     ~STANDARD
c     BEARER
       A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE





                                    Volume LI, Number 10, February 15,1975-


          218                                             THE STANDARD BEARER


          `MEDITATION

                                        The Beginning of Sorrows
                                                                Rev. C. Hanko
                           And there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in diverse places. All these
                        are the beginning of sorrow.
                                                                                                         Matthew 24:7b, 8.


                 Signs of the times.                                        Famine is .a frightening word, even though most of
     '       Signs of the coming of the Lord cause the church            us do not fully realize all its horrors. We know about
     I to lift up her head in eager anticipation and prayerful           crop failures, food shortages, recessions in the
     waiting.                                                            economy, even depression. But a famine dwarfs all
                                                                         these into unimportance. We complain of spiraling
             Many signs have already appeared on the stage of            food prices, especially when wages fail to meet the
     ; history, many are evident around us every day, and                high cost of living, or work and jobs become scarce.
     : there are still more to come.                                     We talk of tightening the belt, limiting our spending,
     i       There have always been signs in the church. False           cutting down on luxuries; and yet no one feels the
     : teachers have arisen. These are the hirelings that Jesus          keen edge of famine that can cut so deeply into our
     I warned us would come, who stealthily work their                   family life. We say we are hungry at times, yet none
     : way into the sheepfold as thieves and robbers to kill             of us has gone without a sound meal or experienced
     j the sheep. They are the wolves that Paul said would               the gnawing pangs of starvation, the excruciating
     come, arising from within the church, speaking                      agony that screams into the soul with bitter anxiety.
     : perverse things to draw away disciples after them.                It is painful to see a field infested with grasshoppers
j False teachers are more prevalent than ever, privily                   or seared brown with the heat of the sun, to hear
I bringing in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord                   bleating sheep crying for food. Worse spectacles are
/ Who atoned for our sins upon the cross. Many people                    the bloated animals that gave up the search, empty
`follow their pernicious ways and are the cause that                     larders, children crying pathetically with the cry that
: the church is evil spoken of. Be not deceived! The                     cannot be pacified, or worse, crying not at all,
! sheep of Jesus Christ have a spiritual sensitivity to                  exasperated mothers wiping away a weary tear, and
! distinguish the voice of the Shepherd from that of                     fathers too bone-weary even to weep.
j false prophets who are bringing swift destruction                         Egypt knew about that during the time when
' upon themselves and upon their blind followers.                        God's hand lay heavily upon them, issuing blow after
                                                                         blow until the ten was full. Israel in the days of Elijah
I            There have been signs in the world. This earth has          felt the visitations of God in a dry and thirsty land,
;every semblance of a bloody battle field. Rarely is                     even until the time, and times, and half a time had
          there a generation that does not experience the                been made full upon a people who had forsaken God
horrors of war. As the end approaches, one wave of                       to worship Baal, the "god of fruitfulness, rain and of
; warfare follows in the wake of another, so that a
/ warweary, bleeding humanity cries out: "Will wars                      sunshine."
~ never cease, will peace never come?" Wars and rumors                      In this country we may not know what it is like to
~of war, so that one king sets his throne upon the                       drive the hungry wolf from the door, yet we need not
; ashes of his  predecessor's.  Internal unrest rocks and                go far beyond our homes to find people who know
          disturbs the nations of the earth. Dissensions, riots,         little else than a bare existence. Not far from our
`revolutions have become commonplace for a greedy,                       shores are people who eat whatever the land
`jealous, proud race of sinners. Let the church of Jesus                 produces, but scarcely know what a well-balanced
          Christ rest assured that these things must come to             diet means. There are children with the distended
          pass before the counsel of the Most High is fully              abdomens of starvation, adults with emaciated bodies
          carried out. Let them be patient, for the end is not           and stunted minds, dwarfed by hunger. The
          yet.                                                           world-wide recession should warn us that it can
            Signs appear in creation, for Jesus speaks of                happen to us.
          famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places.           Jesus speaks of pestilences, or plagues.
;The church must witness and experience those also.                         I m m e d i a t e l y   w e   a r e   r e m i n d e d   o f   t h e
          Still she must,tell herself: "The end is not yet."             ever-reassuring ninety-first Psalm: "He that-sitteth in


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 219


the secret place of the Most High shall abide under          have defied all  ,attempts at predicting their coming.
the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of `the Lord,          The earth totters, rolls, and trembles. There is
He is my Refuge and my Fortress: my God; in Him               absolutely nothing that is stable, nothing to cling to.
will I trust. Surely He shall deliver thee from the           There are constant reports today of tremors and
snare of the fowler, and from the noisome                     severer earthquakes. These upheavals destroy
pestilence. . . . Thou shall not be afraid of `the terror     countless lives and millions of dollars in property
by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for       almost yearly, to say nothing of the enormous fear
the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the          they engender.
destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand                 Famines, pestilence, earthquake. All these signs
shall fall at thy. side, and ten thousand at thy right        have something to say to us.
hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine
eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the                The first two, famine and pestilence, are often the
wicked." Is not that a beautiful way to assure the            painful aftermath of war. After the slaughter and
believer that even though he should die in famine, his        destruction of the battlefield, symbolized by the red
death is a passage into glory?                                horse, we see the dreaded march of the black and the
                                                              pale green horses, whose victims are legion. These in
  Throughout history there have been times when               turn are followed by such visitations as tornadoes,
the pestilence swept away its thousands, like a grim          hurricanes, floods, and the like, all represented in the
reaper mowing down his harvest. There was such a              text by earthquakes. There is a climactic order here
plague, in David's time. There was the black plague of        that should fill the soul with holy fear, for these are
the Middle Ages. There was the dreadful outbreak of           awe so me judgments; hunger, loathsome diseases,
influenza during the first world war both in Europe          devastating upheavals of the earth. No wonder that
and America. Taken in a broader scope, pestilence             the final judgment is described  in the book of
can also refer to contagious diseases that have taken         Revelation as accompanied by "voices, and thunders,
their toll throughout the centuries. Modern medicine          and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such
boasts, of having overcome most of these diseases, like       as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty
polio, small-pox, and others; yet new forms of virus,         an earthquake and so great."
new diseases continue to make their appearance. This
is to say nothing of the social diseases that have              Yet we tend to become accustomed even to these
reached epidemic proportions right here in our own            thunderings of the Almighty. Not so long ago these
country as a direct visitation of God upon the                catastrophes were referred to as acts of God. In our
immoral lives of young and old.                               scientific age these same events are explained from
                                                              natural causes, freaks of nature, which take place
   Finally, Jesus mentions earthquakes in divers              entirely outside of the providence of God. God is not
places:                                                       in all their thoughts! We are reminded of that ever
   Earthquakes were not uncommon in Palestine even            recurring testimony against the hardened sinners of
in the old dispensation. The Psalmist speaks of the           our age: "And they repented not!`? That is a certain
,mountains trembling and shaking, dancing like a calf         sign that there will be no further delay in the coming
and skipping like a young unicorn. We read of                 of the Lord.
mountains melting before the power of the Almighty.              What is most significant in this passage of Scripture
There is reference in the prophecies to the great             is the fact that Jesus speaks of all these things as
earth,quake in the days of Uzziah, which is                   "sorrows", that is, labor pains, or birth pangs. It
immediately associated by the prophet Zechariah               plainly refers to the pains of a woman who is in labor
with the return of Christ with all His saints. No one         to give birth to a child.. This is a familiar figure used
should overlook the fact that there was a great               throughout Scripture, with its own striking
earthquake at the moment when Jesus gave up the               significance. Labor pains include both excruciating
ghost on the cross. The veil of the temple was rent           agony and intense effort. Solomon speaks of the
from the top to the bottom, rocks were rent and               misery of life as the travail of the sons of men. Isaiah
shattered, while the graves of saints were opened             refers to the sufferings of Christ as the travail of His
when Jesus died. Again on the morning of the                  soul. Since pain is the result of sin, Christ had to bear
resurrection, when the angel descended from heaven            willingly that part of our curse also. Birth pangs are
to visit the tomb of Joseph, the earth quaked, the            different from other sufferings in this sense, that
stone `that barred the entrance to Jesus' grave rolled        they are perfectly natural. They are the necessary
away, an,d the guards fell to the ground as if they had       strain and effort to bring forth the child. One does
been slain in battle.                                         not become unduly alarmed about them, as if some
   Earthquakes have a language all their own. They            strange threatening had befallen the expectant
strike with full force, often without any warning. One        mother. She herself is prepared for this bitter
can see a storm approaching, but to date earthquakes          experience. There is even eager anticipation in this


220                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


`agony. These pains are borne in hope. When the pain         should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John
is over it is also soon forgotten in the joy that a child    3 : 16) "For the creature itself also shall be delivered
has been brought `into this world.  Only the mother          from the bondage of corruption into the glorious
who has held and seen her child for the first time           liberty of the sons of God." (Rom. 8:21).
knows what a thrill it is to have undergone the                This suffering in hope is especially evident in the
experience.                                                  sign of the earthquake. Obviously, an earthquake
   Jesus uses the figure of sorrows to describe the          speaks, first of all, of devastation, death. Anyone who
signs He had just mentioned, signs in nature, famines,       has experienced an earthquake knows that the very
pestilence, earthquakes. We are reminded of what             foundations of the earth are shaken, there is just
Paul writes in Romans eight: "For we know that the           nothing that is stable. Towering mountains roll, rocks
whole creation groaneth `and travaileth in pain              crumble, houses collapse in a moment. Puny man
together until now." He reminds us .that this had not        realizes how helpless he really is.
,been the case in the beginning. In paradise all creation      An earthquake also speaks of hope. The people of
rejoiced, telling the praises of its Maker. The king of      God hear Christ say: "Behold, I make all things new."
the earthly creation joined in this chorus with his          Already centuries ago, Haggai prophesied: "Yet once,
whole being. But the king rebelled against his               it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and
sovereign Friend, became an enemy of God and                 the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; and I will
brought God's wrath upon himself. When the king fell         shake all nations, (and now notice) and the Desire of
.his entire kingdom fell with him. The curse spread          all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with
`over the entire earth. Have you never heard that            glory, saith the Lord of hosts." An earthquake told of
groaning of the creature on a stormy night when the          Jesus' death and resurrection; how entirely proper
wind howled through the trees? Have you never seen           that it should announce His second coming!
`the animal cringe in terror under the shattering crash
,of lightning and thunder? Have you not heard the              One thing must not escape us, and that is that
earth moan in the heat of summer; or heard the               famines, pestilences and earthquakes are but the
-rustling of the dry sand of the desert? Have you not        beginning  of sorrows. These are but the early birth
felt the shuddering earth during an earthquake, or           pangs, forebodings of far worse bearing down pains
,heard its rumblings. All creation groans under the          that are still to come. A mother in the early stages of
curse of the Almighty.                                       labor knows that worse agony must follow before she
                                                             is delivered. Yet the very fact that the pains are begun
As believers we hear a sigh of hope in all these             give hope that the end is near.
`groanings. The Holy Spirit tells us that this groaning        Let the church of Jesus Christ take note of the
is the travail of all creation, as it eagerly anticipates    signs. of the times. May they spur her on to pray in
sharing in the adoption of sons, the salvation of the        greater intensity: "Father, hallowed be Thy Name;
church. When Christ died He redeemed His people as           Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done." With a
His friend-servants, as kings of the earthly creation.       watchful eye and an attentive ear, let us redeem the
"For God so loved the world (the whole creation as it        time, for the days are evil. May we ever plead `in
`belongs to Christ and His elect) that He gave His only      longing: "Come, Lord Jesus, yea, quickly."
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him


EDITORIALS.

                                          Editor's `Notes
                                                Prof. H. C. Hoeksenza


   Anniversary. In our next issue special attention will     Churches, yet the two have always been intimately
be given to a very special occasion, that of the Golden      connected. And we shall not let this special occasion
Anniversary of the Protestant Reformed Churches.             pass unnoticed. Why the issue of March l? Because
`While  our  Standard Bearer  is a free paper, not a         that comes closest to the date when the Protestant
church paper, and  while  our  Standard-  Bearer  is         Reformed Churches organized provisionally under the
actual1 y older  than the Protestant Reformed                Act of Agreement.


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                               221



   Publication News. There will be a very special book      Spoken  will all be in plentiful supply again. And a
coming from the press in the near future, too. In fact,     brand new book by Rev. David Engelsma, Marriage:
it is  Aa once-in-a-lifetime book. I refer to  God's        The Mystery  of  Christ And The Church,  should be
Covenant Faithfulness,  a beautiful volume                  available by late spring. The tentative price on this
commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the                   volume is $3.50. Another book has just gone to press,
Protestant Reformed Churches. We are still, hoping to       but you can begin to look forward to it. Prof.
get the book on the market during March; maybe that         Herman Hanko has written a large volume on our
is' optimistic, but at any rate it will be soon! This is    Lord's parables under the title, The Mysteries Of The
going to be a volume which all of you will want to          Kingdom. We don't even have a tentative price on this
buy. But this will also be a book for posterity, so that    one yet; but it will be worth every cent!
you will probably want to buy copies for your                                      *****
children to keep in time to come. And remember, this          Australasian Tour.  Our  synodical Committee for
is the kind of book which will not be reprinted in the      Contact With Other Churches is making arrangements
future5 should our supply run out. We have had to up        for a trip to New Zealand and Australia by two
the price a bit over our original estimate, due to          representatives of our churches. Any of our
inflation. But even at that, $5.95 for this book which      Australasian friends who would like to make contact
will be replete with pictures and art-work,, as well as     with us during the latter part of June and the first
information, history, and explanation, will be a            part of July, the Lord willing, is welcome to write to
bargain!                                                    me or to Mr. W. van Rij. You will find both addresses
                       *****                                in the masthead on the back page.
   More Publication News. By the time you read this,                               *****
our supply of four previous publications should be            Sorry, but Question Box will have to be postponed
repleniShec&  In The Beginning God, Believers And           to the next issue.
Their Seed, Behold He Cometh, and Therefore Have I

                     A Significant Overture On Student Aid
   There is pending before  Classis East of our             supporting students from Synodical funds and inform
denomination an overture .from the Council of Hope          the Churches that this work belongs properly to the
Church which proposes a radical change with respect         labors of the local diaconate."
to the dispensing of student aid to those who are              At this point in the document, instead of
preparing for the ministry in our churches. This            presenting specific grounds for this three-fold
overture is intended, of course, for Synod of 1975;         overture, the Council of Hope Church presents a
and I assume that since it is addressed to Synod, it        rather lengthy argumentation which constitutes the
will also appear on the Agenda of Synod  - either           bulk of their document of three closely typewritten
with or without the adherence of Classis East. Since        pages.
this overture is for various reasons rather important, a
few editorial remarks about it are not deemed out of           3. The first part of Hope's argumentation presents
place. :                                                    a "brief history." Reference is made especially to an
                                                            article by the Rev. G. M. Ophoff about Article 19 of
Summary                                                     our Church Order in Volume 11, page 46, of the
   The overture itself is rather lengthy; so I will try     Standard Bearer, in which the history of Student Aid
briefly to summarize it.                                    is traced. After summarizing this history, the Council
   1. The document opens with a statement of                of Hope draws this conclusion: "Therefore, the
motivation, to the effect that the Deacons of Hope          method we now use to fulfill art. 19 of the Church
have long been concerned with the problem of the            Order in this respect is to be traced directly back to a
proper exercise of their office, and that the Council       time in which a very close relationship existed between
of Hope believes that in some instances work which          the Church and State. Since that time the records
properly belongs to the deacons is being performed          available show that the question of supporting
by synodically appointed committees. "It is to this         students in ways other than through the Student Aid
latter that we address ourselves in this present            Committee has never been brought before an
overture."                                                  ecclesiastical body. It is our purpose to ask for such
   2. Next follows the overture proper: "We, the            consideration."
Council of Hope Protestant Reformed Church,                    I have three brief remarks in connection with this
overture Synod to discharge the present Student Aid         summary: a) Anyone who wishes to study this
Committee, discontinue the present practice of              subject would do well to read the entire article by the


222                                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



`Rev. Ophoff: for he deals with the  principle  of                             the work of the deacons. This can only be for the
Student Aid as well as with the history. b) Lest there                         good of our churches; properly accomplished, such
be any misunderstanding, due to the misplacement of                            study will also lead to good results. At the same time
a reference in Hope's overture, it should be                                   - and I make this remark in general in connection
understood that the following statement is not a                               with the general concern about the lack of work for
quotation from Ophoff: "Thus, in the usual trauma                              our deacons  - it should be kept in mind that the
o f   t h e   e s t a b l i s h m e n t   o f   a n   i n d e p e n d e n t    degree of activity of the deacons varies somewhat
denomination, the responsibility of the support of                             with the times, and we should not be  overly
seminary students apparently was simply handed over                            concerned if there are times when the deacons are less
to the broader ecclesiastical assemblies, without any                          active. Nor, by all means, should we allow our zeal to
questions asked." This statement is not presented in                           find work for our deacons lead us in a wrong
.quotation marks, but it is followed by "(ibid.)" and                          direction.
might be misunderstood, therefore. It is a statement                             In the second place, I believe this overture to be
by the Hope Council, not by Ophoff. c) It should be                            significant because it proposes a  radical  change.
pointed out that Hope's overture is more specific                              Understand, I do not use the term  radical in  a
than is stated at the conclusion of this history. They                         pejorative sense. And I certainly do not think of my
are not merely asking for consideration of "ways                               brethren in the Hope Council as being a group of
other than through the Student Aid C,ommittee."  But                           "radicals"; we know one another better than that.
they are asking specifically for a  synodical decision                         But this overture proposes a basic, or root, change; in
,"that this work belongs properly to the labors of the                         this sense I use the term radical (from radix = root).
local diaconate."                                                              And the radical change does not consist in the change
4. In the second  ma& section of argumentation,                                from a denominational to a local level; this does not
the Council of Hope presents and answers "some                                 involve any principle. The radical change consists in
arguments usually given in favor of the present                                the proposal specifically to assign student aid to the
,method." The source of these arguments is not                                 province of the  deacons,  that is, to the care of the
indicated, so that it is very difficult to evaluate their                      poor and to the work of benevolence, or mercy.
worth. Nor, in my opinion, are the arguments the                                 In the third place, therefore, our churches should
,most important ones; nor are they exhaustive. For                             proceed very cautiously in making changes with
`the same reason, as I hope to point out, the reply of                         respect to student support. There are practical
Jhe Hope Council is somewhat beside the point.                                 reasons for this; but there is also a principle at stake
   5. The third main section of argumentation is                               with respect  to  the  nature  of student aid. The
devoted to the "principal arguments in favor of the                            delegates to Synod and Synod itself should take care
idea that the responsibility for the support of our                            to do their homework if they are called upon to pass
seminary and pre-seminary students lies with the                               judgment on Hope's overture. I intensely dislike
individual diaconates." Point A is the claim that the                          study committees, for the simple reason that they
deacons have "the unique calling of dispensing the                             result in postponement of decisions and in resultant
mercies of Christ. This includes monetary aid given to                         unsettled conditions. But if the coming synod should
students." Point B argues that the duty of this                                feel they are not ripe for  .a decision, it would be
:support lies with the local congregation.                                     better to appoint a study committee than to make a
   The overture concludes as follows: "It is our                               premature decision.
opinion, then, that the argumentation provided above                             It is because of the significance of this overture
supports the conclusion that the  instittition  of the                         that I wish to make a few observations.
Student Aid Committee has caused the office of
deacon to suffer. And, to that extent the Church of                            As To The History
Christ has also suffered. The purpose of this overture                            First of all, I do not read and evaluate the history
is to restore to the office of deacon its proper                               of student aid in the same way as the Hope Council
                                                                               does. And this history is indeed rather instructive.
function in this area. With that motive, we humbly
submit this overture."                                                         Any communion of churches does well to go contrary
                                                                               to history and to precedent very reluctantly. Why?
keneral Evaluation                                                             Because usually you will find a principle lurking
   In the title of this editorial I termed this a                              behind past practices in the Reformed churches. Nor
"significant" overture. It is this, I believe, for more                        do I believe that we rather blindly followed with
than one reason.                                                               respect to student aid  JKe practices in vogue in the
       In the first place, I believe it is commendable that                    Christian Reformed Church prior to 1924. Not only
there is concern expressed about the office of deacon                          were our  ,various assemblies confronted by these
and that there is study made and attention paid to                             questions when they established our own student aid


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER`                                               223



procedures, but various studies have been made of           places as Geneva, Heidelberg,  Base& and Zurich to
these matters in our seminary Church Polity courses,        study for the ministry.
as well as in commentaries in our  Standard Bearek             To this principle the Reformed churches adhered,
The Rev. Ophoff, for example, touches on the                even when there was a degree of compromise in the
principle of this article in the very commentary to         period of government support. For it must be
which the Hope Council refers, Standard Bearer, Vol.        remembered that even though the funds came "ex
XI, p. 46. And also. in his mimeographed Church             bonis publicis" it was the churches who provided the
Polity notes he touches on this subject; and in our         students and who recommended the students  fey
class discussion on this subject we also touched on         support  - in obedience to the principle that the
the issue.                                                  churches must make provision for the ministry of the
  But there is more.                                        Word. And while it is correct to recognize the evil of
   It is not accurate to say, as the overture claims,       this practice of government support, we should bear
that our practice of student support at the                 in mind, too, that such support also extended to
denominational level is rooted in the peculiar              payment of ministers' salaries and to support of
situation in the National Church of the Netherlands,        retired ministers during this. same period of the
according to which students were supported out of           National Church. Yet neither the support of active
public, funds derived from confiscation of Roman            ministers nor the support of ministers emeriti is today
Catholic properties. It is true that the practice of the    considered the work of the deacons, that is, of mercy.
Dutch churches was corrupted at an early state in this      Why, then, from this same historical point of view
way; and it is true that the old name, "E.B.P. Fund"        argue that the support of students for the ministry
(long ago discarded) was traditionally kept for many        belongs in the province of the work of mercy and the
years as a  result;.of that corruption in the National      office of deacon?
Church.                                                       Nor can I agree with the statement in this "brief
  The record of history will show that the Dutch            history" concerning the support of students after
churches were concerned about the support of                1834 and 1892 when the churches became
students and about a common fund for this purpose           independent of the state. Ophoff maintains, rightly,
before  there was any government money available.           that the responsibility for support of students rests
According to the commentary of  Job, Jansen in              on the Church, not on the State. And he points out
Article 19 of the Church Order, pp. 84, 85, (I              that after the churches became independent of the
translate), "Marnix of St. Aldegonde in a circular          State they automatically found themselves under the
letter,, March 21, 1570 called the attention of the         necessity of caring for their own needy students. Now
refugee-churches in England to the fact that `a general     it is true that in some cases this was done by means of
fund' should be established for students needing help.      a fund at the level of the particular synod. It is also
When :the land would be cleansed from enemies, there        true, according to Joh. Jansen, that in some instances
would, be a crying need for students. This writing of       this was done at the local level; and he even cites an
Marnix was undoubtedly the occasion that the synod          individual example. Then he goes on to say that this
of  Emden, 1571, already decided that the churches,         support can also be provided together  - whether at
as soon as they should be gathered out of the               classical, provincial, or general level. But there is no
dispersion and would have a degree of rest and              evidence to support this statement: "Thus, in the
prosperity, should support `a number of students,'          usual trauma of the establishment of an independent
but on condition that these students should bind            denomination, the responsibility of the support of
themselves to those congregations after completing          seminary students apparently was simply handed over
their studies. . . ." The fact of the matter is that        to the broader ecclesiastical assemblies, without any
student aid did not begin to become a matter of             questions asked.". What evidence is there that this was
public funds until the Synod of Dordrecht  in 1578          done thoughtlessly and under the influence of some
and that student support did not become completely          trauma? None whatsoever. I could put a more
a matter of these public funds until 1586.                  plausible construction on this history, as follows: "In
                                                            obedience to their calling to provide for the ministry
  Now what is the principle even in this early              of the Word and therefore to make provision for
history? It is this: that it is the duty of the churches    students for the ministry, and recognizing the  .fact
(whether the churches in common or the churches             that of necessity they would have to provide their
individually) to make provision for the ministry of         own financial support of students, the churches
the Word, even to the extent of providing students          decided to share this financial burden and to establish
for the ministry and, if need be, seeing to the             a common fund for this purpose. For reasons of
financial support of such students. Incidentally, this      efficiency, they decided that this fund should be
was put into practice when students had to go to such       established at the level of the particular synods,


224                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER


rather than at the classical level or the level of the                       But history alone does not speak conclusively.
general synod."                                                           Nevertheless, if our churches are to go contrary to the
  Finally, let me point out that at no point in history                   testimony of history in this matter, there must be
did the Reformed churches consider the support of                         adduced good and cogent reasons.
students to be in the province of the deacons. On this                       To this question of the principle of this overture I
score, the history speaks loudly.                                         shall address myself next time, the Lord willing.


THE VOICE OF OUR FATHERS

                  The Dignity And Authority Of Holy Scripture

                                                        Pro5 Robert D. Decker
                 "We receive all these books, and these only, as holy and canonical, for the regulation, foundation, and
             confirmation of our faith; believing without any doubt, all things contained in them, not so much because
             the Church receives and approves them as such, but more especially because the Holy Ghost witnesseth in
              our hearts, that they are from God, whereof they carry the evidence in themselves. For the very blind are
              able to perceive that the things foretold in them are fulfilling."
                                                                                         Article V, The Belgic Confession

       The main thought of this article is crystal clear.                 in all its power and beauty unto the salvation of the
We, the Reformed believers, receive all these books,                      people of God, the destruction of the "wisdom of
those books which belong to the Canon of Holy                             this world ," and the glory of God's name! Our
Scripture as set forth in the previous article, for "the                  starting point' with respect to the Holy Scriptures is
regulation, foundation, and confirmation of our                           that we believe "without . any doubt, all things
faith." This means that our faith and life are                            contained in them." Any theologian (and there are
regulated or governed by the Holy Scriptures. The                         many in our times!) and any denomination of
Bible is the standard of what we believe, so that our                     churches which do not begin and end with this faith
faith may be tested by the Word of the Scriptures and                     have no right to claim allegiance to the Belgic
the Bible is the standard according to which we live.                     Confession.
We regulate our lives by the Scriptures. This in turn                        The Creed goes on to express the ground upon
means that our faith is founded upon the Word of                          which this faith of the church rests. We receive these
God. The truth of the Holy Scriptures is the solid                        books and these only, "not so much because the
rock upon which our faith is built. (cf. Ephesians                        church receives and approves them as such." This is
2:20-22) Finally we receive the Word of God revealed                      evidently included as a statement against the Roman
in the Scriptures for the confirmation of our faith.                      Catholic Church. Rome teaches that the church
Nothing else confirms our faith, not the word of men,                     logically and historically precedes the Bible and thus
not the experiences of men, not even. the declarations                    can exist independently of the written Word. The
of the Church. Only the Scriptures provide the sure                       results of this teaching are devastating. While Rome
ground and foundation of our faith.                                       will often appeal to the authority of the Bible in
This faith also  - and we might add, most                                 defense of its teaching, the position of Rome differs
emphatically  - determines our attitude toward the                        radically from that of the Reformed faith. Rome has
Bible. We do not approach the Bible with a doubtful                       accorded (and Rome has not changed one iota from
or questioning mind. We do not study the Scriptures                       this position) tradition a place of equal honor with
to determine whether or not the things contained in                       the Bible. Often, too, Rome appeals to tradition as
them are true. Rather, rejecting without any                              the "last court of appeal." Rome's position is exactly
reservation the assumptions of the higher critic we                       the opposite of that stated in Article V. According to
approach the Scriptures out of faith. We study the                        Rome the Biblical writings have authority only
inexhaustible riches of God's Word only to grow in                        because the church receives them as holy and divine.
`our understanding and appreciation of the truth                          Dr. P. Y. De Jong's statement of nearly fifteen years
contained in them. This remains the one, glorious                         ago remains true today: "The Romanists insisted that
task of the Church, viz., to study prayerfully the                        the Bible was dependent upon the church; the
Word of God in order to preach and teach that Word                        reformers claimed that the church was dependent


                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   225


     upon the Bible. Here the paths parted radically and,        His list of sacred writings is similar to our New
     judging by what we know today,, seemingly                   Testament with the exception that he left open the
     irrevocably. Until Rome revises her conviction on this      question whether James, Jude, II Peter, and
     score  .(and a host of others, R.D.D.), all attempts at     Revelation ought to be included. The great, orthodox
     closer fellowship will suffer shipwreck." (The              father, Athanasius recognized the twenty-seven books
     Church's Witness To The World, v. 1, p. 131)                as we have them today. Thus it was that the Church
        By this statement, however, the Confession does          formally fixed the New Testament Canon at
     not mean to deny either the fact or the significance        Carthage. We believe the Church did this as directed
     of the fact that the church receives and approves of        by the Holy Spirit which Christ promised would lead
     these books as Holy Scripture. In this connection we        the Church into all the truth. (cf. John 14:26; 16: 13)
     do well to face the question as to how the Canon was        The point, however, is that the Church did not and
     determined by the church. The Bible itself contains         does not determine the Canon. The dignity and
     no information concerning the formation of the              authority of the Holy Scriptures is not derived from
     Canon or the fixing of it by the Church: Scripture          the councils of the Church. The Church merely
     simply asserts in clear language its divine origin and      recognized and confessed formally and publicly the
     authority. We know that the thirty-nine books of the        faith in God's Word which lived in the hearts of His
     Old Testament Canon were recognized and accepted            saints. The comment of Dr. Young concerning some
     by the time of the ministry of Jesus. Christ and His        modern views of the Bible expresses well what we are
     disciples recognized the Canon of the Old Testament         trying to say; "Historic Christianity, inasmuch as it is
     by referring to it as, "the law and the prophets."          founded upon the Bible, teaches that the Bible is
     Both Christ and the Apostles frequently quoted from         itself the authoritative Word of God. The Bible is
     the Old Testament with the.words, "It is written. . .";     authoritative, therefore, whether there is any
     and they considered those Scriptures, the final             Divine-human encounter or not. The Bible is
     authority. Thus, sometime prior to the coming of our        authoritative whether or not its message is borne
'    Lord the Old Testament Canon was fixed, but not by          home to me in compelling power. It is authoritative
     any formal declaration of the Church. The law and           whether I believe it or not; whether I believe in Jesus
     the prophets were simply received spontaneously out         Christ or not. The Bible, according to the Christian
     of faith by God's people. The late Dr. Edward J.            position, is authoritative in itself; its authority resides
     youqg, an excellent Bible-believing scholar and             in the fact that it is the Word of God." (Thy Word Is
     former Professor of Old Testament at Westminster            Truth, Eerdmans, p. 241)
     Seminary, put it well when he said; "How' the books            This is the emphasis of Article V when it states
     were gathered we are not told. Apparently, no               that we receive these books;  ". . . not so much
     religious council in ancient Israel ever drew up ,a list    because the Church receives and approves them as
     of divine books. Rather, in the singular providence of      such, but more especially because the Holy Ghost
     God, His people recognized His Word and honored it          witnesseth in our hearts, that they are from God,
     from the time of its first appearance. Thus was             whereof they carry the evidence in themselves." The
     formed the collection of inspired writings. which `are      ground upon which we receive these books as the
     known as the canonical books of the Old Testament."         very Word of God is twofold: the Holy Spirit's
     (An Introduction To The Old Testament, .Eerdmans,           witness and the evidence which the Bible itself
     pp.  3,9, 40) The twenty-seven books of the New             contains. The fact that the Church has recognized the
     Testament Canon were formally received by the early         Canon and publicly declared itself on this score only
     Church at its Synod of Carthage in A.D. 397. Little is      serves to strengthen the child of God in his
     known of the historical process which led to this           conviction. But the deepest reason for his acceptance
     declaration of Carthage. It is probable, that the           of the Scriptures as holy and divine, from God
     original manuscripts were kept by the churches and          Himself, is the evidence contained in the Bible as that
     individuals to whom they were addressed and that            is applied in his heart by the Holy Spirit.
     from these copies were made and distributed
     throughout the churches. We know too that the                 The evidence in the Bible itself is simply
     heretic, Marcion,  played a role in all this. In support    overwhelming. Anyone even vaguely familiar with the
     of his errant views this man rejected Matthew, Mark,        Scripture knows that the Word of God clearly
     John, the Acts of the Apostles, the pastoral and            witnesses to its divine origin, its dignity and
     general epistles, and Revelation. He retained only          authority. God spoke the ten Words of His Law and
     Luke's Gospel account and ten Pauline epistles and          inscribed them with His finger on two tables of stone.
     even these he revised. This forced the early fathers of     The prophets spoke the Word of the Lord which
     the church to define more explicitly the canon of the       came unto them and called the people to repentance
     New Testament. Eusebius faced the question which            and faith because, "thus saith the Lord." Both Jesus
     books the believer must recognize as holy and divine.       and the Apostles, as we noted above, quoted the Old


226                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



Testament Scriptures as the final authority. The            spirit which is of God; that we might know the things
apostles too were deeply conscious of the fact that         that are freely given us of God. Which things we also
their writings were the very Word of .God. Peter, for       speak, not in the words which man's wisdom
example, ascribed divine authority to the epistles of       teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth. . ." (I
Paul. (II Peter 3 : 16) Paul expresses his thanks to God    Cor. 2:4,5, 12, 13)
concerning the Thessalonians; ". . . because, when ye         Still more, the creed asserts that the very blind are
received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye           able to perceive that the things foretold in the
received it not as the word of men, but as it is in         Scriptures are fulfilling. How true that is. Before our
truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh           very eyes in these last days we see the signs which
also in you that believe." (I Thess. 2: 13) The same        herald our Lord's return; the very events and
apostle confesses his and the church's dependence           phenomena which He and the other Scriptures
upon the Holy Spirit: "And my speech, and my                foretold are happening. So it also was with the
preaching was not with enticing words of man's              prophecies of old.
wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of
power: that your faith should not stand in the                This is why Reformed believers "`receive all these
wisdom of men, but in the power of God.. . . Now            books . . . believing without any doubt all things
we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the      contained in them."


ALL AROUND US

                             The' Bible As Literature
                                                  Prox  H. Hanko

  When the Supreme Court of the United States               epistolary forms of the epistles of Paul, Peter, John,
struck down Bible reading and prayers in the public         etc. It would also concentrate on the various literary
schools of the land, it did not disapprove of teaching      devices which are used in different kinds of literary
courses in the public schools in which the Bible was        forms such as figures of speech, parables, parallelisms,
studied as literature. The argument apparently was          etc. And, so evangelicals hope, a study of this kind
that to study the Bible as literature only does not         which can be legal in the public schools would lead to
mean that a particular religion is being taught in the      facing the Bible as the Word of God. One gets the
public schools - something upon which the Supreme           impression that it is an attempt to introduce into the
Court specifically frowned. The Bible could then be         public schools in a surreptitious way that which the
studied as literature just as any writing, ancient or       Supreme Court emphatically banned as illegal.
modern, could be studied for its literary value. If,
incidentally, the thoughts of the particular writer           In the current discussion which is going on, there
entered into the teaching, this would not necessarily       are some who support this position by saying that the
be bad because the thoughts of the writers of the           only real approach to understanding the Bible is the
Scriptures would be considered roughly on a par with        literary approach. One cannot really penetrate to the
the poetry of the Greek poet Homer, the essays of           true meaning of the Scriptures unless one first of all
Seneca, the novels of Dickens, etc.                         has a firm grasp of the literary aspects of Scripture.
                                                            For example, Leland Ryken writes in a recent issue of
  Many evangelicals, a large number of whom send            Christianity Today:
their children to the public schools, see in this
approach a kind of salvation from the threat of                     Why is a literary approach to the Bible necessary,
atheism which hung over the public schools when                especially since we seem to have gotten along without
Rible reading and prayers were banned. Increasingly            it for so long? I have already said that it is needed as
therefore, evangelicals have been' putting forth                an aid to understanding what the Bible says. Any
                                                               piece of writing must be read in terms of what it is. A
organized efforts to get courses taught in the public           reader of Scripture is opening the door to
schools which would teach the Bible from a literary             misunderstanding whenever he ignores the literary
viewpoint. Such an approach to Bible teaching would             principles of various literary forms. When he fails to
include a careful investigation of the literary forms           ask literary questions he will go astray, interpreting
which are used in the Bible  - the poetry of the                figurative expressions as if they were intended
Psalms, the narrative form of the historical books, the        literally, looking for theological propositions in a


                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER                                            227


    liric poem that contains mainly an outpouring of            people, young and old alike, have the ability to
    hvman emotion or in a story that is mainly a record         understand the Word of God. They do not need a
    of events, allegorizing the Song of Solomon because         formal course in Hermeneutics to understand that
    he does not know how to respond to love poetry,             Word. And without being able to identify various
    turning Jonah into a model prophet because he fails         literary forms and devices, they have an instinctive
    to understand how satire works, regarding
    Ecclesiastes as wholly pessimistic because he               sense of the meaning of poetry also in distinction
    overlooks its dialectical pattern and its quest             from the epistles.
    structure, and so forth. Belief in the authority of the       Nevertheless, this is not the whole story. Nor is the
    Bible will not by itself be sufficient for understanding    literary approach to Scripture the correct one. If one
    if the reader ignores the literary principles that          approaches Scripture from this point of view,  qven
    underlie the Bible and determine much of its                though his ultimate aim may be to come to an
    meaning.                                                    understanding of Scripture's theological meaning, one
  In keeping with the above, the author even                    will not be able to explain the Scriptures correctly.
recommends that courses in Bible literature be                  That is evident already in the quote we gave above.
introduced in private and church schools as an aid in           By means of this literary approach, the author of the
understanding the meaning of Scripture.                         article finds the essence of Scripture's poetry to be
  What must we say about all this? It is not our                "an outpouring of human emotion." He rejects any
intent to get involved in the question of the rightness         symbolic meaning in the Song of Solomon and
or wrongness of the decision of the Supreme Court.              reduces it to a love poem. He denies the historicity of
Nor is it our intention to analyze how all this applies         Jonah and makes the book a satire. This is the end of
to the public schools. Our readers know of my                   a literary approach because it is basically the same as
disapproval of public schools and of  thi: emphasis             what has become known as historical-literary
which this magazine has placed on Christian                     criticism of Scripture.
covenantal  it&ruction throughout  .the fifty years of            Furthermore, this is not the correct approach to
its existence. But we are interested in this particular         Scripture. The only way to approach Scripture is by
approach to the Bible. Is .it a legitimate approach? Is         means of humble faith in the Scriptures as the
it possible and permissible to read the Bible as                infallible record of God's revelation. God has revealed
literature? Is it necessary to understand the literature        Himself. And He has revealed Himself in Christ as
of the Bible in order to get at its deeper theological          Jehovah, the God Who saves His people for His own
meaning? Would it be advisable to add a course to the           glory. The Scriptures are, in their entirety, the
curriculum, of our Christian Schools which would be             infallible record of that revelation. They are no less
devoted exclusively to teaching the Bible as                    than that. And this is true of the whole of Scripture.
literature?                                                     Every book, every chapter of every book, every verse
  First of all, no one, I think, will deny that the             of every chapter, contains a part of that record of
Bible'is a great and marvelous piece of literature. This        revelation. Everywhere God is speaking of Himself as
is true not only of the Bible as it  wag originally             the God Who saves His people.
inspired in the Hebrew and Greek; it is also true of              But to receive this truth, to approach Scripture in
our incomparable King James Version. The poetry                 this way, to penetrate into its meaning so as to see
of the Bible is some of the most beautiful poetry               this record of revelation,  - all this requires faith.
which has ever been written. The soaring passages of            Without faith it is impossible to understand the
some of the prophecies stand out in all literature as           Scriptures in their true meaning and receive the
some of the greatest masterpieces which have ever               Scriptures in their true character.
been written. The narratives are so enthralling that              This is why any child of God can understand the
they can keep little children of preschool age on the           Scriptures. The most fundamental requirement is
edge of their seats for long periods of time; and these         faith. Without faith, no true understanding is
same narrative passages never lose their attraction no          possible. With faith, understanding is always possible.
matter how old a person may become. The Bible is                Then it makes no difference who is hearing or reading
great literature indeed.                                        the Scriptures. A little child may hear the stories of
  Furthermore, we may also grant that  ,some                    Joseph and his brethren on his mother's knee; but he
understanding of the type of literature which is used           will come to true understanding of that Word by the
in different places in the Bible is necessary to                power of faith. A little girl may read stumblingly and
understand its meaning. In Seminary we go into                  haltingly the 23rd Psalm, but she will understand the
considerable detail on this matter of various literary          Word of God in those precious words: "The Lord is
forms and devices when we learn the principles of the           my shepherd; I shall not want." An  aged-,saint may
interpretation of Scripture. It must be remembered,             only scarcely be able to read, much less explain the
however, that this is not absolutely essential. God's           literary genres of Scripture; but he will testify that


228                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


those same Scriptures have been his lamp and guide           book. It is the very record of the voice of God. One
throughout all his life, strengthening him in weakness,      who comes to Scripture must always face this reality.
correcting him in sin, bringing joy in sorrow, courage       He cannot escape it. The Bible will not let him do
in the battle of faith, and hope and victory at the          this. If he comes in faith, he cannot and will not be
moment of death.                                             satisfied with a mere literary viewpoint. He will hear
                                                             His God. But no less is this true if a man comes in
 1 This is not to say that an understanding of the           unbelief. He may want to come to make a literary
literary aspect of the Scriptures is not helpful. It is.     study of Scripture; but he will be unable to maintain
But it is not essential. And the child of God who            this position. He may determine to limit himself to
approaches Scripture in faith and who is captured by         Scripture's literary aspects. But Scripture itself will
its sublime truths will also have a deep appreciation        not permit this to happen. He will be confronted with
for the "literature" of Scripture though he may be           Scripture's demands. And the result will be that he
hard pressed to discuss this literary aspect with a          will harden himself against what Scripture says, his
professor of literature in the college across the street.    unbelief will grow, and he will, whether that was his
He will be moved deeply by its poetry, stirred by its        intent or not, come to hate that Word of God more
lofty prophecies, absorbed by its close doctrinal            and more. In fact, in the subtility of the sinful heart,
argumentation,  cpuickened by its stirring stories. But      he will even use the literary approach to steel himself
all this will be even deeper than the man who has            against what Scripture demands and to drive from his
only a literary appreciation for what is written;            mind and heart the truth which Scripture reveals.
because the man of faith will hear through it all the        That very Scripture will seal his condemnation.
voice of his God.                                              May we study the Bible as literature? We may, but
 j And so finally, it is not possible to read the            only when the literary aspect of Scripture is
Scriptures  only  as literature. The Scriptures are not      subordinate to its truth. And when we understand
that kind of book. The Bible will not permit itself to       and receive its truth, we will have all the greater
be read in this way. The Bible is unlike any other           appreciation for its sublime literary character.


FROM OUR THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL COMMITTEE

                      Seminary Building Fund Report

   It was with considerable trepidation, in 197 1, that      The cost of the building
the Theological School Committee began carrying out
its Synodical mandate to initiate drives for funds for         The estimated cost of building was $153,000.00. I
our new seminary building. None, I think, expected           think that few expected the committee to attain to
the tremendous support in prayer and through gifts           that figure - usually completed cost is at least 10%
that we received. At best we hoped for sufficient            higher than estimated cost. But the final and total
funds to begin building - with the total cost of the         cost of the building was considerably under the
building to be paid for over a period of ten or more         estimate. Besides, the final cost of building included
years. Now, after less than four years, we can report        various items (as furnishings, gas pipeline, etc.) not in
not only that our seminary building is completed -           the original estimate. Our treasurer reports the
but also that within a year of its completion it is fully    following:
paid for (that is, when we take into account the               Architect fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$      8,851.78
unpaid pledges). It is simply remarkable;                      Engineering fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .          338.00
unbelievable. After our most recent: $lO-$50 drive,            Grading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .      1,066.OO
and with the great assistance of several unexpected            Building costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107,186.lO
and very sizable gifts, our goal has been met - and            Carpeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .     3,383.27
more than met. We certainly thank our covenant God             Land.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    10802.50
for this provision for our needs beyond our thought            Land improvements . . . . . . . . . . . . . .             11,675.38
or expectation. And we thank each of you, also some            Landscaping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .        2,774.OO
of you outside of our Protestant Reformed Churches,            Furnishings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .     3,868.09
for your very generous support. We covet your
continued prayers  - and also your continued                      Total cost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$149,945.12
financial support.


                                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                              229


Generous gifts                                                             Theological School Committee has discussed the
  The gifts over the past four years, to the end of                        possibility of using these both for our library and for
1974, were as follows:                                                     added improvements to our present building plant.
  Paid on pledges . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . $ 22,749.77          The library has the majority of its shelves unused as
  Gifts.. . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .     92,126.69    yet. Thousands of dollars could be spent on books.
  Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .        10,026.54    Water and sewer will likely be coming past our
  Societies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,941.84         property soon at considerable expense. Grounds
  Interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .     2,805.45    equipment can be purchased. Added landscaping
  Two $lO-$50 Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . .              10831.12     could, conceivably, be done. Additional equipment
                                                                           could be purchased for more efficient work  &the
     Total contributions . . . . . . . . . . . .$140,481.41                seminary itself. This is reported so that we may know
  In addition to the above, there remains $18,772.50                       that  we  do not have  too much  money for our
in unpaid pledges. Quick addition will sho'w that this                     seminary.
brings the total to  $159,253.91. A little subtraction                       We would like to encourage each of you to
will show that this means that we will have $9,308.79                      consider giving regular and generous financial support
over the total cost of the building! You see why the                       to our seminary in the future. We will find many
theological school committee and the building                              projects where your gifts can most profitably be used.
committee are simply overwhelmed by your                                   Above all, remember our seminary in your prayers,
response!                                                                  that this institution may serve its purpose: to prepare
  This does not mean, however, that we have  too                           young men for the ministry of the gospel in harmony
mukh  money. First of all, we have had to borrow                           with the requirements of the Word of God.
funds which are being now repaid, plus interest.                             Finally, we give again our thanks to the generous
There will be a few thousand dollars of interest which                     efforts of our "Blue Ribbon" building committee and
must also then be paid. A second consideration,                            to Mr. T. Newhof, Sr. for their labors in overseeing
though we hesitate to report it, is that not all pledges                   the erection of our seminary building. And we thank
were made in good faith. A few will default on their                       Mr. R. Teitsma who has performed outstanding work
pledges. We do, however, expect to have a modest                           in serving as treasurer for this project.
surplus after the final pledge is paid.                                       Stop by and see our seminary building sometime.
Additional financial;support
  If there are ad itional
                            I3            funds beyond what is                                      Theological School Committee
needed to pay for building plus interest, the                                                                   -Rev. G. Van Baren


                                                 CALL TO ASPIRANTS TO THE MINISTRY

   All young men desiring to begin studies this fall in                    recommendation of the Theological School
either the pre-seminary or seminary department of                          Committee, to such an aspirant only who comes
the Theological School of the Protestant Reformed                          supplied with a testimonial of his consistory that he
Churches are requested to appear before the                                is a member in full communion, sound in faith and
Theological School Committee at its meeting to be                          upright in walk, and also a certificate from a
held on Thursday, March 20, 1975, at 7:30 P.M. in                          reputable physician showing him to be in good
the Theological School Building, 4949 Ivanrest Ave.,                       health.
S.W., Grandville, Michigan 49418.                                             A complete high school education and the
Pre-seminary Department:                                                   equivalent of a four year (125 hour) college
                                                                           education are required for entrance into the seminary
  Permission to pursue the pre-seminary, course of                         department. Moreover, each entrant into this
study shall be granted by the Theological School                           department must produce evidence that he has credit
Committee. A transcript of grades from High School                         for the required college courses. Requirements are
and College (if any), a letter of testimony from a                         listed in the school catalog, available from the School.
student's pastor or consistory, and a certificate of
health from a reputable physician shall be submitted.                         In the event you cannot be present at this meeting,
                                                                           please notify the undersigned secretary of your
Seminary Department:                                                       intentions, prior to the meeting. Mail all
   Permission to pursue the Theological course in the                      correspondence to the Theological School.
seminary shall be granted by the Synod, upon                                                         Richard H. Teitsma, Secretary


230                                             THE STANDARD BEARER


THESTRENGTHOFYOUTH

                             Exercise Unto Godliness
                                                   Rev. J. Kortering

       Godliness!                                                Thirdly, godliness includes obedient service. We
   What virtue in a world of corruption.                       have a purpose in life. And that purpose is not
                                                               determined by us; it is laid out for us by our God.
 , Are you godly, youthful reader?                             Are you conscious of this? God is the Sovereign Lord,
 I True, we would have to scale the heavenly heights           and He is the one that gives command. It is our duty
to comprehend so great a concept. Godliness is a               to obey. The more godly we are the more obedient
reflection of God, it is a bit of heaven while we lie in       we become. We realize our purpose in life is not to
the midst of a sin-cursed world. It is a wonder of             live without God, or to put God on the pulpit in
grace.                                                         church and leave Him there; it is to know God's will
 : Let us consider the main elements in this heavenly          and act accordingly. This applies to our school work,
virtue.                                                        our dating, our sports and recreation, our life's work,
                                                               our marriage, all our time and energy.
 To be godly means that we know God. This
knowledge involves more than knowing about God; it               Paul writes Timothy in Chapter 4 of his First
includes this to be sure. God comes to us in the               Epistle, "Exercise thyself rather unto godliness."
revelation of His Word; and if we are to be godly, we            In the context he tells him, "If thou put the
must know all that God tells us about Himself, who             brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt
we are, and what our calling is. You understand that           be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up ,in
many have this knowledge and still are not godly.              the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto
With this knowledge, we must learn to love God.                thou has attained. But refuse profane and old wives
Godliness is a matter of the heart; we rejoice in God          fables."
as the God of our salvation. We never cease to wonder            He tells Timothy to exercise himself unto godliness
how it is that God loves us; and the more we meditate          in two ways. First, by refusing profane and old wives
upon this, the more we conclude that it is of free             fables, but instead nourishing himself unto good
grace alone. How can we not love Him Who loved us              doctrine. The other is by exhorting him unto godly
even unto death? It is our sincere desire to be drawn          living, as he did in the preceding context.
closer to God all our life as we anticipate our being
near to Him in glory.                                            Godliness is expressed in our faith.
 j Godliness also includes proper response to God,               Think of that a moment. What is your faith? What
viz., reverence. Many youth pride themselves in their          do you believe? In summary,, it is all the truth
brashness. It seems the quickest way to go on an ego           revealed to us in the Bible. This is first and foremost.
trip is to act differently from others. To one it is           It stands to reason that godliness includes a proper
dress, to others it is hair, to still others it is actions.    attitude toward God's Word. There are those who say
The more brash the more successful. The pity is that           that God's Word is in the Bible, and it is up to us to
some young people treat God this way: they think               "discover" it. Imagine what a proud idea this is. God
the more boldly they act toward God, the more                  doesn't know how to communicate to us, we have to
meaningful is their relationship to Him. They use              uncover His Word in the Bible. How can such people
slang in their prayers; they sing songs that border on         call themselves godly? Or consider this idea, that
the edge of blasphemy; they defy God while they                proud man knows so much through his scientific
pretend piety. This is the opposite of godliness. One          discovery that he concludes that the earth has evolved
that truly loves God is shocked by this behavior.              in a process of billions of years. Some are so
Rather, he stands in holy awe and reverence to think           influenced by this observation that they throw away
that God loves him. He knows that his response must            the first chapters of Genesis and deny their historicity
be that of the humble subject standing before the              in favor of man's knowledge concerning origins. Are
King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. He is dust while          such godly? Lately we are told that students have to
His God is Creator. He is sinful, while His God is             possess a certain "Philosophy"; and unless they
Light! He knows what he is to take his shoes off, for          possess this, they cannot read the Bible properly, nor
the place upon which he stands is holy ground.                 can they learn truth. We need man's philosophy in


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  231


order to understand God's revelation. Again, such are            First, a "coach" makes a great deal of difference.
not godly! Godliness enables us to have a deep                 For those of you who have had experience in
reverence for God's Word, to conclude that it is the           athletics, you understand this. A coach can take a
truth, and that it is our calling to apply it to our lives.    mediocre team and make something of the fellows or
  For Reformed young people, this means that you               girls. The coach has the strategy of the game, he
have a deep love and respect for the truth that our            details the disciplined training sessions, he instills the
forefathers handed down to us. The Bible teaches and           confidence and morale so badly needed.
t ru e Reformed churches proclaim double                         You see how important it is for us as Christian
predestination, man's total depravity, God's                   young people to have the right coach, leading us unto
particular love for His people and not for. the whole          godliness. Reverently speaking, He is Jesus Christ our
world, Christ's death on the cross as a payment for His        Savior and Lord. He is the One Who gives us the
elect people, sovereign grace, and the perseverance of         spiritual motivation, the direction, the guidance we
the saints by God's loving care. This is our heritage. To      need as Christian young people. He uses means, your
be godly means that we appreciate these truths, and            parents, your teachers, your ministers, your
that we are offended when Arminianism creeps in the            counselors. What a difference it makes if these
churches, schools, or homes. It has been and is today          instructors are themselves godly. A godly parent,
the arch-enemy of our faith. The older we become               teacher, minister is the only one qualified to impart
the more we appreciate and love the historic                   that godliness. You see, young reader, it is of eternal
Reformed faith. It is the only truth faithful to our           value to you that  y'ou have such godly instructors.
God.                                                           Appreciate them and respect them, but above all,
  Godliness also affects the way we live. You can              listen to them: for they seek after your souls.
discern whether you are godly by your attitude                   Secondly, as Christian young people, we must also
toward holy things, the use of God's name, the                 work for development. An .athlete doesn't become an
reading of His Word, your prayer life, your attitude           instant success over night. It takes the slow process of
toward worshipping God, your values in life and how            daily work-outs, after five push-ups, ten come easily,
you spend your time and what you do. Yes, all this             and soon twenty, and so on. The same is true
indicates whether we live our life consciously before          spiritually. The harder we work at godliness, the more
God or whether we think only of pleasure and sin.              correct it seems and the easier to practice. If we deny
Here `too, godliness is not sinlessness, but the daily         ourselves certain television programs consistently, it
struggle to do what is right. This includes the prayer         soon becomes easy to control the television; but if we
for forgiveness and the desire to increase in                  give in and watch anything that is on, we lose control.
obedience.                                                     It takes prayerful, diligent, daily work to understand
   Such godliness comes only in the way of concerted           God's Word and to be able to apply it to our lives.
effort. Paul tells Timothy, "Exercise thyself unto               Thirdly, exercise unto godliness requires
godliness."'                                                   persistence. An athlete cannot practice basketball two
   The word he uses is the same word we have in our            weeks in December and then forget about it until he
English language, gymnasium. This places Paul's                plays in a game in January. Every week, perhaps
counsel in the context of sports. If we may take the           every day, he must develop skill and stick with it.
liberty, Paul tells Timothy, "Gymnasticize thyself             Thus also as Christian young people. We must seize
unto godliness." Now we know there is no instant               upon every opportunity that will enable us to give
athlete. If you go to the gym, whether at school or in         expression to our faith. Sometimes this means that
your town, you know it smells of sweat. This is true           we have to discipline ourselves and have a long talk
because the bodily exercise of a sportsman involves            with ourselves. Other times it means we have to
physical conditioning. Muscles must be toned, flab             discuss things with our close friends. As young people
has to be worked off, the body must be in peak                 we have to wrestle with many problems amongst one
condition to function properly in sports.                      another. Then again, it is time to talk with our
   It is even more so for our Christian godliness.             parents and seek their guidance. There may be
There is no instant godly Christian. It only comes             moments you have to talk to your teacher or
through hard  work,`toning of the heart to get rid of          minister. The stratagems of Satan are often baffling;
hatred and replace it with true love, enlightening the         and by daily striving to overcome them we develop
mind to understand the truth, strengthening the will           spiritual muscles that enable us to resist the devil and
to resist evil and seek the good, subjecting the body          see him flee from us, and we in turn draw nigh to
as God's temple unto the service of God and not to             God:
serve  satan. Yes, we must sweat and groan in the                Finally, exercise takes motivation. The sports hero
process of conditioning ourselves.unto godliness.              is motivated by the acclaim of men and the
   Four things are worth noting in this connection.            self-satisfaction of having achieved. Paul warns,


232                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



"Bodily exercise profiteth little." He, isn't knocking     you have a blessed and meaningful life now, and in
sports, he is simply putting them in their proper          the end you enter into all the glory of life everlasting.
place. He says: look at the athlete,, he works long          It stands to reason that such spiritual power comes
hours, sweats and groans, is self-disciplined, so that     not from men, but from our God. The strength to
his game is not adversely affected by anything he          exercise, as well as the spiritual durability that
does; he eats well, sleeps properly, i all for sports.     follows, is God's gift to His children. It is the amazing
How much more should we who are godly young                fruit of the grace of the Holy Spirit.
people devote ourselves to the exercise of godliness.
The advantage of such exercise is "profitable unto all       Are you godly?
things, having promise of the life that now is, and of       If not, are you doing something about it?
that which is to come." The fruit of godliness is that       Exercise thyself unto godliness.


SIGNS OF THE TIMES

                        This Is Theological Development???
                                                Rev. G. Van Buren


  The calling of the church of Christ on this earth is     having women officebearers: deacons, elders, and
to develop in its theology. The theology of the            ministers. Reformed churches in the Netherlands have
church surely is not to alter from one position into       made this change. The Reformed Church of America
something completely other. It is rather to develop        has made this change. Now, the Christian Reformed
and grow. Development would not be to change an            Church appears about to make this same change. At
apple tree into a thistle; it would rather be that the     best, it seems, a few voices of opposition are heard -
apple tree, being properly nourished, becomes larger       but then it appears that most are ready to drift
and produces ever more fruit. Such must be the             further along the road toward apostasy.
d'evelopment of theology in the church. This
development within the church does not mean that              The drive for change in the church's stand
the church can introduce something different than or       regarding who may occupy offices within the church
in addition to what the Word of, God declares.             arises from at least two fundamental errors: the error
Always, development involves greater understanding         of "world-conformity", and the error of adopting, at
of that which is already given to us in Scripture. A       least in part, the  Sitz-im-Leben   method of
study of church history, especially in the New             interpreting Scripture. (Scripture must be understood
Testament age, shows how such development took             in light of the time and situation in which it was
p l a c e .                                                writ t en. Scriptural authors had their prejudices,
                                                           misconceptions, etc. when they wrote Scripture.)
  It is one of the signs of the end of time when the
"church", instead of building upon what was                  Striking it is that for almost 2000 years there was
confessed and taught throughout past ages, turns its       basic agreement concerning the question of women
black upon that and adopts what formerly had been          serving in office in the church. For almost 2000 years
rejected as plainly contrary to Scripture. Within the      the leaders within the church were opposed to it.
liberal churches of our day, there is increasingly a       Now, only in recent times, after a "women's lib"
denial of the Trinity, of the Incarnation of Christ, of    movement developed, many in the church felt
I$is virgin birth, etc. These churches have, reverted      compelled to get on the band wagon and advocate the
b,ack to the time of the early New Testament church        position that women can serve in office in the church.
and have adopted the very views which were                 Now, suddenly after almost 2000 years, we are given
then condemned. This trend to revert to the                to understand that what Scripture condemned in this
early period of the N.T. church, to adopt views            regard only applied to that age long past when
condemned then, is increasingly seen within                women were considered inferior to men. Now we
Reformed circles. That trend can only lead to the          need no longer obey that portion of Scripture. Times
same liberal positions evident in many of the other        have changed; hence, the command no longer applies.
main-line Protestant churches of our day. One recent         But is this true? Follow, with me, some of the
evidence of this trend is the change to the practice of    development of this question through the ages.


                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER                                                        233


  First is the passage of Scripture in I Cor. 14:34,35,              The teaching of the apostle Paul, about women
"Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it              wearing a veil when they prophesy (I Cor.  ll), is
is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are                 based upon the fact that a veil was then the symbol
commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the                of their inferiority to man. The wearing of a veil by
law.  ,And if they will learn anything, let them ask              women, which was a custom at the time, was honored
their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women               by Paul because it symbolized a Scripture truth
to speak in the church." Worthy of note is that Paul              relative to the inferiority of the woman. That women,
definitely does not base the command, upon the                    apart from prophesying, may not speak in the church
                                                                  in public gatherings is the plain teaching of God's
traditions of his age, but on the law itself - referring          Word (cf. 1 Cor.  14:34, 35; I Tim.  2:11,12).  This
clearly to the ten commandments and specifically the              prohibition is plain, positive, pointed, universal, and
fifth command.                                                    without ambiguity. The given passages even forbid
  The second often-quoted passage is from I Tim.                  them to ask questions in public gathering. Not as to
2: 11-l 5, part of which states, "Let the woman learn             her salvation but as to her position in the church, the
in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a                keynote of Paul's teaching is that she is subordinate.
woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the                   This subordinate position he bases upon the primal
                                                                  law of creation "thy husband . . . shall rule over thee"
man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed,             (Gen.  3:16), which is universal and for all time.
then Eve." Again, strikingly, Paul does not base the              Added reasons for this subordination he sees also in
command upon the traditions of his own age, but on                the fact that "Adam was first formed," and that Eve
the creation ordinance itself. He points out further in           was made "of the man," and also "for the man" (I
this passage that woman's transgression first also has a          Tim.  2:13; I Cor.  11:8, 9). Still another important
bearing upon the question. But the point is that God              reason for the subordination of women Paul
created woman in the position which Paul insists                  ascribes to the fact that it was Eve who was
involves the question of "authority".                             deceived, not Adam (I Tim. 2: 14; cf. Gen. 3: 17). She
                                                                  who was later upon the scene was the first to sin, and
  John Calvin had no problem with the above                       also the one to sin more grievously. Because her fall
passages. He considered them to teach clearly that                was greater, the sex she represented also fell deeper;
women can not serve in offices in the church. He said             and according to the inspired apostle she now
so. In his commentary on I Timothy 2: 11, he writes:              occupies in the Church of Christ a subordinate
      Let a woman learn in quietness.                             position with respect to matters of authority. Paul
                                             After having
   spoken of dress, he now adds with what modesty                 says, "I suffer not a woman . . . to usurp authority
   women ought to conduct themselves in the holy                  over the man" (I Tim. 2: 12).
    assembly. And first he bids them learn quietly; for              The question whether women should be given the
   quietness  means silence, that they may not take upon          privilege of the vote at congregational meetings hinges
   them to speak in public. This he immediately explains          upon the question whether the exercise of that
   more clearly, by forbidding them to teach.                     privilege is an exercise of authority. If the vote of the
      . . . He assigns two reasons why women ought to             congregation be considered as only advisory, as some
   be subject to men; because not only did God enact              believe it is,`then there can be no objection to women
   this law at the beginning, but he also inflicted it as a       voting at congregational meetings. That this vote is
   punishment on the woman. (Gen. 3: 16).                         not authoritative in Reformed and Presbyterian
                                                                  Churches, in the same sense as is the vote of the
  And until very recently, there was simply no                    Consistory or Session, may be granted. But also it
question in the Christian Reformed Church (and                    must be conceded that common opinion regards the
other Reformed churches as well) about the meaning                vote of the congregational meeting as decisive. When
of the Scriptural passages. Monsma and  VanDellen                 the members of the congregation, together with the
write' in their 1949 edition of "The Church Order                 Consistory or Session, vote for a pastor or for
Commentary" briefly but clearly:                                  members of the council, that vote stands. If the
                                                                  election within a Consistory or Session is an act of
     : The question whether or not women should take              church government, then the participation in an
   part in congregational elections we would answer
   negatively. Voetius, the great expert in Reformed              election by the members of the congregation is an act
                                                                  of cooperating in church government. And that
   Church government, excludes women from' Church                 condemns the practice of women voting in
   elections inasmuch as congregational elections are             congregational meetings.
   Church governmental in character. And women,
   according to Holy Writ, are not to teach in the               But after almost 2000 years, winds of change began
   Churches nor to help govern the same. (I Cor. 14:34).       to blow. Evidences of this can be found in various
   Bouwman judges likewise. So does Jansen.                    decisions. of the Synods of the C.R.C. In 1950 it was
  L. J. Schaver, in his "The Polity of the Churches",          the question of woman suffrage at congregational
Vol. 1, page 184, writes concerning the position of            meetings. At that time, the church was a bit leary
the Christian Reformed Church:                                 about allowing such. The Acts state:


234                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER



          In view of the situation as indicated,, we believe it               6. Church politically speaking there is no essential
       would be unwise for the Synod of the Christian                     difference between the right of approbation, which
       Reformed Church to make a pronouncement on this                    women do already exercise, and participation in
       important question at this time. The basic issues                  congregational meetings with the right to vote.
       involved have not come to sufficient clarity in the
       midst of our churches, and the desired measure of                Now, evidently, the C.R.C. has arrived at the point
       agreement can hardly be expected at this time. And           where it is looking for "sufficient clarity" and
       inasmuch as this question not only confronts us, but         "desired measure of agreement" before making a
       also our sister churches in the Netherlands, and             decision to admit women into ecclesiastical offices
       inasmuch as we are now holding Ecumenical Synods             including the ministry. The Synod of 1974 mandated
       from time to time, your committee advises Synod:             its committee on "Women in Ecclesiastical Office" as
       First, to urge all our leaders, consistories and classes,    follows:
       to study the questions basic to this issue, giving
       particular heed to the Scriptural passages cited in this              That synod charge its study committee on Women
       report. Secondly, to request the next Reformed                    in Ecclesiastical Office to give' specific consideration
       Ecumenical Synod for advice regarding the matter of               to the distinction between licensure and ordination,
                                                                         and exhorting and preaching, as this distinction may
 woman suffrage at congregational meetings.This                          bear on the place of women in the seminary's field
 : request for advice as we see it, should embrace a
       study of the nature and authority of congregational               education.
       meetings in our Reformed system of church                       Now, I believe, it is simply a matter of preparing
 /     government, and likewise an exegetical study of all          the C.R.C. for the inevitable. Probably the time is not
       Scripture passages which have bearing on this                ripe to approve this sort of change of permitting
       question.                                                    women to hold office in the church. It takes a while
 Soon in the C.R.C. the "sufficient  .cl&ity" and                   to get people adjusted to the idea that the church
`,`desired measure of agreement" arrived. Woman                     was, after all, wrong for the past 2000  years. It takes a
suffrage was permitted within the churches. However,                while to convince people that what the church
it was emphatically maintained that this was  not                   thought Paul (writing infallibly) was teaching, he did
placing women in positions of leadership, for, it was               not really mean for today at all. One method of
said, such was  plainly  forbidden by Scripture. The                softening the church at large is to publicize the
Acts of 1957 present the following:                                 possibility and emphasize the inevitability of change.
          On the basis of a careful study of the relevant           Through such publicity, one is hardly in a position to
       Biblical passages, as regards the participation of the       protest  - for there is no  decision  to protest, yet he is
       church in such matters as election of office-bearers,        compelled to believe the inevitability of the decision
       and as regards the position of women in the church           approving of women in church offices. At such time
       and of church polity, your committee comes to the            as the decision is made, the church will be "ready"
       following conclusions:                                       for it, and few will believe it useful to protest.
          1. The Word of God teaches the spiritual equality            Publicity to possible change within the C.R.C.
       of man and woman as image-bearers of God and as              concerning women in office was presented in the
       heirs of the grace of life and as participants in the        Grand Rapids Press  on  S,aturday, November 16, 1974.
       office of believers.                                         The article points out that there are four women
          2. The Word of God teaches that there is a                presently in Calvin Seminary seeking degrees. Several
       difference between man and woman, involving the              of these desire to enter the pastoral ministry. One
       headship of man, which is rooted in creation and             a p p l i e d   f o r   h e r "license to exhort", but "her
       which is not abrogated by redemption. (italics mine)         application was deferred, pending Synod action next
          3. In accordance with this principle rooted in            summer. Instead, she worked at other pastoral duties
       creation, and brought to bear on the life of the             and accepted several invitations to conduct public
       church by the apostle Paul, women should not be              worship  services at local Presbyterian churches."
       accorded a position of leadership in the church. They
       should hold no ruling or teaching office in the                 How a member in good standing in the C.R.C. can
       church.                                                      openly violate the clear stand of the C.R.C. against
                                                                    women teaching or preaching in the church (any
          4. In the congregational meeting the government           church), is a question I can not answer. Each, I
       of the church rests with the consistory. Participation       suppose, can do what is right in his own eyes.
       in such meetings by the membership of the church is
       by virtue of the office of believers.                           The  Press  continues its report by stating, "Whether
          5. The participation of women in voting at                the Synod will open any of the church's offices to
       congregational meetings as an exercise of the office of      w o m e n   n e x t   s u m m e r   i s   c o n s i d e r e d   u n l i k e l y .
       believers is not a matter of assuming leadership over        Opposition to the ordination of women is rooted in
       men.                                                         the letters of Paul to Timothy and  :the Corinthians,


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                          235


passages that clearly state a woman's role is a silent          The same Press report states:
one, subject to man's."                                               Verhey believes the Synod probably won't vote to
                                                                 allow women in church offices next summer, but "it
  But some who teach in Calvin Seminary, in                      will be approved at some point, maybe in 10 years.
positions of influence and leadership in the church,             It's past time that the institutions recognize that in
openly advocate the acceptance of women in office.               Christ there is no male and female."
At the same time, there is seen (if the Press report is         So that is what happens. After 2000 years the
accurate) a terrible and flagrant disregard to the           church finally has "developed" to the very position
Scriptures as infallible and inspired. Prof. Fred H.         condemned, admittedly, by the apostle Paul. The
Klooster carefully stated, "Until the last decade,           would-be woman pastor at the seminary is quoted as
there was, within the Reformed world, general                sw~is, "There are Biblical verses to support both
unanimity on the meanings of those passages. The             sides of the issue." That, of course, would involve
stand of the church is considered Biblically                 contradiction in Scripture itself. What makes the
demanded." Well, none ought to be offended at that.          church so wise today that now, after such a long
It should please the conservative, yet allow his own         time, it suddenly sees as truth what Scripture and
position to remain in question.                              church leaders during a 2000 year period condemned
  But another of the professors is more bold.                as lie?
According to the  Press, " `It's not what Scripture            All this is not, surely, true development. It smacks
says, but how the church uses the scripture,' says           rather of that sort of thing condemned by the apostle
Allen' D. Verhey, a professor at the seminary. `We           Peter in II Pet. 2:22.
must `take into account the culture that formed the            Let us also be warned. The end of the age is
biases.' " Now that is about as un-Reformed and              marked by a course where right is called wrong, and
anti-Scriptural as can be  - something one would             wrong is called right. It is the time of great apostasy.
hardly expect to emanate from a Reformed                     That apostasy begins with one step - and these steps
Seminary. Yet few seem startled or perturbed                 continue ever more rapidly one after the other. He
anymore.                                                     who has eyes to see, let him see.


FROM HOLY WRIT

                           -Exposition of Hebrews 12: 7-l 1

                                                   Rev. G. Lubbers

MUCH MORE SUBJECT OURSELVES TO THE                           rod (Heb.  12:9). This was our habitual attitude
FATHER OF SPIRITS (Hebrews 12:7-9)                           toward our earthly fathers. These were not fathers of
                                                             the "spirit". They were not our creator and former in
  Elsewhere the writer had pointed out that we have          the lowest part of the earth. That is the exclusive
to do with God. Sometimes the writer speaks of the           prerogative of our heavenly Father. He is the author
living God as the one into whose hands it is terrible to     not merely of our spiritual being, but He is the author
fall as a wicked and unbelieving man, (Heb. 10:31)           of all which have spirit: angels, devils, and men,
and that our God is a consuming fire (Heb. 12: 19).          whether good or evil. This is thus contrasted with the
However, here in this section of Hebrews 12 the              limited power of the earthly father. He is the infinite
writer is speaking of God as He is our Father for            God, mighty in word and in deed, Who created the
Christ's sake, and of the peculiar relationship in           spirit of men in the beginning out of nothing. Thus
which He stands to us His children, His sons of              Moses addresses God in Numbers 16:22, ". . . 0 God,
adoption. He "deals with us as sons"! The heavenly           the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin,
Father bears Himself (prospheretai) towards, treats us       and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?" In
as sons, and not as bastards. We are dealt with as real      Numbers 27: 16 Moses prays that a man be placed
sons who will be brought to glory (Heb. 2: 10).              over all the congregation after his death. Says he,
  The writer notices the attitude which we have to           "Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set
our natural fathers. We give them reverence. We gave         a man over the congregation . . . that the
them this reverence when they corrected us. We               congregation be not as sheep which have no
subjected ourselves under their correcting words and         shepherd." Only the God of the spirits can choose


236                                               THE STANDARD BEARER


such a man, and prepare him for the exalted task to           of the law fulfilled in us. This righteousness, thus
b,e a shepherd in Israel. To this Father of spirits we        perfected in us, has a fruit: it is  peaceable.  Great
are to subject ourselves; He can mold our very soul           peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall
and spirit and the intents and thoughts of our heart.         off end them. (Psalm  119:165) The fruit of
(Heb. 4: 12) And there is not a spirit of any creature        righteousness is sown in peace of them that make
which is not manifest in His sight.                           peace. (James 3 : 18)
   With this Father we have to do. And to him we are
to subject ourselves. We are to submit to the                 THE CALL TO VIGOROUS ACTION IN THE
chastisement of Jehovah God, our mighty and                   CHURCH (Hebrews 12:12,13)
faithful Father, who never chastises us for his                 Discipline is necessary, painful and salutary for the
pleasure. God is no sadistic God. He does it for our          sons of the Father of spirits! It is for their very life.
profit, our spiritual benefit and growth. The fruit and       In view of this, there is a certain battle-cry which is
result of such subjection to the Father of spirits is         uttered in the text. It is a call to action. There must
that "we live", that is, that we consciously enjoy            be no more "feeble hands" and "weak (paralytic)
eternal life. Then we are blessed with inward                 knees". This is figurative language, borrowed from
happiness and peace in the midst of all the trials and        the Old Testament Scriptures. It is the prophet Isaiah
temptations of life. That is the victorious life of hope.     who calls for courage and strength on the part of the
Such is our profit for which God sends His                    church of his day. At that time it seemed that the
chastisements; it makes no difference in which form           power of Assyria would destroy Judah and that God's
these come: persecution for Christ's sake, and being          promises would utterly fail. But God would perform
evilly spoken of by all men for Christ's sake.                His wonders; the wilderness and the solitary place
   It is a good rhetorical question: shall we not much        shall be glad for the inhabitants of it, and the desert
more submit ourselves to the Father of spirits, and           shall rejoice and blossom as a rose. God will do great
live?                                                         things in Christ. The eyes of the blind shall be
                                                              opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped
   Only thus will we really become "partakers of H.is         by the wonder of God's power. And, therefore, the
holiness". Our spiritual growth is very necessary. This       hands of the weak shall be strengthened, and feeble
does not mean merely some cultural development, a             knees shall be made to stand. And that is true also of
coming to an intellectual maturity. This is dealing           the Hebrew Christians.
with the man of God, who must be thoroughly
furnished unto every good work. But the essence of              Now the church must not be despondent about the
this is that we be holy as God is holy. (I Peter 1: 16)       hardships connected with the calling in Christ who
For this being holy as God is holy is directly                came to fulfill these promises concerning the
connected with our calling God our Father, who                blossoming of the desert. They must be active; their
without respect of persons judges every man                   hands must be strong. They must rise to the need of
according to his works. We must become partakers of           the hour. And their knees must not be weak. They
the divine nature. We must be sons who are the                must take a stand and endure. And they must insist
perfect image-bearers of our heavenly Father. (II             that the entire congregation stand strong in the faith.
Peter  1:3, 4) The very holy mind and will of God             "Those that be turned out of the way" must refer to
must become our mind and will. We must learn to say           those who are in danger of slipping from the faith in
from the heart; thy will be done. Then we are                 Christ and returning to the Old Testament types and
partakers of His holiness. And to arrive at that state        shadows. That would not be faith which believes to
and condition of life we need the corrections of the          the saving of the soul, but would be a falling back
Father of spirits that we may live.                           unto perdition. (Heb.  10:39) And such must not be
                                                              the case. Therefore the hands of the congregation and
To achieve this holiness in us His sons, the Father           its leaders must not be slack. They must have good
of spirits makes us to be "exercised" in afflictions          ` `oversight" over each other; the leaders in the
and chastisements. God makes us run the race in His           church, too, must have careful inspection of the flock
gymnasium. He makes us spiritual athletes, who must           and of their faith in Christ.
contend for the faith with all forms of opposition and
difficulties. And when we have been fully exercised             If there be those, who are turned out of the way,
(gegumnasmenois)  then we finally have the                    they must be "healed". This healing is really that
"peaceable fruit of righteousness." This righteousness        they come under and remain under the power of the
is the same as the "partaking of holiness". It is             Gospel, the healing of Christ. He is the tree of life
practical  righteousness, which is more abundant than         which has leaves for the healing of the nations. (Rev.
the righteousness of the Pharisees and Scribes. (Matt.        22:2) This is the healing which Christ portrayed in his
5:20) It is the righteousness in which the very jot and       miracles of healing; they proved that he had power to
tittle of the law is fulfilled. It is the righteous demand    forgive sins. (Mark  2:5-l 0) The latter was the real


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                237


healing from the power of guilt and sin. And this is        thankfulness of a living faith. This is no superficial
the healing which we need. And that is what the             and very wicked humanistic trying to get along with
writer is referring to. The saints must not stumble         one's neighbor, but it is the profound reality of
into destruction, but must be healed and set in the         "keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
right course of the Gospel in Christ.                       peace." (Eph. 4:3) This means basically that we keep
  This calls for action, for strong hands, and also for     each other in the law of Christ, faith which works by
knees which are not wobbly. Then the church shall           love. (Gal. 5 : 6) Bascially, pursuing peace with all is to
prosper and be in good health. (II John 2) For the          have the peace together which is ours by justification
law of commandments has no healing ordinance. The           by faith. The book of Hebrews does not speak of
law perfected nothing, but the bringing in of a better      justification; however, it is implied in this peace,
hope `did, by which we draw nigh to God. That is            being basic to it.  And  in this profound "peace" we
healing. Such is the power of grace in Christ Jesus our     are to strive for the unity of the Spirit.
Lord.,                                                         Besides, the church is to pursue "sanctification".
                                                            This sanctification is not to be limited to the
THE `NECESSITY OF PURSUING PEACE AND                        subjective putting off of the old man and the putting
SANCTIFICATION (Hebrews 12:14-17)                           on of the new man, but refers to the basic
  Shall the church really have strong hands and             sanctification of which the book of Hebrews
knees, prepared for sustained action and battle             repeatedly speaks. In Hebrews 9: 13 we read of a
against unbelief, then she must pursue "peace". The         sanctifying of the flesh by the blood of an heifer,
text speaks of "peace with all". The  ,"all" here           which is but a faint picture of the blood of Christ as
contextually seems to refer to all the congregation,        it purges the conscience from the dead works of the
the saints in the Lord. Not one must be overlooked or       outward observances to the worship of the living
neglected in the pursuit of peace. Basically, this peace    God. For we are sanctified by the "will" of God
which must be pursued is nothing less than the              through the offering of Jesus Christ once and for all
profound peace of the Cross, which Christ calls "my         a t   t h e   e n d   o f   t h e   a g e s .   ( H e b .   1O:lO)  T h e
peace". (John 14:27-3  1) It is a peace which is always     sanctification which we are to seek is the real putting
rooted in, and is the fruit of atonement. It refers to      away of all sin in the power of the blood and Spirit of
the new relationship of the redeemed to God, His            Jesus Christ. It also means that we are more and more
person, His counsel, His commandments, His                  conformed to the image of God, from glory unto
providential dealings. The Bible says that Christ is our    glory. Our entire life must be consecrated on the
peace. (Eph. 2: 14; Gal. 3 :28; Col. 1: 20, 22) And this    altar of Christ.
is the peace which Christ came to preach to those              And this we must pursue as in the hunt. It is an
who `are far and those who are near. (Eph. 2: 17)           asking, knocking, seeking in prayerful, supplication
When. we seek peace with all, we do all which is in our     for this grace. Only thus do we run the race and
power to walk in this finished work of Christ from          become partaker of God's holiness.


                                           Book Review

WHEN LOVE PREVAILS: A Pastor Speaks to a                    contains these sermons. Eventually the church split.
Church  in Crisis; by J. Herbert Gilmore,  Jr.; Wm. B.      Those who favored admitting colored formed a
Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1971; 141 pp., $3.95.              separate congregation which then engaged in
[Reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko]                                extensive evangelistic work among the blacks of
  A number of years ago a crisis faced the First            Birmingham. These sermons demonstrate vividly the
Baptist Church of Birmingham, Alabama. This crisis,         sentiments of one who believes strongly that the
reported throughout the country, was brought about          calling of the church has social overtones.
when a colored woman and her twelve-year-old                                              *is****
daughter applied for membership in the Church.
There were those in the church who favored                            STANDARD BEARER ANNOUNCEMENT
extending -membership to these colored; there were             South Holland Protestant Reformed Christian
those who did not. By a vote of the congregation,           School will be in need of a teacher for grades 4,5 and
membership was refused. During this whole time of           6 for the 1975-1976 term. Those interested please
crisis, Rev. Gilmore.  preached a number of sermons         contact G. F. Van Baren 15921 Parkside Ave., South
addressing themselves to  _ this issue. This book           Holland, Illinois 60473 or call 3 12-33 1-3818.


I-                                                                                                                                   I
      238                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



                    1975 Directory of Protestant Reformed Churches

      Faith Church, Jenison, Mich.            Prospect Park, N.J.                           Hope, Isabel, South Dakota
      Pastor: Rev. M. Joostens,               Clerk:     Mr. Tom Nelson,                    Clerk:     Milton H. Collmann
                 7194 - 20th Ave.,                       12 - 64 Burbank,                              Box 126,
                 Jenison, Mich. 49428                    Fairlawn, New Jersey 07412                    Isabel, S.D. 57633
                 (new address)                Treas:     Mr. Clarence De Groot,             Treas:     Art Reichert
      Clerk: Mr. F.  Ha&o                                176 Prescott Ave.,                            Rural Route
                 2315 Chippewa Dr.,                      Prospect Park, New Jersey 07508               Isabel, S.D. 57633
                 Jenison, Mich. 49428                                                       Loveland, Colorado
                                              Southeast, Grand Rapids
      Treas:     David Ondersma,                                                            Clerk:     Lawrence E. Nelson,
                 6761 Brookwood Dr., S.W.,    Clerk:     C. Lubbers,                                   617 W. 36th St.
                 Grandville,  Mich. 49418                 1404 Worcester N.E.,                         Loveland, Cola. 80537
                                                         Grand Rapids, Mich. 49505
      First  Church, Grand  Rapids,  Mich.                                                  Treas:     Tom De Vries,
                                              Treas:     R o b e r t   N o o r m a n ,                 Route 2, Box 41,
      clerk:     James Heys,                             949 Oakdale  S.E.,                            Loveland, Colo. 80537
                 1432 Giddings, S.E.                     Grand Rapids, Mich. 49507
                 Grand Rapids, Mich. 49507                                                  Lynden, Washington
                                              Southwest, Grand Rapids
      Treas:     Mr. Gary Bylsma,                                                           Clerk:     Hans Vander Veen,
                                              Clerk:      Phillip  J. Lotterman,
                 7507 Astronaut, S.W.,                                                                 313 Garrison Rd.,
                                                          871 Rushmore St.,
                 Jenison, Mich. 49428                                                                  Sumas,  Washington 98295
                                      ,                   Jenison, Mich. 49428              Treas:     Robert Vander Hoek,
      First Church, Holland, Mich.            Treas:      John Vander Woude                            714 E. Wiser Lake Rd.,
                                                          7085 Sunset,
      Clerk:     E. Kortering,                                                                         Lynden, Washington 98264
                                                          Jenison, Mich. 49428
                 253 E. 19th St.                                                            Pella, Iowa
                 Holland, Mich. 49423         Doon,  Iowa                                   Clerk:     Bernie  Menninga
      Treas:     T. Elzinga,                  Clerk:      Edwin Van Ginkel                             608 E. Second St.
                 10335 Riley St., R. No. 2                1922 Main St.,                               Pella, Iowa 60219
                 Zeeland, Mich. 49464                     Rock Valley, Iowa 5124j           Treas:     Vernon De Vries
                                              Treas:      Donald Aardema,                              R.R. No. 3
      Hope Church, Grand Rapids,  Mich.                   R.R. 1, Box 4,                               Knoxville, Iowa 50138
      Clerk:     John Kalsbeek,                           Doon, Iowa 51235                  Randolph,  Wise.
                 4132 Hall, S.W.,
                 Grand Rapids, Mich. 49504    Edgerton,  Minn.                              Clerk:     Gary Buteyn
                                                                                                       233 Second St.,
      Treas:     Ira Veenstra                 Clerk: Allen Hendriks,                                   Randolph,  Wise. 53956
                 1932 Rosewood St.,                       RR No. 2, Box 88,
                 Jenison, Mich. 49428                    Jasper,  Mhm. 56144                Treas:     Maurice De Vries,
                                              Treas:      Allen Brummel                                RFD 2,
                                                                                                       Randolph,  Wise. 53956
      Hudsonville,  Mich.                                 RR NO. 1, BOX ii5
                                                          Edgerton, Minn.  56128            Hope, Redlands, California
      Clerk: Hilbert Kuiper
                 3506 Baldwin Dr.,            Ebenezer, Forbes, North Dakota                Clerk:     Mr. E. Gritters,
                 Hudsonville, Mich. 49426                                                              934 College Ave.,
                                              Clerk:      Lorenz Bertsch                               Redlands, California 92373
      Treas:     Donald Van Overloop                      Forbes, N.D. 58439
                 5726 - 36th Ave.                                                           Treas:     Mr. R. Gaastra,
                 Hudsonville, Mich. 49426     Treas:      Gustave Streyle                              1220 Crown,
                                                          Forbes, N.D. 58439                           Redlands, California 92373
       Kalamazoo,  Mich.                       Hull, Iowa                                   South Holland, Illinois
       Clerk: Maurice  Klop                   Clerk:      Hemy Hoekstra;                    Clerk:     John Flikkema
                 7125 West Main St.                       R.R. 2,                                      2339  - 184th St.,
                 Kalamazoo, Mich. 49009                   Hull, Iowa, 5 1239                           Lansing, Ill. 60438
       Treas:    Maurice  Klop                 Treas:     Ralph Brummer                     Treas :    Gerrit Hollernan
                 7125 West Main St.                       R.R. 1,                                      18330 Stoney Island Ave.
                 Kalamazoo, Mich. 49009                   Hull, Iowa 5 1239                            Lansing, Ill. 60438


                                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                       239



                                      News From Our Churches
                          January 30, 1975                                                           Report of Classis East
   Rev. and Mrs. Engelsma took a week's vacation in                                                         January 8, I975
Florida during the middle of January. On January 16                                                  First Pro t. Ret` Church
Rev. Engelsma gave a public lecture on the subject,                               Classis East met in regular session on January 8,
"The Free Offer and Common Grace," under the                                   1975 at the First Prot. Ref. Church in Grand Rapids.
auspices of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in                                Each church was represented by two delegates. Rev.
Bradenton, Florida. According ~ to his South Holland                           M. Joostens led the classis in opening devotions and
bulletin, he also planned to preach there on Sunday                            Rev. Schipper, by rotation, was the chairman of this
evening, January 19.                                                           session of Classis.
   Rev. Schipper and his wife, incidentally, were also                            Classis began its business with the usual matters of
on vacation in the Sunshine State during that and the                          the signing of the Formula of Subscription by
following week. Vacationing ministers, in South                                first-time delegates, the reading of the previous
Holland and Southeast on the 19th,  coupled with the                           meeting's minutes, and the reading of the reports of
regular need for supply in Kalamazoo, put a                                    the Stated Clerk and Classical Committee. With
temporary strain on pulpit supply in the east: As a                           respect to the latter report, it can be noted that Rev.
result, Hope's ,Pastor, Rev. Van Overloop, preached                            G. Lubbers' credentials have now been transferred to
three sermons that Sunday. Two of those were at                                Classis West.
morning services, the first in his own congregation at                            The usual committees were appointed and reported
9:00,: and the second at 1l:OO in Southwest, whose                            in the latter part of the session. The Finance
Pastor,  Rev. H. Veldman, was on classical                                     Committee composed of Elders D. Kooienga and C.
appointment in Kalamazoo.                                                      Lubbers reported expenses totalling $290.9 1. Elder
                                                                              C. (Neil) Pastoor was appointed to thank the ladies for
                                                                    D.D.                                                       (continued on back page)

              RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                                            RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
                                                                                 The Ladies Society of the Hudsonville Protestant Reformed Church
   The members of the Ladies Society "Ruth" of the Hope Protestant            hereby expresses its sincere sympathy with one of its members, Mrs.
Reformed Church express their sympathy to -one of their members,              Wm. Lems and family, in the loss of their husband and father, MR.
Mrs. J. Elzinga, in the loss of her father, MR.  H. J. JACOBS.                WILLIAM LEMS, who after months of patient suffering is taken to be
   "But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon         with the Lord.
them that fear Him." (Psalm  103:17).        Rev. R. Van Overloop, Pres.         "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints."
                                                 Mrs. P. Zandstra, Sec'y.     Psalm 116:15.                                           The Ladies Society,
                                                                                                                                Mrs. J. B. Lubbers, Sec'y.
              RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY,
   The Ladies Society "Ruth", of the Hope Protestant Reformed                                  RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
Church mourns the loss of one  of its members, `MRS. JOHN
SCHOLTEN, whom the Lord called home suddenly on January 23,                      The Adult Bible Class of the Hudsonville Protestant Reformed
1975.                                                                         Church mourns the loss of one of our faithful members, MR. WILLIAM
   "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall        LEMS, who entered into the Rest on January 7, 1975.
be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any         Our comfort rests in the confession, "As for me, I will behold Thy
more pain. For the former things are passed away." (Rev.  21:4).              face in righteousness, I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with  lhy
                                                                              likeness." (Psalm  17:16.)
                                             Rev. R. Van Overloop, Pres.
                                                 Mrs. P. Zandstra, Sec'y.                                                           The Adult Bible Class
                                                                                                                                 of the Hudsonville Prot.
              `RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                                                                                         Ref. Church
                                                                                                                         Mrs. D. Van Overloop, Sec'y.
   The, Mary-Martha Society of South East Protestant Reformed
Church expresses its sincere sympathy to the Misses Lena and Marie
Koppenal in the sudden loss of their brother, LEONARD KOPPENAL.                                 WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
   "Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord; that walketh in His
ways." (Psalm  12B:l).                                                           On March 8, 1975, our parents, MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM
                                                   Mrs. M. Schipper, Pres.    LENTING, hope to commemorate their 35th wedding anniversary. We,
Grand Rapids, Michigan                    Mrs. Herman C. Ophoff,  Sed'y.      their children, are thankful to our Heavenly Father for sparing them
                                                                              these many years for each other and for us.
               RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                            We thank God for the Christian home and instruction they have, by
   The Choral Society of Hudsonville Protestant Reformed Church               His grace and providence, provided us during their married'life.
wishes to express its sincere sympathy to some of its members, Mr. and           It is our prayer that God will continue to bless and care for them
Mrs. Henry Boer, Mr.  Norwin  Brower, Mrs. Robert De Young in the loss        through their remaining years together.
of their  jfather and father-in-law  - MR. WILLIAM LEMS.                                                                         Mr. and Mrs. Marv Davis
    May the Lord comfort them in their bereavement and may they                                                               Mr. and Mrs. Henry Lenting
know that He who controls all things, doeth them well.                                                                       Mr. and Mrs. Bill Lenting, Jr.
                                                      Mr. J. Kuiper, Pres.                                                           Adrian Jerry Lenting
                                                    Mrs. K. Berens, Sec'y.    South Holland, Ill.                                     and 6 grandchildren

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

                                                 ~_  -~-__  -~  ~~~~  ~-~  -~~  -  ~~  -



240

their catering services. His report nearly became the
highlight of the meeting. Rev. G.  Van  Baren and                                         THE STANDARD BEARER
                                                                    Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July, and August.
Elders P. Lotterman and M. Haveman were appointed                   Published by the Reformed Free Publishing Association, Inc.
to prepare a schedule of appointments to Kalamazoo.                   Second Class Postage Paid at Grand Rapids, Mich.
                                                                Editor-in-Chief: Prof. Homer C. Hoekseme
The schedule adopted for Kalamazoo is as follows:               Department Editors:  Prof. Robert D. Decker, Mr. Donald Doezema,
January 19 - Rev. H. Veldman; February 2 - Rev. C.              Rev. David J. Engelsma. Rev. Cornelius Hanko, Prof.  Herma? Hanko.
                                                                Rev. Robert C. Harbach, Rev. John A.  Heys, Rev. Jay  Korterlng,  Rev.
hanko; February 16 - Rev. M. Joostens; March 2 -                Dale H. Kuiper, Rev. George C. Lubbers, Rev. Marinus  Schlpper, Rev.
                                                                Gise J. Van  Baren, Rev. Herman Veldman
Rev. G. Van  Baren; March 16  - Rev. M.  Schipper;              Editorial Office:  Prof. H. C. Hoeksema
                                                                                      4975 lvanrest Ave. S.W.
March 30 - Rev. R. Van Overloop.         1                                            Grandville. Michigan  49418
                                                                Church News Editor:         Mr. Donald Doezema
  The January meeting of  Classis always considers                                          1904  Plymouth Terrace, S.E.
                                                                                            Grand  Raoids.  Michiqan  49506
two items of business, viz., the submission of subsidy          Editorial Policy:  Every editor is  ;oleiy responsible for the contents of
requests for the following year (1976) and the                  his own articles. Contributions of general interest from our  reade!s
                                                                and questions for the Question-Box Department are welcome.  Contrl-
election of  synodical delegates.  Classis approved a           butions  will be limited to approximately 300 words and must be  neatly
                                                                written or typewritten, and must be signed. Copy deadlines are the  flrSt
                                                                and the fifteenth of the month. All communications relative to the
                                                                _..-  -
$4300 subsidy for the year 1976 for Kalamazoo and               lontents   sh&ld be sent to the editorial office.
ti $1 1 ,0 15 subsidy request for the year 1976 for             Weprint  Policy:  Permission Is hereby granted for the reprinting of  arti-
                                                                :les in our magazine by other publications, provided: a) that such  re-
Prospect Park.  Synodical delegates elected were as             Xlnted articles are reproduced in full;  b) that proper acknowledgement
                                                                s made; c) that a copy of the periodical in which such reprmt appears
follows: MINISTERS: Primi: C. Hanko, M. Joostens,               s sent to our editorial office.
G. Van  Baren, R. Van Overloop;  Secundi:  A. den               Business Office:  The Standard Bearer
                                                                                      Mr. H. Vander Wal, Bus. Mgr.
Hartog, J.A. Heys, M.  Scbipperj  H. Veldman.                                         P. 0. BOX 6064
                                                                                      Grand Raoids.  Michiaan  49506
ELDERS:  Primi;  J. Kalsbeek, D.' Kooienga, H.                  Business Agent for Austra6sia:Mr. Wm. van Ril
                                                                                                    59 Kent Lodge Ave.
Kuiper, D. Lotterman;  Secundi:  G. De Vries, D.                                                    Christchurch 4, New Zealand
                                                                Subscription Policy:  Subscription price, $7.00 per year ($5.90  fqr
Dykstra, J. Flikkema, L. Looyenga.                              9ustralasla).  Unless a definite request for discontinuance Is  received,   It
                                                                IS assumed that the subscriber wishes the subscri tion to continue  with-
  In other voting, Rev. Van Overloop  was elected to            Jut the formality of a renewal order, and he  WI 7
                                                                                                                          I be billed for renewal.
                                                                If you have a change of address, please notify the Business Office as
a three-year term as primus  delegate ad examina and            sarlv as oossible in order to avoid the inconvenience of delayed  deliv-
                                                                sry.-lncldde  your Zip Code.
pev. Van  Baren and Rev. Veldman were elected to                advertising Policy:  The  Standard Bearer  does not accept commercial
                                                                advertising of any kind. Announcements of church and school events,
two-year and three-year terms respectively as secundi           anniversaries. obituaries, and sympathy resolutions will be placed for a
                                                                $3.00 fee. These should `be sent to the  Business  Office and should be
delegates  ad examina.                                          accompanied by the-$3.00 fee. Deadline for announcements  1s the  1st
                                                                Dr the 15th of the month, previous to publication on the 15th or the
                                                                1st  respectively.
  The church visitors gave their final report which             Bound Volumes:  The Business Office will accept standing orders for
                                                                bound copies of the current volume; such orders are filled as soon as
was an account of their visit to Prospect Park. In              possible after completion of a volume. A  limlted  number of past vol-
                                                                umes may be obtained through the Business Office.
connection with this visit, the visitors had. the
privilege of lecturing to the people of this area.
  In other than routine business, the  Classis
considered an overture from the Council of Hope                                                 CONTENTS:
Church requesting that the  .Student  Aid Committee
be discharged. This matter, according to the rules of           The Beginning of Sorrows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
the  Classis, was placed in the hands of a study                Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22c
committee. The committee of Rev. C; Hanko, Rev. H.              A Significant Overture On Student Aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .221
Veldman, and Elder K. Lanning is to report to the               The Dignity And Authority Of Holy Scripture . . . . . . . . . -224
April meeting of Classis.                                       The Bible As Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22t
  After the asking and answering of the questions of            Seminary Building Fund Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .228
Article 41 of the Church Order and the closing                  Exercise Unto Godliness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .230
remarks of the chairman,  Classis adjourned until its           This Is Theological Development??? . . . :. . . . . . . . . . . . . .232
next meeting which will be held on April 2, 1975 at             Expositiotiof  Hebrews 12:7-l 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .235
Southeast Church. Elder K. Lanping closed the                   When Love Prevails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .237
meeting with prayer.                                            1975 Directory of Protestant Reformed Churches . . . . . . .238
                                 Respectfully submitted,        News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
                                              Jon Huisken
                                              Stated Clerk


