            The
 STANDARD
     BEAf?H?
y- A  REFORMED   SEMI-MONTHLY  MAGAZINE                                                     4





                        It  was  an  historic  occasion  in  the
                     deepest  sense  in  that  the  significunce  of
                     the  history  of  our  forty-nine  years  of
                     existence   as  Protestant   Reformed
                     Churches   all  seemed  to  be  concentrated,
                     condensed,  into  that  one  evening.   The
                     hopes,  the  fears,  the  struggles,   the  labors,
                     the trials and tribulations  and tears - yes,
                     all  these! But more than all  these, the fact
                     that  the  Lord  our  God  has  preserved  us  as
                     churches,  has  kept  us  faithful   to  the  truth
                     of  His  Word  and  of  our  Reformed
                     Confessions,  has  given  strength  for  the
                     battle,  encouragement  at  times  of
                     discouragement, has  raised  up  men,
                     servants,  whenever  needed,  has  given  to
                     us  a  singular  place  as  churches,  as
                    witnesses  of  the  truth  of  His  sovereign
                    grace  and  His  everlasting  covenant  of
                    friendship,  and  that,  too,  in  an  era  when
                     all around us is apostasy and decadence -
                     all  of  this  seemed  to  charge  the  very
                    atmosphere  on  that  memorable  evening.
                     [See  page  2451





                                                     Volume L, Number 11, March 1, 1974 


242                                          THE STANDARD BEARER





                                      Voluntary Severing
                                        of Earthly Ties

                                                   Rev. M. Schipper


           "When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he
          saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy
          mother!"
                                                                                            John 19:26, 27a.

  Already approximately two hours had the Lord              absent throughout. At least, so it seems, he was
spent on the cross!                                         absent from the scene of the crucifixion for a short
  During this time He had spoken what is known as           time, because fails to record in his gospel the first two
the first two crosswords. Almost immediately as they        words of the cross. Perhaps also he was intent on
were pounding the nails into His blessed hands and          calling on Jesus' mother and offering to take her to
feet, He uttered the first word: "Father, forgive           the scene of the crucifixion. The text informs us that
them; for they know not what they do." And a little         with John there now appeared Jesus' mother and
later, He uttered the second, a promise of salvation to     other women, one unnamed, except to say that she
a dying thief; "`Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt        was Jesus' mother's sister, and Mary the wife of
thou be with me in paradise." In the midst of a             Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.
tumultuous mob which cursed and mocked and                     When Jesus therefore saw His mother and the
derided Him, He took time out to assure one of His          disciple standing by, whom He loved, He begins to
chosen ones of his blessed estate.                          speak the third word of the cross!
  But now it seemed that the confusion and tumult              Woman, behold thy son!
had subsided a little. The soldiers had seated                 And to the disciple . . .
themselves near the foot of the cross, while the
people with their rulers were gathered into little             Behold thy mother!
groups and scattered on Golgotha's crest, only to wait         Here, indeed, we observe the voluntary severing of
for the end, which they expected was very near.             all His earthly ties!
  Almost unnoticed by the now quieted mob, there               A most significant act!
appears another little group, slowly making their way          Significant it was not only for Mary and the
to the cross and the crucified Saviour. One of them         beloved disciple, but especially for the Lord Himself!
was the disciple whom Jesus loved. John, the beloved,
had been very near to Jesus throughout His trial and           Woman, behold thy son!
suffering. It was he who had followed within the               This was not the first time He addressed His
palace of  Annas and Caiaphas, where he had                 mother this way. We remember the incident in the
witnessed the testimony of the false witnesses and          early part of  His ministry when He performed the
observed the mockery and suffering imposed upon             first of His miracles in  Cana of Galilee. At the
Jesus. He was there also when the Lord was brought          wedding feast evidently Mary His mother was intent
before Pilate, and he heard the final verdict of this       on seeing her Son show forth His power; and when
representative of Roman jurisprudence. No doubt,            she approached Him to inform that the supply of
immediately upon hearing the sentence of death, he          wine was depleted, Jesus rebuked her saying,
left quickly to bring the other disciples word. They,       "Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is
either from fear or utter disappointment, had been          not yet come." Mary was reminded not to interfere


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 243



when He was about His Father's business. Of His              Hence, Woman . . . !
Father's business He was always deeply conscious.            Not; Mother!
Even at the early age of twelve, though He did not
address His mother as He did at Cana and now again           Woman, behold thy son!
as in our text, He nevertheless rebuked her for what         It is not I, but the young man standing next to you
appeared to Him an interference in His Father's            who is your son!
business, when He said: "Wist ye not that I must be          Was this word of Jesus perhaps the sword of which
about by Father's business?"                               the aged Simeon spoke when he held the infant Jesus
   Could it be that now again the Lord interprets          in his arms and predicted as he spoke to mother
Mary's appearance at the cross in terms of                 Mary, a sword would "pierce through thy own soul
interference with His Father's business?                   also"?
   But how can that be? Could He notlfor once, and              The sword that severed all earthly ties!
now of all times, address her as Mother? Can He not          The tie of mother and Son, and Son and mother!
understand that His own flesh and blood mother
would take this last precious moment to bid her Son           At this moment it was necessary that the Lord
her fondest good-bye, and if it were possible impress      adhere to the doctrine which He had on several
upon His lips her kiss of farewell? And should He not      occasions taught His disciples. "If any man come to
reciprocate, by informing her in no uncertain terms        me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and
how much He esteemed her, and how greatly He               children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own
prized her tender care from birth and her sound            life also, he cannot be my disciple." This doctrine He
instruction in the fear of God? Would it not have          here applies to Himself. Not even His mother may
been appropriate and normal to expect that in such a       stand in His way of attaining unto the kingdom of
moment as this, when death was about to separate           heaven. And if Mary will also see her Son no longer in
them, when a mother's grief was so unbearable, and a       the earthly relationship but in the light of His
Son's suffering so intense, that each would express to     Lordship and Saviourhood, then she too will well
the other their heart-felt sympathies, and give to each    understand why the earthly relation must be severed.
other the solace they needed?                                 Woman, behold thy son!
   0, indeed, the relationship between Jesus and His          To the disciple, Behold thy mother!
mother must have been very close! Was He not in
every point like as we are, though without sin? And           From now on this disciple whom Jesus loved will
therefore, as it is in most human and earthly              fill the place left by Jesus. Significantly we read in
relationships, that of mother and son, and son and         the words that follow the text: "And from that hour
mother, especially the tie between Jesus and His           that disciple took her into his own home," signifying
mother would be very close?                                that John also understood completely that Jesus had
                                                           voluntarily severed His earthly ties only to transport
   So close in fact was the bond between Jesus and         the disciple into the responsible place He had
His mother, that if He did not at this moment sever        occupied.
it, He might be drawn from the path of obedience.
Do the Scriptures not inform us that He was tempted           Thus Jesus bequeathed to His most beloved
like as we are, while He was the sinless One?              disciple His most precious earthly possession! While
                                                           at the same time He revealed to him, who was most
   And this explains why Jesus at this point must          able to understand, that by His power as the Son of
abandon the normal, because He had come into the           God He was able to rise above the sphere of human
world for the express purpose to accomplish the            relationships, in order to accomplish His heavenly
abnormal, the miracle, the wonder of grace! Nothing        calling.
may interfere, and especially the normal relationships        Significant also was this act of separation for Jesus!
of life!
   Because Jesus is so bent on performing the Father's       Voluntarily He severs earthly ties in the
business faithfully to the end, He does not even allow     determination to carry out His Father's work alone!
His mother to speak and to express her mother-love.        This also explains why He did it, that is, why He cut
Noticeably Mary says nothing, nor is she given an          these earthly bonds.
opportunity to say anything. Nor for one moment is           It was the hour of darkness! When all the vials of
she allowed to give vent to her human passions. While      God's holy wrath would be poured out upon Him,
His own heart bleeds with love and compassion for          when the Sin-bearer and Sacrifice of atonement
His mother, the dearest possession He has on earth,        which He was, must tread the wine press of the wrath
He may not allow Himself to be distracted from the         of God alone. No one may succor Him in that hour!
path of obedience.                                         All human help, even the gentle presence of His


244                                        THE STANDARD BEARER



mother, would only interfere, distract Him. The          suffered in deference to the will of the Father?
weight of the awesome price He must pay:  ,for the         Surely also this suffering was added to that He
redemption of His people no one can help Him to          already bore as the Saviour on the cross!
bear. The fire of God's judgment, the intensity of
whose heat He will in a few moments give expression        We say, voluntarily He severed  His earthly ties,
to when He cries out: "My God, My God, why hast          implying that the suffering He surely felt as His
Thou forsaken Me?" He must endure all alone. The         mother was cut from Him, He willingly assumed, in
law of God which He came to fulfill He must keep         order that He might be a perfect Mediator!
with respect to both its tables. The love of His God       And after He has saved us, He in turn makes us also
must be supreme, and the love of the neighbor, also      willing to forsake all things, even father and mother,
the love and honor of His parent is possible only        husband and wife, parents and children, if necessary,
because He loves God so much that He is willing to       in order that we also may be wholly consecrated unto
lay down His life for all His own.                       God. Only so will we be able to deny ourselves, in
  But who can understand the suffering He endured?       order that He may confess us before our Father in
And who can begin to comprehend the pain He              heaven.
suffered when that hot knife that severed His earthly      So, indeed, the very cross of Jesus makes us
bonds pierced also into His own soul? The loss He        strangers to the world!


EDITORIAL


                                An Historic Evening

                                            Pro5 H. C. Hoeksema



  The evening of the Dedication Program for our          duty fell to me to close the program, I was afraid I
new seminary building will be one long remembered        would not be able to speak. I had a great big lump in
by this writer  - and undoubtedly by all who were        m y   t h r o a t   - not from sadness, but from
present. It will go down in the annals of our history    overwhelming joy and gratitude! It was one of those
as one of the high points, one of those occasions        occasions when the impact of "What hath God
when we reach the exhilarating atmosphere of the
                                      ,                  wrought!" simply overwhelms a person!
mountain tops of faith.                                    Indeed, it was an evening to remember!
  The faculty's letter of appreciation, found              But why was it such a memorable occasion?
elsewhere in this issue, was written before that
evening of February 15. But even if it had been             After the first excitement of the evening had worn
written afterward, sufficient descriptive adjectives     off, I began to take inventory and to try to account
could not be found to describe the God-centered note     for that spontaneous feeling of exhilaration which
that was heard throughout the entire program, the        seemed to overwhelm so many of us who were
outpouring of love and devotion to the cause of our      present at the program.
Reformed faith that seemed to hang in the very              Was it the fact that this evening represented in a
atmosphere in First Church's auditorium, the joyous      formal sense the climax of all our denominational
exultation and thanksgiving which made the rafters       efforts to obtain new and suitable facilities for our
ring from the songs of that tremendous audience. Not     Theological School? Was it the feeling of
since my student days have I been nervous when I         achievement, of attainment? Achievement and
had to ascend a speaker's platform; but when the         attainment for the building committee, the


I                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                245


     Theological School Committee, the faculty, the              that, too, in an era when all around us is apostasy and
     churches, our people? Undoubtedly there was this            decadence  i all of this seemed to charge the very
     element. And in addition to this, there was the feeling     atmosphere on that memorable evening. It was
     of attainment with respect to our seminary itself. At       present in the ringing notes of Prof. Decker's
     long last, after some forty-nine years, our Theological     dedicatory address, "That All The Earth May Know
     School had gotten out of the basement of First              That Jehovah Is God." It was present in the Liturgy
     Church, had emerged from quarters which were                of Dedication. It was present in the Psalms of praise
     always intended to be temporary but which had               and thanksgiving which were raised to Almighty God,
     tended to become almost permanent. Our seminary             the God of our fathers. Yes, it was represented even
     has its own place, a place to which we can point and        in the personnel of the evening's program: did you
     say, "There is our Protestant Reformed Theological          not recognize the fact, the glorious fact, that it was
     School!" Undoubtedly there was this element, too.           the second and third generation of our Protestant
       But there was more than these elements, I think,          Reformed Churches who led us in the program, and
     which served to produce the air of excitement that          that they stood faithful to the same Reformed faith
     seemed to pervade the evening.                              to which our fathers were dedicated?
       It seems to me that it was intrinsically an historic        Yes, there was much history concentrated in that
     occasion. Historic it was, not only in the sense that it    evening, the history of the faithfulness and preserving
     represented a climax, a high point, in our history as       grace of our covenant God!
     Protestant Reformed Churches. Historic it was, not            And now?
     only in the sense that it was one of those occasions          Let us go on! Let us go on with renewed zeal and
     which one witnesses, perhaps, once in a lifetime or         courage! Let us go on, dedicated anew to the
     once in a generation. But it was an historic occasion       preservation, the development, and the proclamation
     in the deepest sense in that the  significance  of the
     history of our forty-nine years of existence as             of the same glorious truths of God's sovereign
                                                                 predestination and everlasting covenant of friendship!
     Protestant Reformed Churches all seemed to be
     concentrated, condensed, into that one evening. The                                *****
     hopes, the fears, the struggles, the labors, the trials       We hope to pass on to our outlying churches and
     and tribulations and tears - yes, all these! But more       to our people who could not be present something of
     than all these, the fact- that the Lord our God has         the excitement of that evening of dedication.
     preserved us as churches, has kept us faithful to the       Professor Decker's address will appear in printed form
     truth of His Word and of our Reformed Confessions,          in the near future in our Standard Bearer. Besides, the
     has given strength for the battle, encouragement at         program of the evening was recorded. And we would
     times of discouragement, has raised up men, servants,       like to prepare a program, tape-recorded, for our
     whenever needed, has given to us a singular place as        churches, and also include with the program a
     churches, as witnesses of the truth of His sovereign        pictorial account of the seminary building project.
     grace and His everlasting covenant of friendship, and       You will be hearing of this in the near future.




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246                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



QUESTION BOX


                                 Isaac and Abimelech

                                                ProJ: H. C. Hoeksema



Question  -                                                  certainty that this was or was not the same
  `From a Grand Rapids reader comes the following            Abimelech. If, however, it was the same Abimelech, I
question:                                                    would certainly see nothing wrong about this treaty:
   "Our Men's Society in our study of Genesis                for I consider the Abimelech of Abraham's time to
became involved in the following question: `Did Isaac        have been a God-fearing man. In the second place,
sin by making a covenant with Abimelech, who came            even apart from the preceding, I see no wrong in what
to him seeking a truce in their feuding?' "                  Isaac did here. They established a kind of peace
   "Some in our  Omeeting thought that he did sin,           treaty. This was done, mind you, because Abimelech
while others felt he simply did what we are all              and the men of Gerar recognized the fact that Isaac
obligated to do. We should live peaceably with all           was "the blessed of the Lord" and were evidently
                                                             afraid because Isaac was becoming a great man in the
men as long as we do not sacrifice our principles in         land, being prospered of the Lord. Whether this
doing so.                                                    treaty was motivated, on Isaac's part, by the desire to
   "Your thoughts on this matter would be                    "live peaceably with all men" is, I think, a matter of
appreciated."                                                speculation.
Reply -                                                        However, I do not think this is the important
   The reference in this question is to the history          question with regard to this passage. To me, the more
recorded in Genesis 26: 26-33. The background of this        important question in connection with this passage is
`peace treaty between Isaac and Abimelech is: 1)             this: what does this history reveal to us concerning
Isaac's sojourn in Gerar, at the Lord's instruction, at a    Isaac as the heir of God's covenant and concerning
time when there was famine in the land. 2) Isaac's           God's mamtenance of His covenant with Isaac? And
attempt to pass off Rebekah as his sister for fear that      then it would seem to me:
the men of Gerar would kill him, and the exposure of         1) That Isaac was not a spiritually strong man, but
this lie. 3) Isaac's being prospered by the Lord, the        rather a man who was rather peace-loving and
request of Abimelech that Isaac separate from them           ease-loving, but also a man who in a sense lagged
because "thou art much mightier than we," and the            behind the Lord. He was slow to recognize the fact
`controversy about the wells between the herdmen of          that he was indeed the heir of the covenant, that the
Gerar and the herdmen of Isaac.                              Lord was with him, and that among the inhabitants
  Now the question is whether there was any                  of the land he occupied a unique place.
wrong-doing on Isaac's part in this transaction. My          2) This, it seems to me, is especially plain from the
questioner does not give me any reasons which may            history of the wells. His servants dig one well; they
have been furnished in the Men's Society discussion          have trouble with the men of Gerar about it; and
referred to. I can only guess that if someone thought        Isaac calls it "Esek, Contention." They move on and
this wrong on Isaac's part, it would have to be on the       dig another, have trouble about that one also, and he
ground that Isaac here put on an unequal yoke with           calls it  "Sitnah,   Hatred." Finally, when they dig a
an unbeliever. But with this I cannot agree. In the          well about which there is no strife, Isaac says, "Ah,
first place, it is not impossible that this was the same     Rehoboth! For now the Lord hath made room for us,
Abimelech with whom Abraham had dealings,                    and we shall be fruitful in the land." And even after
Genesis 20. It is not possible to determine with             that the Lord must appear to Isaac at Beersheba to


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 247



 encourage him.                                              vengeance on them. But this was at the same time a
                                                             testimony to Isaac of the status which the Lord had
 3) The same, it seems to me, is true of Abimelech's         bestowed upon him and of the fact that as the Lord
 coming to him. The very fact that Abimelech came to         had promised when he appeared, so He would indeed
him was an indication that Isaac was recognized by           be with Isaac. Significantly, vss. 32 and 33, when his
 the men of Gerar as a great man. They have seen that        servants report that they have found water, Isaac
                                                             names the well Shebah, "an oath," evidently mindful
 the Lord was with Isaac. And evidently, after the           of the fact that the Lord, according to His promise
 herdmen of Gerar have made life miserable for Isaac         (vss. 23-25), was with him and causing the Philistines
 and his men, they are afraid that Isaac might take          to recognize his greatness and to fear him.



            Denying The Lord That Bought Them

 Question -                                                  are hypocrites. That is, they are outwardly and
   From a reader in Jenison,  Michigan I received the        according to their profession members of the church.
following question:                                          They are of those who profess with the mouth that
   "I have a problem understanding II Peter 2: 1 in the      the Lord bought them, that is, atoned for them. But
 light of sovereign election. The text is: `But there        in process of time they become manifest as false
 were false prophets also among the people, even as          teachers, who then deny the very Lord Whom they
 there shall be false teachers among you, who privily        once professed to be the Lord Who bought them.
 shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the          They never had been bought by the Lord: for as
 Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves            Canons V, 8 puts it, "the merit, intercession, and
 swift destruction.'                                         preservation of Christ cannot be rendered
                                                             ineffectual." But they once  professed  to be
   "It would seem that those who `even deny the              Christians, to have been bought by the Lord; and
 Lord that bought them . . .' cannot have been bought        later they deny by their heresies that very Lord. If we
 in the  fast place,  s&-ice they are false teachers or      adopt this explanation, then the text says nothing as
hypocrites. Please explain."                                 to the specific nature of their heresy, except that it is
                                                             a denial of the Lord.
 Reply -                                                        2) It is also possible to read the text as follows:
   My questioner is basically correct when he views          ". . . even denying the-having-bought-them-Lord." Or:
his problem in the light of sovereign election. More         " . . . even denying that the Lord bought them." In
specifically, of course, the question comes down to          that case, the text purposes to specify the extent of
this: does this passage teach a falling away of the          the damnable heresies of these false teachers. They
saints, that is, a falling away of those whom Christ         even deny that the Lord  bought  them, deny the
bought by His atoning death? But basically it is a           atonement. Then these false teachers are pictured as
question of sovereign election: for Christ died for          teaching a salvation by works, rather than by the
those given unto Him by sovereign election. Hence,           atoning blood of Jesus Christ. Personally, I am
ultimately the question becomes: can God's election          inclined toward this interpretation for various
be rendered ineffectual? And my questioner                   reasons. But whatever explanation is adopted, it must
recognizes that the latter is impossible, in the light of    certainly be emphasized that this passage does not
Scripture. Hence, how must this passage be                   teach a falling away of the saints, that is, of the elect.
explained?                                                     Incidentally, as I was busy answering this question,
   There are two possible explanations.                      the question and the answer sounded vaguely
   1) We may follow the rendering of the King James          familiar. So I checked up, and discovered that I had
Version, and then, as my questioner suggests, the            answered this question almost four years ago, in
explanation lies in the fact that these false teachers       Volume 46, p. 493. Fortunately, my answers agree.


248                                            THE STANDARD BEARER





                 The Standard Bearer
                           In Retrospect

                                   Rev. G. Van Baren


             (At the annual meeting of the publishing association which prints the Standard Bearer,
          inspirational speeches are given  - usually by one  of  the ministers  of  the Protestant
          Reformed Churches. At one of the meetings, in 1945, the late Rev. H. Hoeksema delivered
           the following address which was subsequently distributed in pamphlet form. Its message is
          surely as pertinent today for the Standard Bearer as it begins the second half-century of its
          publication.)


                                   THE STANDARD BEARER AS A WITNESS

                                                 Rev. H. Hoeksema

  Well I remember, and, perhaps, some of you with            Now, when I call your attention for a few
me, the gathering that was held, now more than             moments to the Standard Bearer as a witness, I may
twenty years ago, that resulted in the organization of     well connect my remarks with the name of your
your association. The purpose that convoked the            association. It is called the Reformed Free Publishing
brethren was to provide ways and means for the             Association, and in this name I find expressed the
publication of the writings of the Revs. H. Danhof         character and purpose, not only of your association,
and H. Hoeksema. It was a time of controversy in the       but also of the periodical whose publication you are
churches. The debate centered chiefly in the question      sponsoring. It is  Reformed,  that is, it is devoted to
concerning "common grace." Already the two pastors         the development and defense of the Reformed faith.
mentioned, who had earnestly endeavored to shed the        It is free, that is, it is non-ecclesiastical in the
light of the Word of God in this problem, and who          institutional sense of that word. It is a  publication,
insisted that God's grace is upon His people only,         that is, it intends to reach the public and to witness
were attacked from every side, and threatened with         for the Reformed truth. And, therefore, it is
ecclesiastical discipline. The official organs of the      supported by an  association,  it is not sponsored by
churches were closed to them, so that they could not       the Synod, but by the free association of brethren
use them as an avenue through which to present their       that are interested in the truth and its propogation.
ideas to the people. Hence, some brethren, deeply
interested in the truth of Scripture and of our              The Standard Bearer means to be a free witness of
Reformed faith, conceived of the idea of creating an       the Reformed truth.
organization that would sponsor the publication of           But what do we mean when, in this connection, we
whatever the two pastors might write in the interest       speak of the Reformed truth and of witnessing for it
of the development and maintenance of the truth            through the Standard Bearer? To be sure, by
that was dear unto us all. The Reformed Free               Reformed truth we mean the truth of  Scri$ure as it
Publishing Association was the result. Whatever was        is briefly and officially expressed in the Reformed
written in the form of pamphlets and books by the          Standards, particularly in the Three Forms of Unity:
Revs. H. Danhof and H. Hoeksema this society               the Netherland Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism,
proposed to publish. And it was, in part, due to their     and the Canons of Dordrecht. The Standard Bearer
efforts that also a regularly appearing publication was    intends to be confessionally Reformed. However, this
started in the form of our Standard Bearer.                is not to be understood in the sense of a dead Ortho-


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 249


doxy, that is perfectly satisfied with what our fathers      Himself realizes it through Jesus Christ our Lord,
developed and expressed of the truth, and proceeds           according to His sovereign good pleasure, in the way
from the assumption that they have said the last word        of sin and grace, and along the antithetical lines of
about it. Such an attitude would be the expres-              election and reprobation; and that, too, in connection
sion of a conservatism without life and love of the          with the organic development of all things.
truth, such as our Reformed fathers certainly would
have condemned. No, we do not intend merely to                 Of this truth the Standard Bearer means to be a
repeat, and rise in defense of, what has been officially     witness. I use this term to distinguish the nature of its
laid down in our Standards. But taking our stand on          testimony from the official preaching of the Word of
the basis of those Confessions, we make it our aim to        God through the instituted Church, whether in the
continue in the direction plainly indicated by them,         ministry of the Word within the Church, or in its
to criticize much that is offered as  Refoi-med truth,       missionary work to the ends of the earth. Our
and is not, and, always endeavoring to maintain the          publication has sometimes been called a missionary.
very heart of the Reformed faith as our starting             Strictly speaking, however, this is not correct. Christ
point, to advance, to a purer and richer development         has committed the t&k of preaching the gospel, not
and expression of the truth as such, and its                 to individuals, nor to an association or to a Bible
application to every phase of the life of the believer       Institute, but very definitely to His chosen and called
in this present world.                                       apostles, and in them to the Church. And for this
                                                             purpose He also gave unto His Church in the world
  The Standard Bearer wants to send forth a trumpet          pastors and teachers, that through them the Church
blast of no uncertain sound.                                 might fulfill its calling and mission to preach the
  It purposes to send forth a testimony that is very         Word. But the Standard Bearer, and the association
specifically Reformed.                                       that sponsors its publication, are not a part of the
  With regard to this specifically Reformed truth, we        Church as an institute; they belong to the Church as
may assert that its very heart is found in the idea of       an organism, and they function in virtue, not of the
the covenant of God. It is true that, in order to give a     specially instituted offices, but in virtue of the office
truly Reformed testimony, this truth concerning the          of believers. It is with this distinction in mind that we
covenant of God dare not be divorced from the                speak of our publication as a Witness.
doctrine of sovereign predestination. Election has             It is also with this distinction before our
rightly been called the car ecclesiae, the heart of the      consciousness that we say that the Standard Bearer is
Church. And yet, fundamental though this truth may           free, and that the society that sponsors it calls itself
be, and though its heart-beat must be discernible in         the Reformed Free Publishing Association. The
even part of the doctrine proclaimed by one that lays        freedom we thus denote is not akin to doctrinal
claim to being Reformed, it is not the most peculiar,        licentiousness. We do not intend to separate ourselves
not the most distinctive of Reformed principles.             from the institute of the Church. The very fact that
There are other denominations, besides those of the          we adopted the name Reformed Free Publishing
Reformed persuasion, that adhere to the truth of             Association, and that, therefore, we place ourselves
God's sovereign predestination. But the doctrine of          on the basis of the Reformed Confessions, indicates
the' covenant of God is a distinctively Reformed             the very opposite. But free we are in the same sense
heritage. The reason for this fact, that it was in           in which our Christian Schools are free schools. The
Calvinistic circles alone that the truth concerning          Standard Bearer is not an official church organ. It is
God's covenant was developed and given a central             not sponsored by the church as institute. And this
place in the system of doctrine, is that in those circles    freedom implies that we are not hampered by purely
more than in any other strong emphasis was placed            institutional bonds, and are not motivated by mere,
on the glory of God as the sole purpose of all the           formal, institutional considerations or prepossessions.
work of God, both in creation and in re-creation, and        In 1928 the institute of the Christian Reformed
that this glory is realized in the highest possible          Church meant to silence our testimony. They closed
degree in the revelation of God's covenant. Es-              the official organs to us. They tried to put the yoke
pecially is this true if the very essence of that            of the Three Points upon us. They cast us out of their
covenant is found, not in the idea of a pact or              fellowship. Much of this action was motivated by
agreement, or in a way of salvation, but in the              personal opposition, and the desire to maintain
fellowship of God's friendship, the highest revelation       so-called "rest" in the churches, the rest of
of the covenant-life of the Triune Himself. When,            corruption and death. But the Standard Bearer
therefore, we say that it is the purpose of the              remained free. No institution controlled it. Its voice
Standard Bearer to send forth a specifically Reformed        could not be silenced. And free it should remain.
testimony, we mean especially that it purposes to            Unhampered by considerations that are foreign to the
witness concerning the covenant of God, as He                love of Reformed truth, our publication purposes to


250                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



continue to maintain and develop the truth as our             effort to read and understand, but by those that read
God delivered it to us!                                       and are interested in rendering our publication as
                                                              effective as possible, it was gladly received, and did
  This also implies that the Standard Bearer is yours.        not go unheeded.
It is not an organ of any consistory, classis, or synod.
Nor is it under the sovereign control of the editors            Yet, first of all, I may confidently assert that
that fill its pages. It is yours. Even as our free            anyone who will peruse the volumes of the Standard
Christian Schools are not ultimately controlled by the        Bearer thus far published, will have to come to the
teachers, but by the parents, so the Standard Bearer,         conclusion that, in the main, it was faithful to its
though its contents are the care of its editors, is your      purpose, and strove to serve the defense and
paper, it is a means through which you have the               development of the Reformed truth.
opportunity to sound forth the testimony in behalf              Secondly, the very fact itself, that through all these
of the Reformed truth, within our own circles and             years the testimony of the Standard Bearer as a free
without. To have such a paper, to be able to let this         witness might be heard, and that still its voice has not
testimony be heard as far as possible, is your                been silenced, is a cause of deep gratitude to our God,
privilege. To render this testimony as effective as lies      Who provided and still provides this medium of
within our power is your responsibility; and I do not         expression for us.
mean only you who are present here, but all the
members of the Reformed Free Publishing                         And thirdly, we do not say too much when, with
                                                              thanks to God, we acknowledge the fact that our
Association, and, in fact, all Protestant Reformed
men; yes, and why not include our women also? You             organ was a blessing, an instrument of edification and
                                                              instruction, to many in our own circle, as well as a
who are present here ought to make it your task to            mighty influence outside of our Protestant Reformed
impress this truth, this privilege and this                   Churches, both here and in the Netherlands.
responsibility, upon those that are absent. Tell them         Hundreds outside of our own group have read it.
that the Standard Bearer is theirs, that they ought to        Ministers have used its material for sermonizing. As
consider it a privilege that, in virtue of their office of    soon as the war was over we received letters from Old
believers, thejr may work for the sending forth of this       Holland asking for it. Before the war it was an
testimony far and wide; and that they ought to                exchange with some thirty papers and periodicals in
assume their responsibility in this respect. In the           the Netherlands. Its volumes are carefully preserved
Standard Bearer God has given us a work to do. Let            in the library of the Free University. Some of the
us do it with all our might!                                  most important volumes written by Reformed men in
  Has it been worth while? When we pass in review             the old country were sent to the Standard Bearer for
the more than twenty years during which our paper             review. Its voice was respected as often as it expressed
was published, may we say that it has been faithful to        an opinion with respect to points of controversy over
its original purpose? And has its testimony been              there. Any many a paper reviewed the material of the
effective? Has it born fruit?                                 Standard Bearer, when in book form it was sent to
                                                              the leaders of the Reformed Churches in the land
  No one knows better than I that there is abundant           whence we came.
room for criticism here. And many a time the
Standard Bearer was criticized during these years. Its          Do I recount all this to boast? Yes, indeed; but not
contents were too limited. Its articles were too long.        in self. Rather let us marvel with a grateful heart that
The material it offered was too deep. I am well aware         our God gave to so small an organ of so small a group
of it. Our powers are limited, and with the limited           as we are such a wide place!
powers God gave us we must work. Then, too, in as               And considering what God has done for us in the
far as the criticism was not destructive, but had a           past, let us not grow weary, but continue, advance,
positive purpose, was offered not by those that               and work while it is day, ere the night  cometh in
refuse to put on their thinking-cap and put forth             which no man can work! The privilege is YOURS!




                                 Gift Idea? Give good books. Give RFPA publications!


                                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                      251



THESTRENGTHOFYOUTH


                     The Standard Bearer

                                       and Youth

                                             Rev. J. Kortering



   In this fiftieth year of publishing the  Standard                           young people." Their concern was fEst of all over the
Bearer, we should take inventory.                                              Holland language. Much of the Standard Bearer then
   Are young people reading the Standard Bearer?                               was printed in Dutch. This of course is irrelevant
                                                                               today. He states, "A  further protest is that the
   Hopefully, many young people are reading this                               articles as a rule are too long and because of this it
article, so we will address our concern to them. In the                        becomes necessary to limit the variety of subjects
event- that you parents know that your young people                            treated" He adds, "To our mind, the function of a
do not read it, may we suggest that you put forth a                            church paper is to apply the religious principles to
little effort that they at least get  this article before                      every day events and circumstances of life. Other
them. By young people, we do not mean only high                                leading religious papers carry only one purely
school aged, but also college students and young                               S,criptiire  expository article, and for the rest concern
married couples as well.                                                       themselves with the matter of timely conditions in
   Is our younger generation  reading  the  Standard                           their relation to Scripture and the application of
Bearer?  Conceivably they might  subscribe  to it or                           Scriptural principles to everyday life, which, as we
have it in the house, but are they reading it?                                 have said before, is to our mind the more unique
   The editorial staff decided in 1969 to include in                           function of a religious periodical." He then gives
the  Standard Bearer  a rubric especially for young                            many suggestions: systematic division of the subject
people. In doing this, we did not mean to imply that                           matter, different rubrics, e.g. a children's page, book
such a rubric would salvage our young readers. The                             reviews, local church news, current events, and signs
entire  Standard Bearer  is for them. Rather, our                              of the times, nature studies, etc.
concern was to give our young people something                                   It is interesting to observe that many of the
specifically geared for them and thereby to show our                           suggestions given have in fact been carried out. Rev.
interest in the particular problems facing them. The                           Hoeksema's answer contains a reaction to these
Word of God must also be their strength in the days                            suggestions and he makes some observations of which
of youth.                                                                      we do well to remind ourselves today also.
   This has always been the concern of the Standard                              In his opening remarks, he expressed gratitude for
Bearer. While perusing old volumes of the Standard                             the published letter. The reasons are three-fold:
Bearer, we came across an article written by Rev. H.                           "First, of all because it is practically the first sign the
Hoeksema in the May, 1931 issue. It is as up to date                           Standard Bearer ever received that our young people
now as it was some forty-three years ago.                                      took any interest in our publication whatsoever. I do
   The background of this article was the publication                          not remember that we received a contribution by one
of a letter from a young man who was member of the                             of our younger generation before . . . Secondly, I also
Young Men's Society of First Church, Grand Rapids.                             rejoice because the contribution assures us that our
Their society had received a short speech on the                               young people are not growing indifferent to
subject, "What's wrong with the Standard Bearer". As                           Reformed doctrine and that their lack of interest in
he states, "In the discussion which followed this talk,                        the  Standard Bearer  must not be attributed to the
it was brought out that there existed among our                                lukewarmness with respect to the truth . . . And
s o c i e t y   m e m b e r s   a   d e c i d e d   c o n d i t i o n   o f    thirdly, we were glad to publish this contribution
dissatisfaction and later inquiry disclosed the fact                           because it not only informs the Standard Bearer that
that this condition was quite general among our                                there is a lack of interest among our young people in


252                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER


the present form of the paper, but it also offers some                  regard to the Standard Bearer we have admitted in
suggestions how our publication might be so                             the preceding articles. Though we do not agree with
improved as to create more interest and better to suit                  all the writer suggests, we have agreed that in some
the needs and wants of the younger generation."                         respects he is quite right and a change is feasible.
                                                                           The other side to be considered in a question of
  After concurring with many suggestions, Rev.                          this kind is the reader.
Hoeksema continues:                                                        Him our contributor left entirely out of view.
         Whether, however, a-change quite as radical as the                He proceeded from the assumption, that if the
       writer suggests, is desirable, is a different question. He       Standard Bearer does not create sufficient interest
       is of the opinion that one article of the expository             among our young people, the blame must naturally
       type, like the meditation would be sufficient. All the           be with the Standard Bearer.
       rest of the articles could then be devoted to subjects              But is this entirely true?
       of a different nature.                                              At any rate, does it not constitute an equally
         I cannot agree with this view.                                 interesting question as the one the author of the
         It must be remembered first of all, that our paper             contribution writes: In how far are the young people
       is no church publication.                                        to blame, when they show no interest in the Standard
                                                                        Bearer?
         Neither was it -the original purpose of the
       association that publishes the  Standard Bearer, that               This ought to be determined just as well.
       our paper in its general contents should be exactly                 If the taste of the young people with respect to
       like a church paper. To be sure, it was to be a                  reading material is entirely good, the  Standard Bearer
       religious periodical of the Reformed type. But its               is wholly to blame and it ought to reform itself in
       contents were to be devoted to the specific purpose              order to suit the good taste of young people. But if
       of developing the principles of the Reformed                     there should also prove to be something wrong with
       doctrine. Its original purpose was not at all to take            the taste of the younger generation, that task ought
       the place of a church paper, as may easily be                    to be improved too, before you can expect that the
       understood from the fact, that when the association              matter of lack of interest will be remedied.
       for the publication of the  Standard Bearer  was
       organized we were still in the Christian Reformed                   There is, for instance, the matter of long articles. I
       Church. It stands to reason that the contents, in                have admitted that the articles are sometimes too
       harmony with this original purpose, were to be                   long and should be abridged. But now I am going to
       chiefly doctrinal, though from the very beginning it             add a word in favor of those long articles. It is this. In
       was  -decided also to devote some space to the                   a short snappy article (take for instance: A Word a
       applicationof our principles to matters of every day             Week in the Banner) it is impossible to develop any
       life and current events. And if from now on the                  line of truth whatsoever. If our paper should consist
       contents of the paper would be chiefly of a practical            entirely of short articles, it would certainly lose in
       nature, its doctrinal material being limited to one              value.
       expository article like the present meditation, the                 Now, if our young people see that an article is
       Standard Bearer would be greatly depreciated and                 long, do they lay it aside, just because of that fact?
       certainly it would be far from realizing its original            Will they read only short and snappy articles? Then
       aim.                                                             there is something wrong with their taste.
  T h e   q u e s t i o n   R e v . Hoeksema faces next is                Another question, what do our young people read
                                                                        outside of the  Standard Bearer?
pertinent to our situation today. If the  Standard
Bearer is not read by youth, is it the fault of the                       What books are found in their library?
Standard Bearer or could it be perhaps the fault of                       What periodicals are found in their magazine rack?
the readers?                                                              I wish our young people would send to me a
         But it must be admitted, there is another side of              complete list of the titles of books and magazines
       the question.                                                   they read, outside of the Standard Bearer. They need
         When there is lack of interest among the readers in            not send their names, I will publish the list in the
       a certain kind of publication, in a certain class of            Standard Bearer  and express my opinion. Let us have
       literature, the one side to be considered is the reading         this inquiry as the beginning of an attempt to create
       material that is offered; if it is indeed of such a              interest in the  Standard Bearer.
       nature, that it is not worth reading, or that it cannot            It will, no doubt, be interesting. (And how!
       possibly awaken the interest of the re,aders, it ought           Especially today, j.k.)
       not to exist.                                                      And the point is this: we must also develop a taste
         If, in this respect, it is defective and could be              for good reading, that may tend to the proper
       improved as far as form and contents is concerned, it            spiritual development of the mind and heart.
       should be remedied.                                                Nowadays, there is a good deal of cheap literature,
         And that this is possible in some respects with                that is worse than worthless.


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                               253


      If we indulge in it, we may be sure that we spoil       articles according to subjects and Scriptural texts for
    our taste for good literature.                            all fifty volumes. Maybe some retired person could do
  How we must underscore this, not only in reading,           this as a favor for the younger generation.
but in every form of communication. If we saturate               It is all too common that one fails in reading good
our souls with television, movies, dancing, rock              material. Every young person should consider it a
music, and what have you, no wonder the reading of            matter of personal discipline to read the  Standard
the Standard Bearer seems unbearably dull.                    Bearer faithfully. The Beacon Lights has its place as a
                                                              magazine entirely for our young people. The
  We have inestimable riches in the volumes of the            Standard Bearer should have its place right along side
Standard Bearer.  This `holds true for all the fifty          of it as a challenge to mature.
volumes that now have been almost completed.                     Through the means of writing and preparing the
Everyone of our churches would do well to have a              Standard Bearer  for publication, we are furnished
complete set of these volumes and encourage our               with a paper that bears the standard of the truth of
young people to consult them. From my own                     God's Word. We need it in these critical days of
experience, there is not a question raised or an issue        spiritual apostasy and indifference.
discussed today, but one. will be more qualified to
come up with a Scriptural answer through looking up              The  Standard Bearer  was intended for young
an article in the Standard Bearer. `Perhaps some day          people over forty years ago. It still is.
we can have a completed up-to-date index of all                  Do you read it faithfully?


CRITIQUE


                                      Scripture, Tradition

                                         and Infallibility

                                                     Pro.f H. Hanko



SCRIPTURE, TRADITION AND INFALLIBILITY,                       infallibility while accepting the findings and
by Dewey M. Beegle; Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing                conclusions of higher critical studies. This is to be
Company, 1973; 332 pp., $4.95 (paper).                        deplored because, in the long run, it means that the
  The controversy concerning the doctrine of                  doctrine of Scripture is lost.
Scripture goes on, and many books, articles and                  What has happened in conservative circles that so
pamphlets continue to stream from the presses as the          many concessions have been made to higher
debate continues. The debate is not so much between           criticism? What has brought about this rather radical
conservative scholars and liberals - as it was up until       change from the historic and traditional view of
fifty or so years ago; it is now a debate which is            Scripture to one in which the inspiration and
carried on within conservative and evangelical circles.       infallibility of Scripture is denied within conservative
This is not to say that the higher critical attacks           circles. It seems to me, as I read the literature, that
against Scripture no longer have any influence on the         the trouble is that conservative scholars have made a
debate; quite the contrary is the case. But in many           fatal error in methodology. I mean to say that
conservative and evangelical circles, concessions of          conservative scholars have taken an entirely wrong
critical importance have been made to liberal higher          approach in the defense of these truths and have
critics, and there has been a certain attempt made to         adopted a method of defense which is guaranteed to
preserve the historic views concerning inspiration and        lead them, step by step, into the liberal camp. I refer


254                                              THE STANDARD BEARER



to the fact that the debate has become an argument              the God-given power of faith enables a man to see
which makes use of rationalistic methods. The critics           and understand the truth as it is given in God.
of Scripture, beginning already in the 17th century,               This is not to say, of course, that the defense of
have attacked Scripture on  rationalistic  grounds.             the faith does not have an intellectual dimension.
Those who have risen to the defense of the truth of             Scripture, in several places, emphasizes this. Peter, in
Scripture have, especially in recent years, done so at          I Peter 2: 1, calls the preaching the "wordy" milk
times in a rationalistic way. Perhaps they have been            which we need to nourish us; and one of the
stung by the criticism that their arguments lack                implications of his statement is that we appropriate
scholarship  - a charge not infrequently  levelled              that truth which God has revealed with our minds.
against those who have defended the truth of                    Later on in the same epistle (3: 15) Peter speaks of
Scripture on the grounds of faith. Perhaps they have            the fact that we must be ready always to give an
been enamoured with the detailed and involved lines             answer (an apology) to those who ask us a reason for
of argumentation which the liberal critics employed.            the hope that is within us.
Whatever may have been the reason, they have
adopted the liberal methodology of rationalistic                  Nevertheless, the viewpoint is one of faith. And in
defense of this truth. They have in effect, allowed the         our controversy with those who deny the truth, the
liberals to choose the battlefield. They have                   viewpoint is one of faith over against unbelief. Jesus
capitulated on the all important question of what               speaks of the fact that unto the disciples it was given
weapons will be used in the battle. They have                   to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but
forgotten that the doctrine of the Scriptures is an             unto them that are without, all things are done in
article of  faith,  that it is a part of the  confession  of    parables. Mark 4:ll. And in I Corinthians 2: 12-14;
the child of God, and that, therefore, this truth (as           Paul writes: "Now we have received, not the spirit of
well as all the truths of the believer's confession)            the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we
must be defended on the basis of Scripture alone.               might know the things that are freely given to us of
                                                                God. Which things also we speak, not in the words
  By allowing the critical opponents of Scripture to            which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy
choose the battlefield and determine the weapons to             Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with
be used in the conflict, they have themselves                   spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things
approached the defense of Scripture with the                    of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto
weapons of rationalistic argument. This is a serious            him: neither can he know them, because they are
fault. It is a serious fault, in the first place, because       spiritually discerned."
the basic assumption is that the truth of God is a                 The point is that the man who comes with
matter of human reason and can be gained by the                 rationalistic arguments adopts the methodology of
exercise of reason. This immediately removes the                unbelief. He makes concessions to unbelief. But this
truth of Scripture from the area of faith and, almost           approach can never discover the truth which is found
inevitably, removes it from the area of the                     in Scripture, nor the truth of the Scriptures
miraculous, Scripture is a "natural" phenomenon,                themselves. Only faith can know these truths. But
and, as such, can be defended by scientific                     faith is that power which God bestows upon His
investigation and rationalistic defense. In the second          people by which they receive the Scriptures as the
place, this is so serious because of the fact that it           final and authoritative rule of all their faith and life.
obliterates the fundamental antithesis between faith            Faith clings to the Scriptures. Faith does not exalt
and unbelief. The defense of the truth of Scripture is          human reason above the Scriptures; faith bows, as a
not, in the final analysis, a matter of mere                    little child, before God's Word. Only in this way can
argumentation. It is not a matter of who constructs             the truth be discovered and maintained. This is true
the best argument, the most logical and reasonable              of all the truth; this is also true of the doctrine of
apologetic; it is not a matter of who employs most              Scripture. Scripture gives us the doctrine of Scripture.
accurately scientific investigation and faces the               It cannot be found anywhere else.
scientifically discovered evidence the most honestly.
It is not a matter of overwhelming weight in a formal             Now what does all this have to do with the book,
debate. The defense of the truth of Scripture is a              the title of which appears at the beginning of this
matter of the defense of the faith. It is part of the           article?
battle of faith. And the antithesis between faith and             There have been many, even conservative and
unbelief is sharp and absolute. Those who do not                evangelical scholars, who have attempted to defend
come to Scripture with faith cannot see the things of           the Scriptures with rationalistic arguments. No matter
the kingdom of God. For unbelief is a spiritual                 what the results of these efforts were, already a major
blindness which makes it impossible for the man                 concession had been made to liberalism. Even though
devoid of faith to receive the truth of Scripture. Only         some of these conservative and evangelical scholars


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                          255


have come to conclusions which are in keeping with          authority, etc. What the Church has believed
Scripture's teaching concerning its own infallibility       concerning these things is inferences, not specific and
and authority, the very fact that they have used a          explicit teaching of Scripture. 2) For this reason, we
wrong method has put them in an extremely                   cannot go to Scripture to learn what Scripture
precarious position. In fact, to the extent they have       teaches concerning itself, except in a very general
maintained Scripture's inerrancy, they have                 way. Even the classic passages in II Timothy 3: 15, 16
abandoned their rationalistic approach and come to          and II Peter  1:20, 21 do not give us any specific
rest in the statements of their faith. But to the extent    doctrine of inspiration and inerrancy  - although
they have adopted rationalistic methods, they have          Beegle very lightly and without any thorough
made themselves vulnerable to  ,mcreasingly fierce          discussion, brushes these passages aside. 3) Hence, in
attacks from higher critics. The result of all this has     the author's opinion, the approach which must be
been that there has risen a certain ambiguity in many       taken in determining the doctrine concerning
conservative writings. There is a kind of double track.     Scripture is the scientific approach. That is, one must
On the one hand, they claim to defend and believe in        apply the scientific method by collecting all the
infallibility; but on the other hand, they modify this      available data and coming to certain conclusions on
very doctrine at key points. As this trend becomes          the basis of an evaluation of this data. 4) What is
increasingly common, all attempts to maintain               included in this data? Well, one must reckon with
inerrancy are abandoned.                                    "extra-canonical" writings, for this is evidence. One
  The book under review is a striking illustration of       must pay close attention to apocryphal writings, for
thisvery thing. The author, while considering himself       they have evidence which must be considered. One
a conservative and evangelical, no longer makes a           must apply to Scripture itself literary and historical
pretence of defending infallibility. In fact, he openly     criticism so as to determine the worth and value of
and forthrightly attacks this doctrine and pleads with      each individual writing. One must take into account
the Church to abandon her position in this respect.         the tradition of the Church and evaluate the
He rather scornfully characterizes those who defend         "authority" of tradition. All these things and more
inerrancy as having a "Maginot-line mentality," and         are necessary for one to come to a "doctrine"
claims it is high time to get rid of all these              concerning Scripture's inspiration, inerrancy,
indefensible notions concerning inerrancy and               authority, etc.
authority.                                                    The author is conscious of the fact that this is the
  How does he come to this position?                        approach of reason, but he defends this. He writes,
                                                            e.g., on pp. 217, 218:
  The answer to this question strikes, in my opinion,
at the very heart of the argument of the book.                    The only way to break out of this circular
Although this subject is not treated extensively until         reasoning (i.e., that Scripture is infallible because
                                                               Scripture itself teaches this, H.H.) (with its implicit
well on in the book, the author makes a strong plea             claim of  inerrant interpretation) is to employ our
o-f an inductive method of determining the whole               reason objectively with respect to all the evidence,
doctrine concerning Scripture, as over against the             biblical and otherwise.
so-called deductive method.                                 He rejects, therefore, the approach of faith, and
  What does the author mean by this distinction?            adopts the rationalism of the higher critics.
Although the matter is discussed in various parts of
the book (and, by the way, this is evidence of one of         The result of this is that he has no Scripture left.
the weaknesses of the book, i.e., that it is not well       He would, of course; deny this. But it is true
organized), in general, the inductive method means:         nonetheless.
1) That there is no definite teaching in Scripture            We shall have to wait till next time to demonstrate
concerning the doctrine of Scripture. That is, he           this from the book itself; but let there be a warning in
rejects the contention which has been historically the      this that faith alone can be the position of the child
claim of the Church that Scripture itself gives us the      of God in his defense of Scripture.
doctrine of infallibility, inspiration, revelation,                             (to be continued)




                   Know the standard and follow it. Read THE STANDARD BEARER.


256                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


FROM A READER


                                World Events in the
                                    Light of Scripture

                                                   Herman Woltjer *



  The late Rev. H. Hoeksema in his excellent                 the Lord in His good pleasure and absolute
exposition of the book of Revelation writes about the        sovereignty has sent the messengers with the glad
fact that many Christians are accustomed to run in           tidings of salvation not eastward, to the old world,
the narrow track of their individual salvation, and no       but via Asia Minor, westward to the new world,
doubt this is very significant. Nevertheless it is only      Europe (Acts  16:9) and in due time to the North
part of the truth. The Biblical truth is that all the        American continent. These nations outwardly have
world which fell into the power of sin will again be         been Christianized. Of course there are Christians all
restored and raised to a far higher glory. That is why       over the world, but there is a distinct difference.
there must necessarily be continual war between God            During the course of the New Testament
and Satan. In the final analysis this is the war of all      dispensation, the bright light of the Sun of
ages. Unless we accept this  cosmological view  of           Righteousness was shining from many pulpits in the
salvation, we shall never be able to understand              western world, but especially in the last decades has
Scripture, least of all the book of Revelation.              been replaced more and more by the dim light of
  It was in the year 19 14 that the British statesman,       human philosophy. The goddess of reason is
Lord Gray, on the eve of World War 1 with an almost          worshipped in many churches. Have we reached that
prophetic, view gave the epitaph for an entire era           point in history where there will be reformation no
when he said, "The lights are going out in the western       more? The western nations in general have rejected
world, and we will not see them lighted again." Since        the Christ and the consequences are, "So I gave them
then tremendous changes have taken place not only            up unto their own hearts' lust; and they walked in
in the church world but also in the political,               their own counsels." (Ps. 81: 11, 12)
economical and social world. Nothing has been the              We read in the book of Revelation that Babylon,
same anymore. People who still think are stunned by          the nominal Christian nations of the west, which are
what has happened in the last decades of history.            rapidly becoming  anti-Christian,  shall come to her
  Recently one could read in the public press, "In a         final destruction. The Lord shall execute his
society where the computer increasingly has become           vengeance upon Babylon. It was in Babylon that
the ultimate keeper of records, aren't we becoming a         God's people, the apple of His eye, were in
nation of numbers with `individuality rapidly                tribulation. It was in Babylon that God's people were
becoming a thing of the past?" In the same issue one         made a laughing stock because of their other-worldly
could read that science made significant progress by         hopes. We read further in the same book that when
achieving human conception in a test tube. No                the end draws nigh, the ungodly in despair shall ask
wonder that even a magazine such as U.S. News and            the mountains to cover them; that the river Euphrates
World Report  wrote, "This society has outdone               shall dry up; that the nations on the four comers of
Sodom and Gomorrah." One who observes the world              the earth shall rise up. Do we see the beginning of the
events stands in awe how Scriptures are being                fulfillment of these prophecies today?
fulfilled. After Pentecost the white horse and his rider       The nominal Christian nations of the west have
of Revelation 6 has, up to the present day, pursued in       dominated the entire world for many centuries. The
the main a definite course. Starting from Jerusalem,         western nations have been the center of civilization.


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                    257


For many centuries, from the western world went              concerned about the future of the western nations.
forth the law `over many nations and tribes and              Some time ago one could read, "This age is lost,
multitudes. But the world picture is beginning to            lonely, homesick, thinking of itself, as bits of matter
change. Today there is much unrest in the western            floating in a hostile universe." Like a worldly poet
world. Inwardly we are plagued by inflation. Our             said, "There is no horizon and no shore, the last star
economy is upset. Our international monetary system          has disappeared."
is in disorder. There is disregard for authority. (2           How altogether different is the world and life view
Tim.  3:2) Truth is fallen in the street. (Isa.  59:14).     of the Christian, for he knows it is written that all
Outwardly there is the growing threat of the U.S.S.R.        these things must come to pass. For about 6000 years
building a war machine as the world has never seen           mankind has lived on this planet called earth, but in
before.                                                      the last decades we have reached a standard of living
  The river Euphrates, in the N.T. dispensation the          unkown in history. Indeed, Scripture tells us that
symbol of the boundary line between the Christian            from a human point of view the antichristian time
and heathen nations, shall no more serve its purpose.        will be a glorious time for the flesh. Antichrist will
Today the western nations feel the impact made by            take care of all our physical needs. For many even in
the policy of the oil kings of the east. Will this be the    the church, world life on this earth looks "good."
prelude of the last conflict fought here on earth            Why should one look for a better country. (Heb.
between east and west, the battle of Armageddon?             11: 16) To them this earth is more like a playground
For "the nations on the four corners of the earth" are       instead of a battlefield. They don't see that we are
awakening. I refer to the millions of people who live        living in a sick society for they are spiritually blind
in Asia and Africa, nations which never have played          because, "God shall send them strong delusion that
any appreciable part in history, but today clamor for        they should believe a lie." (2 Thes. 2: 11) As history
their own place in the midst of the nations of the           will come to a close, apostasy in the church and
world. They are becoming conscious of their                  violence in the world increases. The Christian while
tremendous manpower. Scripture even says, "The               he continues his earthly pilgrimage, looks beyond the
number of whom is as the sand of the seashore." I            treacherous waves of life's stormy sea waiting for the
refer to the United Nations where the western nations        dawning of that great day, the glorious return of his
are outvoted by the heathen nations. I refer to a            Saviour Jesus Christ. He will not come back like 2000
nation as China. This immense country with about             years ago as "the man of Galilee doing good, meek
20% of the world population, that has lived in               and lowly," but this time as the Triumphator, riding
seclusion  ~for many centuries, but today rapidly is         on the white horse of victory, his eyes as a flame of
becoming a world power to be reckoned with.                  fire, clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, ready for
                                                             battle to destroy all his enemies, all who are not
  There was some interesting reading in  "Oil                looking forward for that blessed hope, the glorious
Industry Officials, International Monetary Fund.  "          appearance of their Saviour Jesus Christ. Terrible will
Japanese imports played a major role in the monetary         He be in His dignity. He for whom earth and heavens
crisis that rocked the U.S. in 1971. Arab funds              tremble.
reportedly accounted for nearly a third of the 6
billion dollars that poured into West Germany to set              "For when Jehovah shall appear,
off the February 1973 currency crisis. It is expected             He shall consume afar and near
that by 1980 the foreign exchange holdings                        All those that evil cherish.
accumulated by Saudi Arabia alone could exceed the                As smoke before his dreadful ire,
combined U.S. and Japanese hoards of gold and other               As wax is molten by the fire,
reserves.                                                         So shall the wicked perish."
                                                              * This special article is from the pen of a member of the
  The shape of the future already is evident. The               First Protestant Reformed Church of Holland,
world supremacy of the western nations is declining             Michigan. We thank brother Woltjer for this interesting
rapidly. People who still think seriously are                   essay. HCH



                           REFORMED DOGMATICS, (Second printing). $9.95 postpaid.


2      5       8                                      THE STANDARD BEARER



CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH



                                                   Eschatology--

                                            The First Period

                                                            (80-250 A.D.)


                                                     INTERMEDIATE TATE


                                                           Rev. H. Veldman



     Continuing with our discussion of the history of                  the first in the consciousness of the Christians, and an
the doctrine of the Intermediate State as confessed                    unfailing source of comfort and strength in times of
by the church during these early years of the New                       trial and persecution. It stood in close connection
Dispensation, we now wish to quote from Philip                         with the expectation of the Lord's glorious
Schaff. In his History of the Christian Church, pages                  reappearance. It is the subject of Paul's first Epistles,
590 f.f. of Vol. II, he writes, and we quote:                          those to the Thessalonians, and is prominently
                                                                        discussed in the fifteenth chanter of First
            Christianity  - and human life itself, with its            Corinthians. He declares the  Chris&s  "the most
      countless problems and mysteries - has no meaning                pitiable," because the most. deluded and uselessly
      without the certainty of a future world of rewards               self-sacrificing, "of all men," if their hope in Christ
      and punishments, for which the present life serves as            were confined to this life.
      a preparatory school. Christ represents Himself as
      "the Resurrection and the Life," and promises                           The ante-Nicene church was a stranger in the midst
      "eternal life" to all who believe in Him. On His                  of a hostile world, and longed for the unfading crown
      resurrection the church is built, and without it the             which awaited the faithful confessor and martyr
      church could never have come into existence. The                 beyond the grave. Such a mighty revolution as the
      resurrection of the body and the life everlasting are            conversion of the heathen emperor was not dreamed
      among the fundamental articles of the early baptismal            of even as a remote possibility, except perhaps by the
      creeds. The doctrine of the future life, though last in          far-sighted Origen. Among the five causes to which
      the logical order of systematic theology, was among              Gibbon traces the rapid progress of the Christian




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                                                        THE STANDARD BEARER                                                     259


    religion, he assigns the second place to the doctrine of      case is it an evil, and he drank with playful irony the
    the immortality of the soul. We know nothing                  fatal hemlock. Plato, viewing the human soul as a
    whatever of a future world which lies beyond the              portion of the eternal, infinite, all-pervading deity,
    boundaries of our observation and experience, except          believed in its pre-existence before this present life,
    what God has chosen to reveal to us. Left to the              and thus had a strong ground of hope for its
    instincts and aspirations of nature, which strongly
    crave after immortality and glory we can reach at best        continuance after death.  Al1 souls, according to this
    only probabilities; while the gospel gives us absolute        philosopher, pass into the spirit-world, the righteous
    certainty, sealed by the resurrection of Christ.              into the abodes of bliss, where they live forever in a
                                                                  disembodied state, the wicked into  Tartarus for
                                                                  punishment and purification (which notion, writes
   Then follows a section by Philip Schaff `which I               Schaff, prepared the way for purgatory.) Of course,
consider very interesting. He writes about the. heathen           Plato's definition of a good and a righteous man
notions of the future life as vague and confused. We              would certainly differ from the presentation of the
quote:                                                            Word of God. Plutarch, we are informed, the purest
                                                                  and noblest among the Platonists, thought that
       The HEATHEN notions of the future life were                immortality was inseparably connected with belief in
    vague and confused. The Hindoos, Babylonians, and             an all-ruling Providence (whatever that may be), and
    Egyptians had a lively sense of  immortality~ but             looked with Plato to the life beyond as promising a
    mixed with the idea of endless migrations' and                higher knowledge of, and closer conformity to God,
   transformations. The Buddhists, starting from the              but only for those few who are here purified by
    idea that existence is want, and want is suffering,           virtue and piety. In such rare cases, departure might
    make it the chief end of man to escape such                   be called an ascent to the stars, to heaven, to the
    migrations, and by various mortifications to prepare          gods, rather than a descent to Hades. And he also, at
    for final absorption in Nirwana. The popular belief           the death of his daughter, expresses his faith in the
    among the ancient Greeks and Romans was that man              blissful state of infants who die in infancy. The
    passes after death into the Underworld, the Greek
   Hades, the Roman Orcus. According to Homer, Hades              Stoics, we are told, believed only in a limited
    is a dark abode in the interior of the earth, with an         immortality, or denied it altogether, and justified
    entrance at the Western extremity of the Ocean,               suicide when life became unendurable. And the great
    where the rays of the sun do not penetrate. Charon            men of Greece and Rome were not influenced by the
    carries the dead over the stream Acheron, and the             idea of a future world as a motive of action. During
    three-headed dog Cerberus watches the entrance and            the debate on the punishment of Catiline and his
    allows none to pass out. There the spirits exist in a         fellow-conspirators, Julius Caesar openly declared in
    disembodied state and lead a shadowy dream-life. A            the Roman Senate that death dissolves all the ills of
    vague distinction was made between two regions in             mortality, and is the boundary of existence beyond
   Hades, an Elysium (also "the Islands of the Blessed")          which there is no more care nor joy, no more
    for the good, and Tartarus  for the bad. "Poets and           punishment for sin, nor any reward for virtue.
    painters," says Gibbon, "peopled the infernal regions
   with so many phantoms and monsters, who dispensed                Of a resurrection of the body, according to Schaff,
   their rewards and punishments with no little equity,           the Greeks and Romans had no conception, except in
   that a solemn truth, the most congenial to the h,uman          the -form of shades and spectral outlines, which were
   heart, was oppressed and disgraced by the absurd               supposed to surround the disembodied spirits, and to
   mixture of the wildest fictions. The eleventh book of          make them to some degree recognizable. Heathen
   the Odyssey gives a very dreary and incoherent                 philosophers, like Celsus, ridiculed the resurrection of
   account of the infernal shades. Pindar and Virgil have         the body as useless, absurd, and impossible.
   embellished the picture; but even those poets, though
   more correct than their great model, are guilty of               Later, when calling attention to the fact that the
   very strange inconsistencies.                                  Jewish doctrines are far in advance of heathen
  `What a difference between these heathen notions                notions and conjectures, but present different phases
concerning a future life and the  presentatiion  of the           of development, Schaff writes in the same volume,
Word of God! How utterly devoid of the living God!                594f.f., and we quote:
How completely earthly! No wonder that they were                         The Jewish doctrine is far in advance of heathen
so vague and confused! Of Socrates, Plato, Cicero and                 notions and conjectures, but presents different phases
Plutarch who, according to Schaff, rose highest                       of development.
among the ancient philosophers in their views of the                    (a) The Mosaic writings are remarkably silent
future life, they reached only to belief in its                       about the future life, and emphasize the present
probability and not in its certainty. However,                        rather than future consequences of the observance or
Socrates must have written that death is either eternal               non-observance of the law (because it had a civil or
sleep, or the transition to a new life, but in neither                political as well as spiritual import); and hence the


260                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER



       Sadducees accepted them, although they denied the                 (c) The Jewish Apocrypha  (the Book of Wisdom,
       resurrection (perhaps also the immortality of, the          ._ and the Second Book of Maccabees), and later Jewish
       soul). The Pentateuch contains, however, some                  writings (the Book of Enoch, the Apocalypse of Ezra)
       remote and significant hints of immortality, as in the         show some progress: they distinguish between two
       tree of life with its symbolic import; in the                  regions in Sheol - Paradise or Abraham's Bosom for
       mysterious translation of Enoch as a reward for his            the righteous, and Gehinnom or  Gehemra for the
       piety; in the prohibition of necromancy; in the                wicked; they emphasize the resurrection of the body,
       patriarchal phrase for dying: "to be gathered to his           and the future rewards and punishments.
       fathers," or "to his people," and last, though not
       least, in the self-designation of Jehovah as "the God         In addition to the foregoing Schaff also  calls
       of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob," which implies their          attention to the Talmud as it adds various fanciful
       immortality, since "God is not the God of the dead,         embellishments. Incidentally, the Talmud is a
       but of the living." What has an eternal meaning for         collection of Jewish writings of the early Christian
       God must itself be eternal.                                 centuries. There is a Palestinian Talmud, and a later,
          (b) In the later writings of the Old Testament,          more authoritative, much longer Babylonian Talmud.
       especially during and after the exile, the doctrine of      Each consists of Mishnah and  Gemara. Mishnah grew
       immortality and resurrection comes out plainly.             out of oral tradition, whose origin is obscure. When,
       Daniel's vision reaches out even to the  final              to preserve these, they came to be written down, a
       resurrection of "many of them that sleep in the dust        further need was felt for a commentary on them. This
       of the earth to everlasting life," and of "some to          function the Gemara fulfils. The scope of the Talmud
       shame and everlasting contempt," and prophesies that
       "they that are wise shall shine as the brightness of the    may be seen in the titles of the six parts of the
       firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness         Mishnah: Seeds, relating to Agriculture; Feasts:
       as the stars forever and ever." - see Job 19:25-27,         Women and Marriage; Civil and Criminal Law;
       Eccls. 12:7, Daniel 12:2, 3, Isaiah 65:17,  66:22-24.       Sacrifices; Clean and Unclean Things and their
                                                                   Purification. This definition of the Talmud I gathered
          But before Christ, who fust revealed true life, the
       Hebrew Sheol, the general receptacle of departing           from the Pictorial Bible Dictionary of Merrill C.
       souls, remained, like the Greek Hades, a dark and           Tenney. This Talmud, writes Schaff, adds various
       dreary abode, and is so described in the Old                fanciful embellishments. I believe it of interest to call
       Testament. Cases like Enoch's translation and Elijah's      attention to this. But this will have to wait until our
       ascent are altogether unique and exceptional, and im-       following article.
       ply the meaning that death is contrary to man's orig-
       inal destination, and may be overcome by the power of
       holiness.





                                                              Book
                                                            Review

TOWARD A CHRISTIAN PSYCHOTHERAPY,  by                              "Christian Psychotherapy" which he defines "as a
Theodore Jansma;  Mack Publishing Company, Cherry                  talk technique for the treatment of certain kinds of
Hill, New Jersey, 1973; 7 1 pp. [Reviewed by Prof. H.              `mental illness.' " Recognizing the  inadquacy of
Hanko. I                                                           modern psychiatric treatment, the author lays down
  The author is Chaplain and Pastoral Counselor at                 an outline for a Christian approach to pastoral
the Christian Sanatorium in Wyckoff, New Jersey. He                counseling which, though brief, will be of some help
writes this brief pamphlet to develop what he calls a              to those who are engaged in this work.


                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                        261


                          Faculty Letter

                  T H E O L O G I C A L   S C H O O L
                                   . . . OFTHE...
                   P R O T E S T A N T   R E F O R M E D   C H U R C H E S
                                February, 1974
Dear Brethren and Sisters in the Lord,
     It has been some time since we have written you through the
columns of the Standard Bearer.                  But this is not really so seri-
ous, because various reports concerning our activities have ap-
peared rather regularly.            We do hope to be more regular with these
letters in the future.
     Our reason for writing this time, however, is to express pub-
licly to all of you our deep gratitude for your generous support
of the Seminary which has made possible erection of our new
facilities.     Others, particularly from the Theological School
Committee, have expressed thanks before; but we as faculty, and
in the name of the student body also, want to let you know how
much we appreciate your generous support.
     It is a little difficult for us to describe how we feel about
our new building; and this is because we are still quite over-
whelmed by it all.       The facilities are so beautiful and commodious
and the site so inspiring that we have not really gotten used to 1
it yet.    We do want to assure you, however, that all this has
aided in making our work very pleasant.
     What has particularly overwhelmed us is the generous support
which you have shown in making this building possible.                           We are
confident that this generous support is an indication of your love
and concern for our Theological School and your deep interest in
our affairs.    Without the support, the interest, and, above all,
the prayers of our people, this building would not be possible,
nor would our work be in any way blessed.                           We bring a special
word of thanks to our readers who, while not members of our
Churches, have nevertheless contributed to this cause.
     We `shill not include .in this letter any news .of the Seminary.
We shall wait with that till a future letter.
     May  God's blessing rest upon you all; may your prayers con-
tinue on our behalf; and may God's name receive all the glory
now and forevermore.
                         With love i               he Lord Jesus Christ,


262                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER


                                           Church Directory
             [Note: After the first  of  the year many  of  the addresses  of  clerks and treasurers of our Protestant Reformed
              Churches as given in the Yearbook are no longer correct. Upon the alert suggestion of one of our readers,
              we have prepared the following correct  directory. HCH]

Faith Church, Jenison,  Mich.                   Treas.: Clarence De Groot                          Treas.: Emil Streyle
Clerk:    John Van Barne                                    176 Prescott Ave.                                Box 32
          2860 - 52nd St., S-W.                            Prospect Park, New Jersey 07508                   Isabel, South Dakota 57633
          Grandville, Mich. 49418               Southeast, Grand Rapids, Mich.                     Loveland, Colorado
Treas.: David Ondersma                          Clerk:      Cornelius Lubbers                      Clerk:    Lawrence E. Nelson
          6761 Brookwood Dr., S.W.                                                                           617 W. 36th St.
          Grandville, Mich. 49418                           1404 Worcester, N.E.
                                                            Grand Rapids, Mich. 49505                        Loveland, Colorado 80537
First Church, Grand Rapids, Mich.                           Phone: 45 l-3400                       Treas.: Jonathan Schwarz
Clerk:    James Heys,                           Treas.: Harlow W. Kuiper                                     2057 E. County Road, 16E
          1432 Giddings, S.E.                               1784 - 52nd St., S.E.                            Loveland, Colorado 80537
          Grand Rapids,  Mich. 49507                        Grand Rapids,  Mich. 49508             Lynden , Washington
Treas.: R. W. Pastoor                                       Phone: 455-9584
          1528 Calvin, S.E.                                                                        Clerk:    Hemy Vander Meulen
                                                Southwest, Grand Rapids,  Mich.
          Grand Rapids, Mich. 49507                                                                          RFD 1
                                                Clerk:     Phillip J. Lotterman                              Sumas,  Washington 98295
 First Church, Holland, Mich.                              871 Rushmore St.                        Treas.: James Vander Veen
Clerk:    B . Windemuller                                  Jenison, Mich. 49428                              RFD 1
          267 East 32nd St.                     Treas. : John Vander Woude                                   Sumas, Washington 98295
          Holland, Mich. 49423                             7085  Sunset
Treas.: John C. Haak                                       Jenison, Mich. 49428                    Pella, Iowa
          108 East 18th St.                                                                        Clerk:    B . Menninga
          Holland, Mich. 49423                  Doon, Iowa                                                   Pella Manor, Apt. 215
                                                                                                             Pella, Iowa 50219
Hope Church, Grand Rapids, Mich.                Clerk:      Edwin Van Ginkel
                                                            1922 Main St.                          Treas.: Frank Vander Wiel
Clerk:    Jon Huisken                                       Rock Valley, Iowa 51247                          1109 Peace St.
          3324 Barrett, S.W.                                                                                 Pella, Iowa 50219
          Grandville, Mich. 49418               Treas.: Donald Aardema
                                                           Doon, Iowa 5 1235
Treas. : Ira Veenstra                                                                              Randolph, Wisconsin
          1932 Rosewood St.                     Edgerton, Minnesota                                Clerk:    Donald De Vries
          Jenison, Mich. 49428                  Clerk:     Hemy Huisken                                      RFD 1, Box 176
                                                                                                             Randolph, Wisconsin 53956
Hudsonville, Mich.                                          930 Mechanic St.
                                                           Edgerton, Minnesota 56128                         Phone: 326-5610
Clerk: Henry Boer
          7871 Emberly Dr.                      Treas. : Andrew Brummel                            Treas. : Jake Soodsma
          Jenison, Mich. 49428                              228 Park Ave.                                    451 Second St.
                                                            Edgerton, Minnesota 56128                        Randolph, Wisconsin 53956
Treas.: Chester Haveman                                                                                      Phone: 326-3208
          4133 Meadowfield                      Ebenezer, Forbes, North Dakota
          Hudsonville,  Mich. 49426                                                                Hope, Redlands, California
                                                Clerk:      Lorenz Bertsch
Kalamazoo, Mich.                                            Forbes, North Dakota 58439             Clerk:    Edwin B. Gritters
                                                                                                             934 College Ave.
Clerk:    Maurice Klop                          Treas. : Gustave Streyle                                     Redlands, California 92373
          7125 W. Main St.                                  Forbes, North Dakota 58439
          Kalamazoo,  Mich. 49009                                                                  Treas.: J. Ray Gaastra
          Phone: 375-2373                       Hull, Iowa                                                   1220 Crown St.
                                                                                                             Redlands, California 92373
Treas. : Charles J. Bult                        Clerk:      John Hoekstra
                                                            Boyden, Iowa 51234
          2824 So. 6th St.                                                                         South Holland, Illinois
          Kalamazoo,  Mich. 49009               Treas.: John Hoksbergen                            Clerk:    Daniel Poortinga
          Phone: 375-9745                                   Doon, Iowa 51235                                 18313 Hickory St.
Prospect Park, New Jersey                       Hope, Isabel, South Dakota                                   Lansing, Illinois 60438
Clerk:    Thomas Nelson                         Clerk:      Jake Reichert                          Treas.: Richard Poortinga ,
           12-64 Burbank St.                                Box 106                                          18523 Christena Dr.
          Fairlawn, New Jersey 07412                        Isabel, South Dakota 57633                       Lansing, Illinois 60438


                                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                     263


                                     News From Our Churches
                                                                      :
    Delegates of Classis West attended an officebearers'                    And we all rejoice with them, both in that they have
conference Tuesday, February 5, in Doon, Iowa. Rev.                         received an undershepherd, and in that, as stated in
Moore presented a paper, on that occasion, on an                            First Church's bulletin, God "has seen fit to add
aspect of the work of the deacons. On Tuesday                               another young man to the ministry of the Word."
evening Candidate Mark Hoeksema preached his
Classical sermon in a special worship service held in                                                        *****
Doon Church. And on Wednesday there was the                                    As these lines are being written, on the 14th of
convening of  Classis West, part of the agenda for                          February, another installation is taking place  - this
which was the examination of Candidate Hoeksema,                            one in South Holland, Illinois. On February 4 the
pastor-elect of Ebenezer Protestant Reformed Church                         congregation of Loveland, Colorado, met in a farewell
of Forbes, North Dakota.                                                    gathering for Rev. and Mrs. Engelsma and family. A
    On the basis of that examination,  Classis                              program was presented and refreshments were served
recommended that our Forbes congregation proceed                            in the Loveland Community Building. On the
with his installation. The installation took place two                      following Sunday, February 10, Rev. Engelsma
days later, on Friday, February 8. Ebenezer's                               preached his "farewell sermon" in Loveland, and on
consistory invited the congregations of  Doon, Hull,                        Monday he and his family left for Illinois. On
and Isabel to witness the ordination of their                               Thursday evening Professor Decker and Rev.
pastor-elect into the ministry. At the serivce, which                       Bekkering officiated at his installation as pastor of
was held in the Ebenezer Church at 2:00 in the                              the Protestant Reformed Church of South Holland.
afternoon, the candidate was ordained into the                                                               *****
ministry by his father, Professor H.C. Hoeksema.                               Rev. G. Lubbers expected to be in Prospect Park, on
Following that service, a reception was held in the                         a preaching assignment, on the last three Sundays of
parlors of the Bethlehem Lutheran Church of Forbes.                         February. His work there followed that of Rev.
   That the congregation in Forbes would describe                           Joosten, who was in New Jersey on the three
this as a' "joyous occasion" in their invitation to their                   preceding Sundays. At the end of February, Rev.
sister congregations in Iowa and South Dakota, is                           Lubbers plans to go to Houston, Texas, and remain
understandable, of course, in light of the fact that                        there until the first of June.
Forbes has been for so many years without a pastor.


      CALL TO ASPIRANTS TO THE MINISTRY                                                    RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
   All young men desiring to begin studies this fall in either the  pre-      The members of the Adult Bible Class of the  Pella Protestant
seminary or seminary department of the Theological School of the            Reformed Church express their heartfelt sympathy to Mr. and Mrs.
Protestant Reformed Churches are requested to appear before the             Loren De Zwarte in the loss of their infant son
Theological School Committee at its meeting to be held on Friday,                                 ANTHdNYRAYDEZWARTE
March 29, 1974, at  7:30 P.M. in the Theological School Building, 4949        May they together with their family be comforted by the Word of
lvanrest Ave., S.W., Grandville, Michigan 49418.                            God as found in Psalm  145:17   - "The Lord is righteous in all His ways,
Pre-seminary Department:                                                    and holy in all His works."
   Permission to pursue the  preseminary course of study shall be                                                             Mrs. V. De Vries, Sec'y.
granted by the Theological School Committee. A transcript of grades
from High School and College (if  a11:1), a letter of testimony from a                                     NOTICE!!!!
student's pastor or consistory, and  L certificate of health from a
reputable physician shall be submitted.                                       Classis  East will meet in regular session, the Lord willing, on April 3,
Seminary Department:                                                        1974 in the Hope Protestant Reformed Church. Material to be treated
   Permission to pursue the Theological course in the seminary shall be     in this session must be in the hands of the Stated Clerk at least ten days
granted by the Synod, upon recommendation of the Theological School         prior to the convening of this session.
Committee, to such an aspirant only who comes supplied with a testi-                                                                     Jon Huisken
monial of his consistory that he is a member in full communion, sound                                                                     Stated Clerk
in faith and upright in walk, and also a certificate from a reputable
physician showing him to be in good health.
   A complete high school education and the equivalent of a four year                            CHANGE OF ADDRESS
(125 hour) college education are required for entrance into the                 Rev. David Engelsma                      Rev. Bernard Woudenberg
seminary department. Moreover, each entrant into this department                                                               317 N. Park St.
must produce evidence that he has credit for the required college              16515 South Park Ave.
                                                                                                                         Lynden, Washington 98264
courses."                                                                   South Holland, Illinois 60473
   In the event you cannot be present at this meeting, please notify the          Phone: 333-1314
undersigned secretary of your intentions, prior to the meeting. Mail all      Rev. Mark H. Hoeksema                     Rev. Ronald J. Van  Overloop
correspondence to the Theological School.                                              Box 92                                1550 Ferndale, S.W.
*Requirements are listed in the school bulletin, available from the         Forbes, North Dakota 58439                   Grand Rapids,  Mich. 49504
 school.                                   Richard H. Teitsma, Secretary       Phone:  (701) 357-7341                          (after March  15)

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





                                                                                                THE STANDARD BEARER
   Two forthcoming lectures: on April 18 in First                 Semi-monthlv.  except monthly during June, July, and August.
Church, Professor Hoeksema will speak on the topic,               Published  bythe  Reformed  Free Publishing Association. Inc.
                                                                      Second Class  Postaqe  Paid at Grand  Raplds.   Mich.
"Why Are We Protestant Reformed?" and on May 9               E d i t o r - i n - C h i e f :   P r o f .   H o m e r   C. Hoeksema
in the Hudsonville Public High School, there will be a       D e p a r t m e n t   E d i t o r s :   Prof. Robert   D. Decker, Mr. Donald   Doezema,
                                                             Rev. David J.  Engelsma. Rev. Cornelius Hanko. Prof. Herman  Hanko.
lecture on "The Signs of the Times" delivered  by,           Rev. Robert C.  Harbach.  Rev. John A.  Heys, Rev. Jay Kortering. Rev.
                                                             Dale H. Kuiper. Rev. George C. Lubbers, Rev.  Marina   Schipper,   Rev.
Professor R. De . . . - but that's right, I' was going       Gise  J. Van  Earen,  Rev. Herman  Veldman
                                                             Editorial Office:  Prof. H. C. Hoeksema
to stick to things that have already been.                                              11342 Plymouth Terrace, S.E.
                                                                                        Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506
                            *****                            Church News Editor:                   Mr. Donald  DOeZema
                                                                                                    1904 Plymouth Terrace, S.E.
                                                                                                   Grand Rapids. Michigan 49506
  so . . . from an October 28 bulletin from Isabel, I        Editorial Policy:  Every editor is solely responsible for the  contents  Of
noticed that I missed a couple of Reformation Day            his own articles. Contributions of general interest from our readers
                                                             and questions  .for  the Question-Box Department are  weICOn%%   Contrl-
lectures in a previous report concerning them. On            butions  will be limited to approximately 300 words and  mUSt be  neatly
                                                             written or typewritten, and must be signed. Copy deadlines are the first
                                                             and the fifteenth of the month. All communications  relative  to the
October 3 1 Rev. Miersma delivered .a public lecture,        contents should be sent to the editorial Office.
in the Isabel church, entitled "The Church of Today          Reprint  PO/icy:   Permission is hereby granted for the reprinting of arti-
                                                             cles in our magazine by other publications, provided: a) that such  re-
in Light of the Reformation." On Friday of the               printed articles are reproduced in full; b) that proper acknowledgement
                                                             is made;  c) that a copy of the periodical in which such reprint appears
following week he presented the same lecture in              is sent to our editorial office.
                                                             8USineSS   Office:   The standard Bearer
Forbes.                                                                                  Mr. H. Vander Wal. BUS.  Mw.
                                                                                        P. 0. Box 6064
                            * * * * *                                                   Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506
                                                             Business Agent for  AustralasiarMr.  Wm. van  Rij
                                                                                                               59 Kent Lodge Ave.
  Response to the materials sent out by Mr. Vander                                                             Christchurch 4. New Zealand
                                                             .%bSCr'iptiOn   PO/icy:   Subscription price, $7.00 per year ($5.00 for
Wal is often most interesting. He has, incidentally,         Australasia). Unless a definite request for discontinuance is received, it
                                                             is assumed that the subscriber wishes the subscription to continue with-
recently received response from Thailand. Not all the        out the formality of a renewal order. and he will be billed for renewal.
                                                             If you have a change of address.  please  notify the Business Office as
requests come from so far away, of course, but even          early as possible in order to avoid the inconvenience of delayed deliv-
                                                             ery. Include your Zip Code.
those closer to home can be very interesting. Imagine        Advertising Policy:-  The  Standard Bearer  does not accept commercial
                                                             advertising of any kind. Announcements of church and school events.
Mr. Vander Wal's surprise, for example, when he              anniversaries,  obituaries. and sympathy resolutions will be placed for a
                                                             $3.00 fee. These should be sent to the Business Office and should be
opened this letter from a reader in Florida: Ik kan          accompanied by the $3.00 fee. Deadline for announcements is the 1st
                                                             or the 15th of the month, previous to publication on the 15th or the
niethet Engels schrijven zoo ik hoop dat een van jullie      1st respectively.
                                                             Bound Volumes:  The Business Office will accept standing orders for
Hollands kan  l&Zen, nu wou ik heel graag dat jullie         bound copies of the current volume; such orders are filled as  soon as
                                                             possible after completion of a volume. A limited number of past vol-
`Good News for the Afflicted' zou  zenden, en een            umes may be obtained through the Business Office.
paar van die preeken ook `The Unbreakable Bond of
Marriage.' "                                                                                             0            0               0
  Fortunately, Mr. Vander Wal was able to find                                                           CONTENTS:
someone to "lezen Hollands," so he could fill the
request for several of our pamphlets.                        Voluntary Severing of Earthly Ties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .242
                                                             An Historic Evening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .244
  That our literature is, on occasion, very well             [saac and Abimelech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,246
received is evident, further, from a letter received         Denying the Lord That Bought Them . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .247
from a Kingsport, Tennessee, reader. He writes, "I           The Standard Bearer  in Retrospect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .248
have just finished reading your pamphlet titled              The Staudard  Bearer and Youth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 1
`Missions' and found it most instructive. I would like       Scripture, Tradition and Infallibility (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .253
to avail myself of the offer on the back of this             World Events in the Light of Scripture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .256
pamphlet of a number of additional pamphlets, listed         Eschatology - The First Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .258
below." After listing those titles, the writer stated, "I    BookReview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..26 C
commend you, the Protestant Reformed warriors for            Faculty Letter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 1
                                                             Church Directory
the faith once delivered unto the saints, for your                                             . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -262
                                                             News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -263
constancy and purity of doctrine."                           News From Uur Churcnes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .AJ~
                                                    D.D.


