Whom be glory for ever. Amen."
a man totally dependent upon God. Just for this                    (Romans 11:33-36)
reason, he is a man of courage, a man ready to speak




Studies in Baptism


                     The Mode of Baptism Established

                                               Rev. Robert C. Harbach


  Previously three articles appeared dealing generally, New Testament doctrine of baptism, we saw, proves to
and for the most part, with the mode of baptism. The          be in harmony with all this, sharply distinguishing
first, Various Baptisms, appeared in TSB, Vol. 47, No.        between immersion' and baptism. The third in the
1l;Mar. 1, 1971,  p. 261; the second followed in              series entered upon the eleven recorded cases of
Various Baptisms Exemplifying One Baptism, Vol. 47,           baptism in the New Testament, in which it was shown
No. 20, Sept. 1, 1971, p. 477; and the third was The          that sound exegesis reveals neither immersion nor the
Mode of the One Baptism,  Vol. 48, No. 8, Jan. 15,            idea the subjects were even  in  the water. As to our
1972,  p. 181. The first proved there were many               intended aim in these articles, it is expressed now in
baptisms in the Old Testament, and all, every one of the title word Established, using it in the sense of "put
them, were by sprinkling and pouring. None were by            beyond doubt."
immersion. It was also shown that the word  dip  as             Continuing with the recorded cases  of baptism in
related to sprinkle, is never, in that connection, "dip OY the New Testament, we look at that of Paul's baptism.
sprinkle," but "dip and sprinkle." Ten instances of this In Acts 9: 18 we read, "And immediately there fell
action show that the dipping was not the baptism, but         from his eyes as it had been scales, and he received
was instrumental to baptizing by sprinkling. Whatever sight forthwith, and arose and was baptized. And when
dipping there was, it did not happen to the baptized.         he had received meat, he was strengthened." This is
The second article showed that always in all                  interesting. For the brief, concise account has no hint
dispensations of God's covenant believing parents and of Paul making a change of clothes, no mention of
their elect infant seed were included in it. The going out anywhere, no going down or coming up, no
prophets continually proclaimed the baptism of the mention of Abana or Pharpar, nothing of what one
Spirit in the promise that God would pour out His German scholar imagined, a Badezimmev, or a Vollbad.
Spirit upon  all flesh, including nursing  inrants. The His rising up, John Gill thought, had to be in order to


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   167


 go out and  .be immersed, for it was not necessary to           feel and agree that the passage indeed  does  seem to
 arise to be baptized by sprinkling .or pouring. But Paul        throw light on -the question of mode? After all, what
 was commanded to arise with a view to .being baptized,          was it which suggested to Peter that these Gentiles
 and to "wash away thy sins" (Acts 22: 16). The King             ought to be baptized? Why, it was simply the fact that
 James text is plain enough. However, the original in            they, too, had received the Holy Spirit. Then what was
 the commonly received text reveals nicely and at a              the  manner  of their receiving the Spirit? He  fell on
 glance the grammatical structure: "And immediately              them and was poured out on them. When Peter saw the
 such as scales fell off from his eyes. He recovered sight       pouring out and the falling on them of the Spirit, he
 on the spot! And having risen, was baptized; and                saw that the baptism with the Holy Spirit was the real
 having taken food was strengthened." The two                    baptism (of which water baptism is the sign), and it
 participles in the last statement describe not an act           was accomplished by pouring! This pouring out of the
 preparatory to baptism, such as going out to a river,           Spirit on the people suggested to Peter's mind John's
 but how, in what manner, he was baptized, and how               baptism. Remarkable! Would that pouring out of the
 strengthened. (Cp.  how  "He emptied himself," Phil.            Spirit suggest to the mind of an immersionist John's
 2:7: "taking the form of a servant.") The meaning is,           baptism? How did John baptize? and how were these
 "having risen and still standing, he was baptized, and          baptized, after Peter commanded it to be done? Could
 having taken food and still partaking, he was                   it have been in any other manner but in harmony with
 strengthened." Just as he was strengthened while and            the outpouring and falling on them of the Spirit?
 right where he had been eating, so he was baptized
 right where he rose up (Acts 5: 17) and stood. There is           The remaining cases are of household baptisms,
 nothing in the text like "having risen" he-was taken            except for one, which was of some disciples of John
                                                                 Baptist. Of the Philippian jailer it is said that he "was
I out to the Abana and immersed. That would be
 eisegesis, not exegesis.                                        baptized, he and all his, straightway." The last word
   Then there is the case of the baptism of Cornelius            there means forthwith (as in chap. 9), or 0~2 the spot,
 (Acts 10:44-48; 11: 15-17). The question we raise here          immediately, instantly!  Not somewhere outside the
 is, Does this case throw any light on the matter of             prison, but right there where he was, the jailer was
 mode? Let us see, noting the added emphasis. "While             baptized  012  the spot.  Scripture plainly teaches the
 Peter yet spoke these words, the Holy Spirit fell               unity of the 
                                                       on all                     mode and action of.baptism. What is true
 them who heard the word. And they of the                        in this connection of the baptism with the Holy Spirit
 circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as           must also be true of baptism with water. In Scripture
                                                                 you do not find  .different modes of baptism. How
 came with `Peter, because on the Gentiles also was              could there be baptism..with the Holy Spirit by one
 poured out  the gift of the Holy Spirit . . . Then              mode and baptism with water by another mode? The
 answered Peter, `Can any man forbid water, that these           baptism with  .the Holy Spirit was by the shedding
 should not be baptized,  who have received the Holy             forth, i.e., the pouring out or falling on of the Spirit.
 Spirit as well as we?' And he commanded them to be              Nothing is more positively clear in Scripture than that
 baptized in the name of the Lord . `. . . And as I began to     baptism signifies the washing away of our sins by the
 speak, the Holy Spirit  fell  on  them, as on us at the         sprinkling of the blood of Christ and the pouring out
 beginning. Then remembered I the word of the Lord,              of His Spirit. It signifies the cleansing of the soul from
 how he said, `John indeed baptized with water; but ye           sin by the.  `olood of Christ, and' regeneration of the
 shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit." " After reading        heart by the Holy Spirit.                   .'
 this; isn't it rather natural, and not at all surprising, to
                                                                                      (To Be .Con tinued)



                        NOTICE!!!                                           .-RESOL  UTION.OF SYMPATHY.
    The Congregation of Hope Protestant Reformed                   The Consistory of the Randolph Protestant
 Church `of Walker, Michigan, has decided to dispose of          Reformed Church of Randolph, Wisconsin, extends its
 the parsonage. Sealed bids from members of the                  heartfelt sympathy to Mrs. John Westra in the death of
 denomination will be accepted through February 14,              her husband
 1973.                                                                                  JOHN WESTRA.
                                 Contact - Peter Zandstra
                                         1420 Su-Lew S.W.          "And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall
                                          Walker, Michigan       never die." (John l 1: 26)
                                                      49504                                    Rev. Wayne Bekkering, Pres.
                                       Phone - 453-3609.                                               Dewey Alsum, Clerk.

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

168                                           THE STANDARD BEARER

                                                         0ur Churches
       For the news column of this issue of the Standard one's soul." And it was especially with respect to that,
Bearer,  the mailman was hardly cooperative. During           that he made a plea for our prayers and letters. "When
the past two weeks he brought not one single church you send a letter," he said, "somehow the day is made.
bulletin. Bulletins have been slow in coming on               When the mailman let's us down, we go home feeling
occasion in the past, but this is the first time I've had     glum." Another remark of his deserves repetition here,
none.  None that are  new,  that is. Without my little        I believe - "Don't think that you have nothing to say.
box, I would be in bad trouble. Just imagining the            Just write, `We're thinking of you, and praying for
predicament in which I could otherwise find myself, is        you,' and, perhaps, mention something that happened
enough to give me gray hair - which, come to think of         during the day - as, for example, `The baby is sick and
it, would be a vast improvement, on a head as smooth vomited all over the floor.' "
as mine.                    ******                               The address:
       Before I turn to The Box, however, let's check on          Rev. G. Lubbers
Rev. Lubbers. As you know, our missionary to Jamaica              General Delivery
was granted a six weeks' vacation to rest from his                Montego Bay
arduous labors on the island. During his stay in the              Jamaica, West Indies
states, he undoubtedly had quite a number of speaking                                  ***c***
engagements. He led chapel exercises, for example, for           Things are looking up. I just received a welcome
the students of Adams and Hope schools. He spoke at contribution from our Business Manager. Welcome it
a society after-recess program at Southeast. And, after is, not only because it's a ready-made, well-written
conducting a Sunday evening worship service in First item for a news column hurting for news, but because
Church, he gave an account, to those who remained Mr. Vander Wal's observations are always of interest.
after the service, of his work in Jamaica, At this last This one is no exception.
meeting, Rev. Lubbers stressed again the fundamental             "The Business Manager of our Standard Bearer has
importance of the training of future ministers on the reported that `hunting in Utah' for new readers of our
island, and of the importance, therefore, of our school magazine has proved very successful; At this writing
there. And, in that respect at least, our missionary is       (Dec.  11)) not one, but Jive' names have been
greatly encouraged. Two years ago, he said, the               submitted by our readers. Three of those suggested
students had difficulty even writing a complete reside in Salt Lake City, one in Ogden, and one in
sentence. But they have learned well  - not only in Brigham City, Utah.
their command of the language, but also as far as their          "We thank our subscriber in  Wayland,  Michigan,
knowledge of the truths of Scripture and the                  and the Dominee in Baldwin, Wisconsin, for submitting
Confessions is concerned. He sees the makings of the names and addresses of the new recipients of our
ministers in these young students.                            magazine, and for their generous gifts in helping to pay
       The labors of our missionary on that island are for the printing and mailing of the Standard Bearer to
sufficient to drain the energy of a strong man. There is      these people in Utah.
"the teaching, the driving, the heat, and the loneliness         "Our next `hunting ground' is - `Poor Little Rhode
of Jamaica." After listening to the account of some of Island.' Not one subscriber there! Our readers in the
his experiences on the island, we can well agree with         eastern portion of the U.S. can, no doubt, furnish us
his assertion that one needs the patience of Job, the with a few names and addresses in that part of our
courage of David, the meekness of Moses, and the              country. New Jersey, Massachusettes,  Maine - are you
persistence of Paul.                                          `hearing' us?
       During the two and one-half years that he has spent       "A free three-months' subscription will be sent to
on the island, he has put 44,000 miles on his car - and any resident in the State of Rhode Island whose name
it's the type of driving which requires two hours to is submitted to our Business Office.
travel forty-five miles. Through it all he has had the           "Horace Greeley once said, `Go West, young man,
indispensable support of his wife. Mrs. Lubbers               Go West!' Well, we are going EAST! We hope our
recently suffered a sprained knee, as a result of a fall.     `hunting trip east' proves as successful as our `Western
Despite considerable pain, she insisted that she Trek.' "                              ******
accompany her husband on-his trip to school,  - 140              Well, what do you know about that! It wasn't even
miles round-trip rubbing  linament as  they drove. "I necessary to dip into my reserve material. I had put
can understand," said Rev. Lubbers, "God's choice of together a couple of paragraphs dealing with the work
a wife for me, since I could not imagine any other            of South Holland's Evangelism Committee, but it's
woman going with me to Jamaica."                              apparent that it'll never fit. So, till next time . . . back
       But it's the separation from friends and family        into The Box.
which can be particularly depressing. Rev. Lubbers               Meanwhile, keep those bulletins coming, please.
noted that there is a "loneliness there that creeps in on                                                            D.D.


