            The
     STANDARD
       BEARER
e           A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE




     .  .  . If we look at ourselves as we really are

     now, we do not always appear as children of
     God. There is so much in us that still looks
     like the devil. Our old natures are still quite
     prominent. Though in principle there can be
     no doubt that we are God's children, it does
     not yet appear what we shall be. However,
     when we have fully become the children of
     God, 0, how beautiful we shall be! Then we
     shall be perfectly like unto our God, Who is
     b e a u t i f u l   i n d e e d !
     See "Becoming Children of God"
                                                           - page 434

c                                          Volume LVIII, No. 19, August I,1982


434                                                              THE STANDARD BEARER



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       Becoming Children of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .434              Deparfment  Editors:  Rev. Wayne Bekkering, Rev. Wilbur  Bruinsma, Rev. Arie
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MEDITATION

                                  Becoming Children of `God
                                                                        Rev. M. Schipper


                   `But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to
               them that believe on His Name"                                                                                             John1:12


  Concerning the text itself, there are especially                                     the world of darkness, which "comprehended Him
three things that merit our attention.                                                 not" (verse  5), and which "knew Him not" (verse
  First of all, it should be clearly noted that the text                               10).  In verse  11  the apostle describes  Him coming
is introduced with the conjunctive word "but,"                                         into a smaller circle, namely, that of His "own
which indicates that the Word of God here stands                                       things"  - the more  intimate circle, where He also
in contrast to the preceding context. In that context                                  was rejected and cast out. But now, according to
the apostle wrote of Christ's rejection, first of all by                               the text, in spite of what appeared as universal  re-


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                               435



jection, there were those who received Him. Not             their partaking of His image. Not, you understand,
only were there those of His own who received               in the essential image, for only the Son has  the,
Him, but also among the nations of the world. By a          expressed, the essential image of God (Heb.  1:3);
wonder of grace there are some in Israel and among          but in the created image, so that in a creatural sense
the nations who received Him. Though the Scrip-             we partake of the image of God. Into that image we
tures, as in the text, describe them as the remnant         are transformed by the Spirit of regeneration, and
that are saved, they are also described as a great          in principle are become the children of God. God is
host which no man can number.                               our Father, and we. partake of His likeness spiri-
  Secondly, we should note the pronouns, "Him,"             tually.
"He," and "His" in the text. The antecedents of                This wonder of grace could never happen in a
these pronouns, that is, the names to which the             natural way. Who ever heard of adopted children
pronouns refer are: "the true Light," "the Light"           taking on them the image of those who adopted
(verses 8,  9), "the Life" (verse  4), and still farther    them? Those who aspire to parenthood through the
back "the Word" (Logos) (verse 1). And when you             legal means of adoption may try when they choose
look ahead to verse 14, you discover "that the              the children they adopt to pick out those who more
Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." And               resemble themselves. Most generally, however,
this can refer to none other than the Son of God            they discover after while their disillusionment.
incarnate, the Person of the Son of God become              Neither in looks nor in nature do their adopted sons
flesh. Our Lord Jesus Christ! He is the one Who is          and daughters resemble them. But, through a
received, and He it is Who gives power to become            wonder of grace this is quite different when God
the children of God.                                        adopts His sons and daughters. Through the grace
  In the third place, it must also be pointed out that      of regeneration they are born again from above in
the translation, as given above, is not entirely in         His image and likeness  - not in the similitude of
accord with the original text. The translation has          Adam, who was created in the image of God but
"to become the sons of God"; while in the original          through sin lost that image, and we with him, but in
text we read "to become the children of God." As            the similitude of God's Son, which image cannot be
we shall see in a moment, there is a difference in          lost.
meaning between these two translations, which we               Moreover, when the text speaks of our becoming
do well to see.                                             the children of God, it considers this becoming a
  With these thoughts in mind, we consider now              process, something that is held before us in
the truth of t-he Word of God here, that power is           prospect.
given to become the children of God.                           This implies, does it not, that we are not the
  Glorious prospect!                                        children of God by nature  - contrary to all Mod-
  That is, of becoming children of God!                     ernism. The latter, you know, believe in the
                                                            universal Fatherhood of God; and this must mean
  Though it is true that the Scriptures also speak of       that all men are therefore the children of God, and
becoming sons of God, this is not what the apostle          they make bold to say so. The truth is, that by
tells us in the text.                                       nature all men are children of darkness, and
  The apostle Paul in Galatians  3:26 writes: "For          partake of the very image of the father of lies, and
ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ           the "all men" includes us. If we are to become the
Jesus." The word "children" here is properly                children of God, God, by the Spirit of Christ, must
"sons." Again, in Galatians  4:5, 6, the apostle            make us so to become. But there is more.
speaks of the "adoption of sons," and "because ye              As we already suggested, we are becoming the
are sons." And when the Scriptures speak of our             children of God. Though through regeneration we
sonship,  as they do also in other places, they relate      are the children of God in principle, we have not
to the idea of adoption, through which we are               yet attained unto the fullness of our childhood. The
brought into the family of God in a legal sense.            apostle John, in his first epistle, tells us this in no
Reverently speaking, God has only one natural Son,          uncertain terms when he writes: "Beloved, now are
the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and          we the sons (children) of God, and it doth not yet
truth. If He is to have any other sons, it must be          appear what we shall be: but we know that when
through the way of adoption; and our adoption               He (Christ) shall appear, we shall be like Him, for
papers, so to speak, are written with a pen of blood,       we shall see Him as He is" (I John  3:2). It is
the blood of His Only Begotten Son. When, on the            therefore to the final appearance of Christ on the
other hand, the Word of God, as in our text, speaks         clouds of heaven that our becoming the children of
of the children of God, it reflects on their regenera-      God is pointed. Until then, we are in the process of
tion, their having been born again from above, of           becoming His children. This process then begins


436                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



with the moment of our regeneration, when in prin-          A little later in the Gospel of John (chapter  8),
ciple we become the children of God; and this             we learn that the Jews of Jesus' day laid claim to
process ends in our glorious resurrection in the day      this power by nature. They asserted that they were
of Christ, when in body and soul we shall appear -        the children of Abraham, and that God was their
beautiful children of God! You can understand this,       Father (verses 33, 41). Jesus admitted that they
too, can you not? If we look at ourselves as we           were Abraham's seed (verse 37); however, as He
really are now, we do not always appear as children       pointed out to them, if they were truly the children
of God. There is so much in us that still looks like      of Abraham and children of God, they would do the
the devil. Our old natures are still quite prominent.     works of Abraham (verse 39). Further, He asserted,
Though in principle there can be no doubt that we         if God was their Father, they would love Christ,
are God's children, it does not yet appear what we        and recognize that He came forth from the Father.
shall be. However, when we have fully become the          This, they did not do. Thus they showed not only
children of God, 0, how beautiful we shall be!            that their claim was false, but that truly they were
Then we shall be perfectly like unto our God, Who         the children of the devil (verse 44). This context
is beautiful indeed! That is what the apostle has in      shows plainly that while they laid claim to being
mind when he speaks in our text of becoming the           the children of God, they nevertheless had no right
children of God. Instructive in this connection is        to this claim, as their works testified.
also what we read in II Corinthians 3:18; Galatians         This false Jewish claim is implicit in all present
4:19; and II Peter 1:4.                                   day Modernism and in all Arminianism preached in
  Wonderful power!                                        our time. It is most important that we understand
  As many as received Him, to them gave He                this. Whether with Modernism one believes that all
power to become the children of God.                      men are by nature children of God, or with Armin-
  The New Testament Scriptures use especially             ianism one believes that it lies within the power of
two words to denote power. Avery common word              all men to accept Christ proffered in the gospel,
is that from which our English words dynamic,             both lay claim to that which is untrue.
dynamo, and dynamite are derived. It refers to              As the Word of God in our text clearly states, the
power in the sense of ability and strength, energiz-      power, that is, the right to lay claim to becoming
ing power, which enables one to accomplish some-          children of God, must be divinely given. It is a
thing. The other word, the word used in our text, is      power of God in Christ, and given only to those
properly translated by such terms as authority, the       who are truly the children of God.
right of claim.                                             Marvelous way!
  Sometimes these two words are used together, as           This is indicated in the first part of our text,
for example, in Acts 1:7,8. There we read: "And He        where the apostle speaks of those who received
(Christ) said unto them (His disciples), it is not for    Christ, and in the last part of the text, where the
you to know the times or the seasons, which the           first part is explained: "even them who believe on
Father hath put in His own power (authority). But         His Name."
ye shall receive power (ability), after that the Holy
Ghost is come upon you.. . ." It should be plain from       This implies, first of all, that when they received
the first part of this text, that to know and deter-      Christ, He must first impart Himself unto them. It
mine the times and seasons resides singularly             implies, in the second place, that.only after He has
within the authority of God and His right to govern.      given power to become the children of God, do
While in the last part of the text the Lord says that     they consciously appropriate Him, and believe on
power, that ability, is to be given also unto the dis-    His Name.
ciples after the Holy Ghost is come upon them; that         We strongly object to the interpretation of those
is, the Holy Spirit will enable them also to discern      who would maintain on the basis of our text that
the times and seasons.                                    our reception of Christ or our believing on His
  In our text, however, the apostle does not use the      Name is the condition we fulfill, in order to become
word for power that signifies the power of ability        the children of God. In the first place, faith is not
and strength, but he uses the word which clearly          that which is inherent in every man; rather, it is a
signifies power in the sense of authority, and            gift of God (Eph. 2:8). Nor is it ever a condition man
especially the right of claim.                            fulfills, in order to obtain something of God. But it
                                                          is always presented in Scripture as the means and
  Power given by God!                                     the way through which God applies unto us His
  They who receive Christ and lay claim to their          saving grace. That we receive Christ and believe on
becoming the children of God, do not have this            His Name, is implicit in the power given to become
power of themselves, but it is given to them of           the children of God. God is first, not man  - in
Christ.                                                   order that of Him, through Him, and unto Him,


                                           THE STANDARD BEARER                                              437



may be all the glory (Rom. 11:36).                        cause us to walk in the way of sanctification, with-
  Indeed, they who are given power to become the          out which no man shall see the Lord (Hebrews
children of God, receive Christ, and they believe on      12:14).
His' Name; that is, the revelation of Christ as pre-        The power that is given to become the children
sented in the gospel. This is precisely the appointed     of God is also the power given to receive Christ and
way to their becoming the children of God. Only           to believe on His Name. Or, to put it differently, to
when the gospel is purely preached is Christ              believe into His Name, and then to embrace Christ
revealed unto us. And only as He is properly pre-         with living faith, is the working out of the power,
sented to us, is His image truly reflected to us, and     the right to claim, that we are the children of God.
we are transformed into that image.                         As was said, this transforming process goes on in
  What a marvelous way in which God in Christ             us until we shall see Him face to face.
makes'us to become more and more the children of            Glorious prospect!
God!                                                        Wonderful power!
  It belongs to our becoming children of God there-
fore, not only that we receive Christ, appropriate          Marvelous way!
Him as our own, as He is presented to us in the             From the moment of our regeneration unto the
Word, and not only that we believe on this revela-        moment we shall see Him, we are being changed by
tion of Christ, through which we are transformed          the power of God in Christ into those children who
into the children of God, but, as John informs us in      will appear exactly as He is, and as His children
his epistle (I John  3:2), that we purify ourselves as    shall with Him constitute the family.of God.
He is pure. This is, indeed, the transforming               Then the covenant of God shall be realized, the
process God uses to make us to become His                 object of His eternal good pleasure!
children. Proper preaching of the Word must also            Amen!

EDITORIALS
Prof. H.C. Hoeksema


               Suggestions for Improving Synod

  In this issue and the next a few suggestions will       a chalkboard) in the presence of the whole Synod.
be offered toward the improvement of our  synod-          It often takes place at a time when Synod is rushing
ical gatherings. These are based, for the most part,      to finish its business, so that the delegates may go
on my observation of the activities of the Synod just     home. Sometimes, as this year, it takes place in a
completed in June. Most, if not all, of them could        session lengthened past the normal adjournment
be followed without bringing about any formal             time - something which seems to add to the haste
change in the rules; some of them merely involve          with which this work is performed. At our most
adhering more closely to rules and practices which        recent Synod, for example, we were suddenly in-
we already have. My motive for making these sug-          formed  - after adjournment and after the reading
gestions  - if I must give account of it  - is, as the    of the concept minutes  - that two Western dele-
title of this editorial suggests, that I seek the im-     gates had to leave for home the next morning. Sud-
provement of our synodical gatherings.                    denly and without any possible formal decision (we
  My first suggestion concerns the matter of voting       were adjourned!) it was decided to reconvene and
for members on our various standing committees            to meet right through the supper hour to complete
and for such officers as stated clerk and synodical       the remainder of Report IV and to take care of
treasurer and their alternates. For as many years as      voting. Besides, the whole procedure of voting at
I can remember this voting has always taken place         the end of Synod is rather anticlimactic and not
at the very end of our synodical sessions. It has         conducive to a dignified conclusion of our broadest
taken place in a somewhat informal atmosphere -           assembly.
sometimes too informal. It has followed the  old-           In my opinion, there would be two possible
fashioned procedure of nominations from the floor,        methods of bringing about improvement and also
balloting, and then tallying the votes (sometimes on      greater efficiency in this regard.


438                                         THE STANDARD' BEARER



  A first method would be  siVmply to take care of        now, it is a bit hap-hazard. Sometim.es there is doubt
voting for various committees and functionaries as        as to eligibility and availability. Sometimes quali-
the occasion arises in connection with their reports.     fied men are overlooked. Sometimes there is ignor-
Thus, for example, if the Domestic Mission Com-           ance on the part of the delegates, as, for example,
mittee's report is treated by Advisory Committee I,       when delegates from  Classis East must vote for
and it is reported that the terms of a minister and an    committees whose constituency is from the West
elder expire this year, take care of voting for re-       and vice versa. I have the following suggestions in
placements immediately, rather than waiting till          this regard:
the end of Synod. This would result, of course, in        1) The various standing committees could make
scattering the voting throughout the sessions of          suggestions  as to nominees. I want to emphasize that
Synod. But it would avoid many of the disadvan-           these should be suggestions, not nominations. We
tages of the present method. Two disadvantages of         should not open the door to committees becoming
this suggestion might be that it tends to interrupt       self-perpetuating.
the work of Synod when from time to time it must          2) The delegates to Synod themselves should give
vote like this, and that it might be disadvantageous      advance study to this matter of nominees, so that
to vote separately rather than to get an over-all         they are prepared to make intelligent nominations.
view of the personnel needed on various commit-           3) .I see no reason why consistories could not make
tees.                                                     suggestions in this regard. Often they are in the best
  A second method would be as follows: 1.                 position to know which elders or ex-elders would
Appoint a committee on elections immediately at           be both capable and available to serve on some of
the very first session of Synod. This could either be     our committees.
the committee on committees or it could be an al-         4) Sometimes a few words of identification of
together separate committee. 2. This committee            nominees woul be helpful, provided this would
would survey the personnel needs of the various           not lead to any 7
                                                                          "campaigning."
standing committees and functionaries, would                Perhaps other suggestions could be made. I am
prepare a list for Synod (or use the list usually pre-    convinced, however, that this is one area of Synod's
pared by the Stated Clerk), and bring this to the         work which is long overdue for some streamlining.
attention of Synod, again at that opening session. At       My second suggestion is connected with Synod's
this time nominations would be made by Synod              decision last June not to treat three overtures in the
and recorded by the committee. 3. The committee           Agenda which had not been properly processed
would then prepare printed ballots and distribute         from consistory to Classis  to Synod.
them to the delegates on Thursday. 4. These ballots
would then be collected and tallied by the commit-          First of all, let me explain Synod's decision and
tee, after sufficient time was allowed for the            the grounds for it. You will recall that I reported the
delegates to mark their ballots. 5. In case of a lack     decision of Synod to reject three overtures as not
of majority in a given instance, the committee on         being legally before Synod. This does not mean that
elections would be empowered to make a decision           the overtures themselves had no merit and that
concerning voting between the two or three highest        they were rejected as to their  content.  It simply'
and to submit a new ballot to the delegates. After        means that they were not treated at all, and that if
the whole process is completed, the results can be        they should come to Synod next year in the proper
announced to Synod. All of this could be accom-           way, they could very well be treated and even
plished with very little inconvenience, with no in-       adopted then. In the grounds of this decision,
terruption of the work of Synod, and with almost          Synod cited Article 5, B, 3, a and b of the Rules of
none of Synod's time expended on it. Besides, the         Synod: "The following matters shall be considered
important matter of voting for committee personnel        by Synod: a. All overtures forwarded by the
could be accomplished when Synod is fresh and             Classes. b. All overtures rejected by the Classes,
alert, rather than when the delegates are weary and       but which are forwarded by their authors without
rushing to adjourn.                                       classical approval." Further, Synod referred to
                                                          Article 30 of the Church Order,  "...In major as-
  If necessary, an arrangement like this could, by        semblies only such matters shall be dealt with as
overture, be made part of the rules of Synod. At          could not be finished in minor assemblies, or such
present, however, there is nothing in the rules, as       as pertain to the churches of the major assembly in
far as I can tell, which would prohibit Synod from        common." Still further, Synod called attention to
initiating a procedure like this. It only awaits some-    precedent. The Advisory Committee called Synod's
one's action.                                             attention to the fact that from 1948 through 1981
  There is one more item in this connection which         there were at least 47 overtures to Synod. Of these
needs attention. I believe our method of making           45 went through  Classis  first, while only two (in
nominations could be improved. As matters stand           1980) did not. And finally, Synod cited as a ground


                                                           THE  5TANDARD  BEARER                                           4.3 9



the fact that three former professors of church                          Classis  must not think they arzabiding by this rule
polity (Rev. G.M. Ophoff,. Prof.  Hoeksema,* and                         when they merely rubber stamp an overture rather
Prof. Hanko) have maintained this position in their                      than given it careful study.  Norl.may  consistories
notes on Article 46 of the Church Order. Prof.                           and  Classis  pass on overtures "without comment"
Hanko states it this way in his notes:                                   or "without prejudice." On the contrary, there are
      An  overture   is  a  request   on  the  part   of  a  minor       several things to consider here. We note the follow-
   assembly   to  a  major   assembly  to  take   some   positive        ing:
   action  on  a  matter  within  the  jurisdiction   of  a  major       1) When an overture is presented to a consistory
   assembly.   These  overtures   may   originate   with   an  in-       by an individual or by a consistory to a Classis,  the
   dividual,   a  Consistory,   a  Classis.   They  go  to  broader      first thing to check is the rule of Article 46 of the
   assemblies   via  the  minor   assemblies.   Each  minor              Church Order: "Instructions concerning matters to
   assembly ought  also to consider  its value  and come to              be considered in major assemblies shall -not be
   a formal decision  on it. This is quite  important.                   written until the decisions of previous Synods
  The late Rev. Ophoff wrote as follows:                                 touching these matters have been read, in order
       There is also this  question.  Can a Classis  bring  upon         that what was once decided be not again proposed,
    the Synod  a matter that  has not been brought  upon  the            unless a revision be deemed necessary." And let it
    Classis   by a consistory through  its  delegation?  This  is        be noted, that if "a revision be deemed necessary,"
    not  very  well,possible,   for  it  would   mean   that  the        the burden of proof lies with those bringing the
    delegates   to  Classis   present   to  Classis   a  matter   ,or    overture.
    matters   that  they  were  not  instructed  to  present  by         2) When an overture is presented, a consistory or a
    the  consistories  who   delegated   them.  And   this   they        Classis should consider such an overture carefully
    may   not  do.  For  as  to  its  essence  the  entire               and on its merits. It may be that the assembly
    "agendum"  of the Synod  must  originate  with  the local            comes to the conclusion that the overture is ill-ad-
    churches,  must,   in  other  words,   rise   from  the  bosom       vised and then refuses to add its adherence. In such
    of the churches. The Synod  cannot treat  matters that,              an instance, an individual or consistory still has the
   as  to their essence, were   not brought  upon  the  Synod
   by  the Classis,   and the  same  holds   true  of  the Classis       right to insist that the overture go through to Synod,
   in  relation  to  the consistories.  But this   of course  does       and it will appear in the Agenda, but without con-
   not  mean   that  the  matter  must   be  brought   to  the           sistorial or classical approval or even with express
   Classis   by  every   consistory,   but  it  must   be  brought       disapproval. It may also be that an individual or a
   there by at least  one consistory. Common  members of                 consistory becomes persuaded that the overture
   the  church  can  also  bring   matters   to  Classis,   but  the     should be withdrawn, and then it will not even
   rule  should  be that  they do so through  the consistory,            appear in the Agenda.
   or  at  least   not  without   the  knowledge   of  the  consis-      3) When such an overture is presented, a consis-
   tory.. . . .                                                          tory of a Classis  can also conceivably improve upon
  Synod, therefore, simply reinforced a rule which                       it and add some modifications.
we have had and have practiced for many years.                           4) Finally, the minor assemblies also have the op-
And the principle is a sound one: what is treated by                     portunity  - and to my mind, the duty  - to take
a Synod must arise. out of the bosom of the                              care of some of the "homework" that might be
churches.                                                                connected with an overture. Sometimes informa-
  My suggestion in connection with this decision                         tion is needed, for example, with respect to costs,
of Synod is that we must very really live by this                        manner of execution, or even the possibility of
rule. Synod must not simply become a dumping                             execution. Why should all this work be dumped in
ground for all kinds of frivolous or ill-considered                      the lap of Synod or a  synodical study committee
proposals; and the churches must not take the                            when it could better and more efficiently be done at
attitude that after all Synod will sort out the various                  the local or regional level?
overtures, disposing of the poor ones and adopting                         If, therefore, we try conscientiously to live by
the good ones, and that this can be safely left to                       this rule, the result can only be salutary for our
Synod. This means, therefore, that consistories and                      Synods and our churches.



     makes a thoughful gift


440                                                        THE STANDARD BEARER



                 The "eodem modo" Rejected in the
                                  `Conclusion of the Canons

[In the June 1 issue  we continued  to call attention to the misuse          Berkouwer landed. Daane makes this very plain
of this  expression,  noting  that  on the part  of Dr. Berkouwer this       when he writes, p. 200: "This means that any
led ultimately to an outright  rejection of the doctrine of double           doctrine of reprobation is illegitimate by biblical
predestination,   Then  we  began   to  look   at  what   American           standards except that which biblical teaching sanc-
theologians  have  done  with this expression.  We noted  that  Dr.          tions: that he (sic) who rejects God, God rejects."
Harry   Boer  saw   it  as  a  "drawing   back  at  the  brink  from  the
enormity of the consequences of a theological  rationalism"  by                To cite in context and to refute all of Daane's
men who  "did not have  the courage  to stand  by what  they had             misuses of this expression would probably result in
written," but  "refused  to  break  with   the  logical   premise   that     another book as long as his. Permit me, however, to
led  them  to  it."  We  now   continue  with   our  discussion   of  the    give a few instances.
misuse of this  expression.]                                                   On pages 31 and 32 he writes:
   In passing we may note that the Study Report
does not see this expression in the same light as                                  When  Van  Til and Hoeksema  speak  this  way,  they
does the Boer Gravamen. It does not recognize a                                 contend  that  they are  articulating authentic Reformed
                                                                                theology.  Their differences come within the context of
conflict between the statement in the Conclusion                                a  much  deeper   agreement.   Both  expound   a  decretal
and the doctrine of reprobation as set forth in                                 theology   in which God's  decree is not  identified  with
Canons I. This is not due, however, to a basic dis-                             his freedom,  but with  his essence, and thus with God
agreement with Boer and to an embracing of the                                  Himself.   On  this  position   God  Himself  is  -  and  is in
teachings of the Canons. After all the Study Report                             the  same   manner   (in eodem modo)  -  the  cause   and
first twists Articles 6 and 15 of Canons I, and then                            therefore  the  explanation   and  rationale   of  "whatso-
in its recommendations reduces reprobation to a                                 ever   comes  to  pass, "  including   election  and  reproba-
kind of limited election. Except for a weak clinging                            tion  -  a  principle  the  Canons   of  Dort   reject.  It  is
to a notion of "deficient causality," the Study                                 evident   that   nothing   in  decretal  theology   is  new,
Report is in agreement with Boer. But the Study                                 special,   unique,   specifically  gracious,   truly  gospel,
                                                                                that   everything   is  essentially   neutral,   of  the  same
Report sees no conflict between the body of the                                 nature  and accomplished "in the same  manner."
Canons and the Conclusion simply because it has
first changed the meaning of the Canons with                                   Notice how already here the rejection of a
respect to reprobation, and therefore finds no need                          calumny in the Conclusion of the Canons is
of "drawing back at the brink" when it comes to                              elevated by Daane to a "principle" which the
the Conclusion.                                                              Canons reject, and that, too, with applications not
                                                                             only to reprobation but to the whole of God's
   Dr. James Daane, in his The Freedom of God, goes                          counsel. The theologians of Dordt would certainly
beyond all bounds in his misuse of the Canons'                               not recognize their own theology in this presenta-
rejection of this "eodem modo." We may note, inci-                           tion of Dr. Daane.
dentally, that he is very careless in his reference to
this expression. More than once in his book he cites                           In a similar vein he writes on pp. 35 and 36:
the Latin incorrectly as "in eodem modo" rather                                    The Conclusion of the Canons  of Dort  explicitly re-
than "eodem modo;" and more than once he writes                                 jects  - in fact, detests - the position  that  election and
as though the Canons simply say "non eodem modo                                 reprobation are related  "in the same  manner"  [in [sic]
(not in the same manner)" - something which the                                 eodem modo).  God  does  not  elect  men  in  the  same
Canons do not say in so many words, though they                                 manner  in which He rejects men.  Election and repro-
                                                                                 bation   are  not  simply   two   sides   of  the  same   coin.   By
indeed reject an Arminian slander in the Conclu-                                rejecting  the "in  the  same   manner,"  the  Canons
sion. More than this, however, Daane gives to this                              destroy   the  argument   that   the  endorsement   of  a
expression much broader implications with respect                               proper   doctrine   of  election  is  automatically  also  an
to the whole concept of what he calls "decretal                                  endorsement  of a proper  doctrine of reprobation. The
theology" than it was ever intended to have by the                               relationship  of election and reprobation  is not a simple
Synod of Dordrecht. And above all, it must not be                                one,  like   two   sides   of  the  same   coin,   or  the  simple
forgotten that all of Daane's illegitimate appeal to                            affirmation that  one logically  implies  the other.
this expression in the Conclusion is for the purpose                           Again Daane goes far beyond what the Conclu-
of denying the very doctrine which the Canons                                sion of the Canons actually states. Note carefully
teach, the doctrine of sovereign reprobation. In                             what it is that "the Reformed Churches not only do
other words, Dr. Daane lands where Dr.                                       not acknowledge, but even detest with their whole


                                                          THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                      441



soul." It is this: "that in the same manner in which                      evident also from this that Daane goes far beyond
the election is the fountain and cause of faith and                       anything the Canons ever intended to say in the
good works, reprobation is the cause of unbelief                          Conclusion.
and impiety." Daane, however, says that the Con-                            Never tiring of combatting what he calls
clusion detests "the position that election and                           "decretal theology" (though he frequently mis-
reprobation are related `in the same manner."'                            represents it, and though he would find himself in
Daane makes it that "God does not elect men in the                        conflict with every Reformed theologian from
same manner in which He rejects men." He is                               Calvin forward  - and not merely with so-called
trying to make the Conclusion state something                             Protestant scholasticism from Beza forward), he
about which it says absolutely nothing. Further-                          returns to the subject once more in the chapter on
more, Dr. Daane's entire argumentation against the                        "The Freedom of God and the Logic of Election."
idea of a single decree of predestination which in-                       On p. 173 he writes:
cludes both election and reprobation is specious,
since it is based on the misrepresentation and mis-                            Given  the  character  of  the  decree  as  they   see   it,
interpretation of the Conclusion just described. Nor                         decretal  theologians   have   sufficient  reason   for
does he have a satisfactory answer to the plain fact                         positing   a  logical   nexus   between  election  and  repro-
that the Canons themselves hold to such a single                             bation. This  logical  nexus,  however,  requires  that  God
                                                                             elects  and  reprobates "in  the  same   manner."  If  the
decree.                                                                      decree  is a logical  harmony,  everything  in it is logical-
  This incorrect appeal to the Conclusion of the                             ly and rationally  interrelated  in the same  manner.  Ex-
Canons, moreover, permeates Daane's book. He                                 haustively  rational  relationships  allow  no distinctions.
returns to it in the chapter on "The Election of the                         Election then implies  reprobation  as logically  as repro-
Church," pp. 149, 150, as follows:                                           bation  implies   election  (sheer   nonsense!   HCH).   But
                                                                             such   a  view   violates   the  "in  the  same   manner"
      The  Conclusion  to  the  Canons   of  Dort   asserts   that           rejected by the Canons  of Dort  and leaves  no room  for
    God does not elect and reprobate  in the same  manner.                   the  freedom   of  God.  Election  and  reprobation  both
    Paul  makes  it clear in Romans  that  God does not elect                become  necessary,   and  with   this   necessity  theology
   Jews  and  Gentiles  in  the  same   manner.   And   it  is               loses   all  need   for  the  language   of  grace.   Indeed,   we
    equally  clear that  God does  not elect Jesus Christ  and               have   noted   earlier  that   the  concept  of  grace   is  dis-
    the  individual   Christian   in  the  same   manner.   But              torted   in  the  thought   of  the  thorough-going   decretal
    decretal  theology   cannot  honor   this   rejection   of  the          theologian.
    "in the same  manner." It insists  that the simple  divine              It is small wonder that Daane ends his fulmina-
   decree  is  without   distinctions,   though   it  appears   to
   finite  minds   to  have   them.  But  if  so,  the  Canons'           tions against decretal theology by openly denying
   insistence  that   God  does  not  elect  and  reject  "in  the        what has always been the Reformed doctrine of
   same   manner"  goes out the window.   The rejection of                reprobation, as we have already noted that he does
   the "in the same  manner"  causes  decretal theology  no               on page 200. Or did he perhaps begin with a denial
   end of trouble.                                                        of reprobation and imagine that he found in the
  Notice, by the way, that here Daane expands his                         Canons themselves a stick with which to lick the
application of what he elevates to a controlling                          dog? Really, you know, it is a preposterous idea - if
principle (not in the same manner) so that it applies                     you know anything about the fathers of Dordt  -
not only to election and reprobation but even to dif-                     that they should deny in the Conclusion what they
ferent aspects -of election (of Jews and Gentiles, of                     so clearly asserted in the First Head of Doctrine!
Christ and the individual Christian). It ought to be
THE LORD GAVE THE WORD

                                  Missionary Methods (13)
                                                            Prof. Robert D. Decker


  To accomplish the work of the ministry of the                          various reasons, some of them practical, Nevius
Word in China Dr. John L. Nevius made extensive                           used as few paid native preachers as possible. (Cf.
use of native leaders. These men were unordained                          The Planting And Development of Missionary Church-
and unpaid by the mission. They remained in their                        es, pp. 35 ff.). In our previous article [Missionary
station and calling in life while leading the worship                    Methods  (12)] we criticized Nevius at this point. It
and teaching classes in their mission stations. For                      is our contention that there must  be. preaching on


442                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



the mission field. If one is to call upon the Name of     ance; a system of forms for keeping Station
the Lord and be saved he needs to hear Christ             Records of attendance, and studies, etc.; Form of
through a preacher who is sent (Romans 10: 14, 15).       Church Covenant; Scripture Lessons for Preparing
The preaching, we emphasized, must be adapted to          for Baptism; the same for preparing for the Lord's
the needs and situation of those to whom it is            Supper; Order of Exercises for Church Service and
addressed. In missions the preacher must feed the         Directions for Spending Sunday; a short Scripture
people with the milk of the Word until they have          Catechism  - enforcing the duty of giving of our
reached a level of spiritual growth which will            substance for benevolent purposes; and a short
enable them to digest the meat of the Word. This          essay of the Duty of Every Christian to make
preaching must be done publicly and from house to         known the Gospel to others. To the whole is
house after the manner of the apostle Paul. (Cf.          appended questions on the various parts, specially
Acts  20:20 ff.). This modification brings the            prepared to facilitate the teaching and examination
"Nevius Plan" in harmony with the missionary              of learners. A selection of our most common hymns
methods taught by Scripture and followed by the           is also sometimes bound up with the volume"
apostles. Preaching must be at the very heart of all      (Pm 33).
missionary work.                                            The "Scripture Studies" mentioned above were
   There is, however, much which we can learn             divided into six kinds. These were: learning to read,
from the methods of teaching advocated by Nevius          memorizing Scripture, reading Scripture in course,
and employed by him and his colleagues in China a         telling Scripture stories, learning the meaning of
century ago. Initially, new converts received oral        Scripture, and reviews of former exercises. The
instruction from the missionary or from the native        tremendous amount of work which must have gone
helpers (an assistant to the missionary, paid by the      into the preparation of this Manual will be appre-
mission) or from the leader through whom they             ciated when we realize that "The books used are
were brought into the church. A catechism was             almost exclusively in Mandarin (the chief dialect of
composed which contained a compendium, a brief            China, R.D.D.), in the Chinese character" (p. 39).
and simple summary of Christian doctrine. All new           The Catechisms and Scripture question books
converts were required to memorize and learn the          the missionaries found to be extremely valuable not
meaning of this catechism. They were also required        only for "inquirers" and new converts but also for
to commit to memory various forms of prayers and          more advanced Christians. Nevius informs us: "I
passages of Scripture. All this time these new con-       give great prominence to learning and reciting
verts were in a period of probation which lasted          Scripture stories and parables, and nothing has
from six months to one or two years. The Baptist          been found to produce more satisfactory results. It
mission in China at the time set the minimum pro-         excites interest, develops thought, and furnishes in
bation period at eighteen months. During this             a simple form a compendium of Bible history and
probationary period the converts were expected to         Christian duty; while a careful training in relating
attend worship services faithfully and to perform         Bible Stories and drawing practical lessons from
the duties of professing Christians. In addition to       them is one of the best ways of developing
the catechism, the converts were given a "Manual          preaching talent where it is found" (p. 39). Both
for Inquirers" which contained various rules and          those able to read and the illiterate were required to
regulations which the missionaries found necessary        learn the Manual. The purpose of this was twofold:
to unify and systematize the work. A copy of the          for their own edification and knowledge of the
four Gospel accounts was also given to each. These        Bible and so that they might be able to teach others.
"...I place in the hands of every inquirer, and little    Nevius tells us that they soon mastered the material
more is needed for years in the way of textbooks for      of the Manual and were able to move on to more
those who have not previously learned to read"            intensive study of the Scriptures with the help of
(P. 33).                                                  Commentaries.
   "The Manual," Nevius writes, "contains,  -               Provided one remembers our position on the
General Directions for Prosecuting Scripture              necessity of the preaching of the Word, there is
Studies; Forms of Prayer; the Apostles' Creed; and        much which we can learn from all of this. Much of
Select Passages of Scripture  - to be committed to        this ought in the opinion of this writer be imple-
memory. Then follows a large selection of Scripture       mented in our own mission work both in foreign
stories and parables, with directions as to how they      fields and domestic. The probationary period for
should be recited and explained; only the titles of       new converts is somewhat akin to the classes con-
these are given with references to the place in the       ducted by Pastor den Hartog in Singapore to pre-
Bible where they are to be found. Next follow:            pare candidates for the sacrament of Baptism and
Rules for the Organization and Direction of Sta-          membership in the church. The idea is sound. Not
tions; Duties of Leaders and Rules for their Guid-        only is it true that prospective members of the


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                               443



church need to be instructed in the truth of Scrip-        narratives and truths of the Bible is necessary. Not
ture, but they must be "proved" before they are            only does this afford the missionary opportunity to
admitted into the Christian church. Becoming a             discover gifts for preaching as Nevius pointed out,
Christian is not a matter of a quick, easy decision to     but this is something every Christian is called to do.
"accept Christ." It has happened altogether too            God's people must be shining lights, living wit-
frequently both at home and on the foreign field           nesses of the Gospel. They must follow the
that people are accepted into the church with little       example of the persecuted saints who were forced
or no instruction and after a while they fall away.        to flee Jerusalem and who went everywhere "evan-
   The idea of a Manual of Instruction is also sound.      gelizing" (cf. Acts 8:4). This point is closely related
This would have to be adapted to the particular            to the next. The whole concept of learning in order
field of labor. What might be suitable for the work        to be able to teach others certainly ought to be en-
of Singapore, for example, probably would not fit          couraged both at home and in foreign fields. This
the needs of Jamaica or some domestic field. What-         kindles a healthy and keen interest in the things of
ever modifications might be necessary, certainly           the gospel and the church. It gives each new con-
the main thrust of the Nevius plan with its                vert a continuing sense of being a real part of the
emphasis on equipping converts to read and study           church. He has a vital function within the com-
the Bible ought to be emulated. The emphasis on            munity of believers. He is needed.
instruction in the simple stories, the parables, and         At the heart of all this must be the preaching of
truths and proceeding to more intensive Bible              the Word. This we must never forget, for, after all,
study and study of the creeds is correct. This             "It pleases God by the foolishness of preaching to
enabled converts to become more and more "at               save them that believe" (I Cor.  1:21). Preaching is
home" in the Scriptures. The practice of requiring         the divine power which makes effective the
converts to memorize passages of Scripture and             witness and mutual edification of believers. With-
catechism lessons is extremely important. Especial-        out pastors and teachers believers are tossed to and
ly is this true in our times when there is so much         fro by every wind of doctrine; they are not able to
ignorance of even the most basic truths and doc-           speak the truth in love so as to grow up into Christ;
trines of the Word of God. The inspired Scripture          they are not able to edify one another in love; they
which alone is able to make us wise unto salvation         are not able to come in the unity of the faith, and of
is profitable "for doctrine, for reproof, for correc-      the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect
tion, for instruction in righteousness" (II Timothy        man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness
3:15).                                                     of Christ (cf. Eph. 4:ll ff.).
  Training people in the practice of relating the

GUESTARTICLE


                      The Principles and Practice
                             of Bible Study (Part II)
                                               Rev. Ronald Hanko


   In the first part of this article we saw how both       its words. Revelation  22:18, 19 sets forth this prin-
the truth of inspiration in general and the specific       ciple with unmistakable clarity: "For I testify unto
principle of organic inspiration can be applied in         every man that heareth the  words  of the prophecy
our study of the Word of God. In this second part          of this book, If any man shall add unto these thing
we turn to another aspect of the doctrine of Scrip-        (that is, the words of the prophecy of this book, RH),
ture, the principle of  verbaZ  inspiration. This prin-    God shall add unto him the plagues that are written
ciple also can and must be applied and will help in        in this book; and if any man shall take away from
its own way to give both purpose and direction to          the  words  of the book of this prophecy, God shall
and searching of the Scriptures.                           take away his part out of the book of life, and out of
                                                           the holy city, and from the things which are written
  Verbal inspiration means that the Bible is in-           in this book." Because it is God's book not even the
spired not only in its thoughts and ideas but also in      words may be tampered with.


444                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



  It is on the basis of this principle that we reject all    every language and also part of the languages
paraphrases of the Bible such as Good News for               through which God reveals Himself in the Scrip-
Modern Mm or The Living BibZe. Man may not put               tures. The word "recognizable" is the word that
God's Word into his own words. That is doing                 needs emphasis here. In everyday use of language
exactly what Revelation 22 warns against. Also the           anyone with even a little common sense knows
whole idea of dynamic equivalence in translating             when figures of speech are being used. So also it is
the Bible must be rejected. This is the principle            not difficult for one who has a measure of sancti-
which underlies Today's EngZish  Version (Good News          fied common sense to see when the same figures
For Modern Man), some other lesser known "trans-             are being used in God's Word.
lations," and even to a certain extent the most
recent translation of the Bible, the New Internation-          For example once again, it is not difficult to see
al  Ver$ion.   According to this theory it is more           that Revelation  217 uses a symbol to describe
important to present the thrust or power (dynamic)           heavenly glory and that the real glory of heaven
of a text than to give as closely as possible its literal    does not consist in each believer receiving a white
translation, and the result of the application of this       rock with his name written on it. And throughout
theory is that one ends with a compromise between            Scripture the principle that Scripture is self-inter-
faithful translation and paraphrase.                         preting must apply in this regard. Scripture must
                                                             and will show us when it uses figures of speech. We
  That principle of verbal inspiration is closely            must, in other words, expect to find much symbol-
connected with the principle of plenary inspiration.         ism in the book of Revelation, exactly because it is a
This means simply that the whole Bible is inspired,          book of visions. We must not expect to find all sorts
its history, its geography, and its science also. It         of symbolism in the book of Genesis which even to
means as well that  aZZ the words of the Bible are           a very young child clearly presents us with sober,
inspired, not only the important words and con-              historical narrative (including the first three chap-
cepts, but even the little articles (a, an, the), con-       ters). The poetry of the Psalms must be recognized
junctions (and, but, therefore, etc.), and interjec-         as such and not treated in exactly the same way as
tions (0, Behold, Lo). They too are important and            the history of the four Gospel accounts.
must be attended to in studying God's Word. A
good example of this is the use of the word "im-               There are even special rules for the study of the
mediately" or "straightway" (both the same word              different kinds of Bible literature, poetry, pro-
in the original Greek) in the Gospel according to            phecy, historical narrative, doctrinal discourses,
Mark. The word is used almost fifty times in the             parables and all the rest. These rules, however,
Gospel and is one of the keys to the interpretation          really go beyond the scope of this article and ought
of Mark's version of the life of Christ.                     to be dealt with in connection with a study of the
                                                             particular books in which these different kinds of
  In particular the principle of verbal, plenary             Bible literature are found.
inspiration means first of all that ordinary rules of
grammar apply to the Bible just as to any other                What needs to be stressed is that the principle of
book. To say the same thing another way, this                verbal inspiration and the connected principle of
means that the Bible must be interpreted  ZiteruZZy.         literal interpretation are very closely bound up
This is, of course, the wonder of revelation, that the       with the perspicuity of Scripture. We believe that
infinitely glorious God Who dwells in immortality            Scripture is clear and easily understood. The Scrip-
and unapproachable light reveals Himself in plain,           tures are given to us as members of the church, not
ordinary human language. We do not, therefore,               as theologians, but as common ordinary people;
have to seek for "deeper" and "hidden" meanings              masters and servants, soldiers, tradesmen, fathers,
and offer complicated and tortuous explanations of           mothers, and children. They are given for our use
Scripture, but must simply ask ourselves the same            and instruction, and by the miracle of revelation
question that Jesus often asked of His hearers,              are adapted and fitted for us and also clear. It is in
"What do the Scriptures say?" Then we must un-               view of the perspicuity of Scripture that those who
derstand that they mean exactly what they say.               tell us that what sounds like history is really poetry
  This is not to say that there are not figures, or          and that what appears to be symbolic is really
types, or symbols, or dark sayings in Scripture.             literal history, must be suspect, theologians though
Even the most ardent fundamentalist who pushes               they be. God speaks plainly. God means what He
the principle of literal interpretation to the               says.
extreme of trying to draw pictures of the symbols              Nevertheless, the principle of verbal inspiration
used in the book of Revelation will have to admit at         can be even more specifically applied. Three of the
times the existence of figures and symbols. But              more important rules for understanding and inter-
literal interpretation simply means that we recog-           preting God's Word follow, but more as examples
nize that these things are a recognizable part of            than as a comprehensive list.


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                               445



  One of these rules is that synonyms, that is,            that they are given. There are even a few rules in-
words of approximately the same but yet slightly           cluded. which. were not discussed in the article, but
different shades of meaning are not just matters of        which can in one way or another be traced back to
style but of great significance  with, respect to the      the truth of,inspiration.
meaning of the passages in which they are found. A                    Rules for the Study of Scripture
clear example of this is the two different words in
the New Testament for the office of elder. Each            A. Rules for spiritual preparation:
word (translated "elder" and "bishop") has a differ-          1. Pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
ent connotation, and it is exceedingly important              2. Leave time for meditation upon the passage
that one word and not the other be used in such                   under study, probably after all other work
passages as I Timothy  3:1, Titus  1:5, I Peter  225,             with the passage is finished.
and I Peter 5:l. Another example has to do with the
different. words for prayer that are found through-        B. General rules:
out Scripture. We must ask ourselves "Why this                1. Determine what kind of literature is being
word and not another?" or even, "Why is it said                   studied: poetry, prophecy, history, etc.
this way when it appears as though perhaps it could           2. Attempt to divide the passage into sections or
better have been said another way?"                               determine where the passage being studied
  Another rule to be deduced from the principle of                begins and ends.
verbal inspiration is that connecting words are of            3. Define the theme of the book in which the
great importance. Perhaps this is especially true of              passage is found and the place of that theme
Paul's Epistles where we have logical, exposition of              in the rest of Scripture.
doctrinal themes and the connectives tie the                  4. Write down all questions.
various steps in Paul's argument together. The
word "therefore" in Romans 8: 1 is a good example.         C. Rules concerning the actual interpretation of
The word shows us that we have the conclusion to              the passage:.
an argument in this verse, and a very important                1. Determine the main point of the passage.
conclusion at that, as further study shows. This is           2. Take note of any problems of grammar or
the conclusion to all that Paul has said previously               interpretation.
and the basis for all that he goes on to say about the
assurance of our salvation in the rest of chapter 8.          3. Identify the important words or concepts in
                                                                  the text.
  The third of these rules concerns the repeated
use of a word in the same context. Here the prin-             4. Study these words or ideas in the light of the
ciple is that a word used more than once in the                   rest of Scripture by looking up and studying
same context must mean the same. thing unless                     all the important texts where the same word
there is overwhelming evidence in the passage itself              or words are used.
that it has a different meaning. This is an extremely         5. Compare the text as a whole with similar or
important principle. The classic illustration of this             related passages from the rest of the Bible.
principle is Romans 11:26a; "And so all Israel shall          6. Take a close look at the passage in light of the
be saved." Israel in Scripture can refer either to the            immediate context as well as the context of
Old Testament nation or to spiritual Israel gathered              the whole book and ask how the text fits into
from among Jews and Gentiles alike. Neither mean-                 that context.
ing in this context is wrong, but the difference does
make quite a change in the meaning of the verse.               7. If necessary look for background material on
To what then does "Israel" here refer? The fact that              history, chronology, customs, etc.
"Israel" throughout chapter 11 refers to Jews in               8. Look for Christ in the passage and how the
distinction from Gentiles would seem to indicate                  text brings the Gospel of Christ.
that also in verse 26 it must refer to the spiritual          9. Try to set out clearly the application of the
seed gathered out of the Jewish nation.                           text - what the Spirit says to the Churches.
  These then are some of the ways in which the
doctrine of the inspiration and infallibility of Scrip-    It is especially in connection with these last two
ture can be applied to the very practical matter of        rules that meditation and prayer become an im-
Bible study. By way of summary and for reference           portant part of Bible study.
it is probably a good thing simply to list some of           From all of this it is certainly evident that real,
these rules. Certainly what follows does not               dedicated study of the Word of God is hard work.
include every rule and not even every important            Any minister who must prepare to expound that
rule for the study of Scripture. Nor are the rules as      Word to the people of God on the Lord's day and
given here to be followed necessarily in the order         any elder or deacon who must prepare himself to


446                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



bring that same Word to the specific needs of the           loved Son Jesus Christ as our blessed Redeemer,
people of God can testify to this. Nevertheless, it is      Whom to know is life everlasting. Who would not
work which is neither burdensome nor joyless.               rejoice in that with "joy unspeakable and full of
Rather it is a way in which we come  to. know the           glory"?
everlasting God as our faithful Father, and His be-

QUESTIONBOX
Rev. C. Hunko


                            Divorce and Remarriage

  A reader sent in the following question:                    This passage refers to a miserable situation that
  "In Deuteronomy  24:3, 4 we read that it is an            obviously existed in Israel, God's church. A man
abomination before the Lord if a man marry his              takes a wife and marries her. After he has lived
divorced wife after she has married another man. It         with her for a while he puts her away. The reason
says that if the latter husband  die  she could not         for putting her away is, that "she finds no favor in
return to the first husband.                                his eyes, because he has.found some uncleanness in
                                                            her." Uncleanness means literally, "a matter of
  "In Jeremiah 3:l we read that the land would be           nakedness." The same word is used in Deuter-
greatly polluted if a man marry his divorced wife           onomy 23: 14, where it is contrasted with holiness in
after she has married another man. It identifies            the sight of God. Thus in this passage it must refer
how it was wrong for Israel to return to the first          to some sexual, moral uncleanness. It cannot refer
marriage, yet God wants Israel to return to Him             to the sin of adultery, because that was punishable
even though they have played the harlot with many           by death (Num.  2O:lO). The reference must be to
lovers.                                                     something that displeased the husband in their
  "The question is, why did God not permit them             marital relationship, so that he finds an excuse to
to repent from the evil of divorce by remarrying            put his wife away.
their first wife?                                             According to verse 2, it also happened that after
  "What is hard to understand is why God con-               the woman left her first husband she married
siders it an abomination before the Lord and that           another. We could receive the impression from the
Israel would pollute the land if they would return          translation of the AV given above, that the law of
to their first wife."                                       Moses sanctioned this second marriage. But that is
  The first reference is to Deuteronomy  24:1-4,            not the case. * Verse 4 tells us that by marrying this
which reads:                                                other man "she defiled herself." (This is the correct
                                                            translation of the expression in verse 4.) By marry-
  "When a man hath taken a wife, and married                ing another man she is guilty of desecrating the
her, and it comes to pass that she find no favor in         holy, unbreakable marriage bond. According to
his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness            Leviticus  18:20, Numbers  5:13, 14 and Matthew
in her; then let him write her a bill of divorcement,       5:32 she is an adulteress.
and give it in her hand, and send her out of his
house.                                                        Verse 3 states that the possibility exists that the
                                                            second husband also puts her away when he tires
  "And when she is departed out of his house, she           of her, or even that he dies, and that the first
may go and be another man's wife.                           husband has a change of heart, so that he desires to
  "And if the latter husband hate her, and write            take her back as his wife. This the law of Moses, that
her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand,       is, the Zaw of God forbids.  To prevent a repeated
and sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter          desecration of the holy marriage bond, and to
husband die, which took her to be his wife;                 prevent a man and woman who had both already
  "Her former husband, which sent her away, may             defiled themselves to continue on their sinful way,
not take her again to be his wife, after she is defiled;    the law of Moses required a writing of divorce-
for that is abomination before the Lord: and thou           ment, a legal prevention of the woman returning to
shalt not cause the land to sin, which the Lord thy         her first husband.
God giveth thee for an inheritance."                          This is the explanation that Jesus gives of this


                                           THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 447



passage in Matthew  19:3-8. The Pharisees, who            and esteems His wife as His personal possession. In
took a keen delight in trying to pit Jesus against        Ezekiel  16:8-14 God describes Israel as the real,
Moses, interpreted this passage in Deuteronomy 24         spiritual Beauty Queen of the whole universe!
as if it allowed "a man to put away his wife for          From that point of view God never finds anything
every cause." Jesus reminded them that according          unpleasant or repulsive in her.
to the institution of marriage in Paradise God joins        From this follows that God can never put away
man and wife together as one flesh in an unbreak-         His wife, certainly not for some trivial or frivolous
able marriage bond. Thereupon the Pharisees see           reason. What does happen is that Israel plays the
their opportunity to expose Jesus as contradicting        harlot even while she is God's wife. She defiles her-
Moses by asking, "Why did Moses then command              self by forsaking her husband and going awhoring
to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her          after vain idols (Jeremiah 2). For a clear description
away." Jesus tells these Pharisees that they are all      of this abominable sin of Israel read Ezekiel 19:15-
wrong, Moses never did sanction putting away              21. God had every reason to put His adulterous
one's wife, no matter what the reason may be. Nor         wife away in holy wrath.
did Moses command a writing of divorcement as a
general rule to be adopted by the church. Jesus             Does He do that? Does He give her a bill of
blamed the Jews for this writing of divorcement.          divorcement when He sends her to Babylon? NO!
Moses suffered it, that is, allowed it, because of the    (see Isaiah 50: 1.) On the contrary, according to Jere-
hardness of their hearts. It was because they could       miah  3:1, God declares through the prophet, "Yet
not forgive one another, or could not bear with one       return again to Me, saith the Lord."
another's weaknesses, but catered to the carnal             We should notice that Jehovah, the eternal, un-
lusts of their flesh that this law was instituted.        changeable, ever faithful covenant God never puts
"From the beginning it was not so!" Since neither         His wife away. Moreover, He continues to love her
party showed any real concern for the sacred              and even calls her to repentance with a powerful,
marriage bond, and since neither party intended to        efficacious calling. The land would certainly be
stop playing with holy things, God required that          polluted if Jehovah were to put away His wife for
the man who put away his wife should give her a           some trivial person, and then take her back again in
bill of divorcement, and thereby legally establish        some equally trivial manner. But the Lord does not
that he would never take her to wife again.               do that. He renews the heart, brings to sorrow and
  The second passage referred to in the question          repentance, and draws His unfaithful wife back to
above is Jeremiah 3: 1, where we read, "They say, If      Him in mutual love and devotion. That is the
a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and         reality of which the holy marriage among God's
become another man's, shall he return to her again?       people is the replica.
shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou           Therefore in answer to your question, "Why did
hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return       God not permit them to repent from the evil of
again to Me, saith the Lord."                             divorce by remarrying their first wife?" the Lord
  In this text we have a quotation from Deuter-           does not sanction a divorce and remarriage, but
onomy 24, which we have just discussed. But this          neither does He sanction a reunion that is not based
reference serves to point out the sharp contrast          on a sincere confession of sin, a hearty repentance
between the frivolous dealings of a man who puts          and a determination to live together in a holy, godly
away his wife and Jehovah's dealings with spiritual       life. Any other kind of reunion would be con-
Israel, His wife.                                         sidered an abomination before the Lord and would
                                                          pollute the land, that is, the church.
  Notice, Jehovah loves His wife with an eternal
love in Christ Jesus. Therefore He also cherishes         *See  "Marriage"  by Rev.  D. Engelsma,  page 85.



              About Being Baptized for the Dead

[Editor's Note. This is a special contribution to this    that this answer be published in the Standard Beur-
department. Prof. Hanko answered a question from          er, and with this request we gladly comply.]
a correspondent who wrote to the Reformed                 Dear Mr.
Witness Hour. The correspondent then requested              The Reformed Witness Hour' has forwarded to


448                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



me a copy of your letter in which you ask concern-              were apparently under the impression that baptism
ing "being baptized for the dead." I shall try to               was essential for them and for their salvation. But
answer this as best I can.                                      they were not baptized. What then? And so they
  The passage is found in I Corinthians  15:29,                 practiced a sort of superstitious ritual which con-
which reads: "Else what shall they do which are                 sisted in this that the living were baptized on behalf
baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all?             of or in the place of the dead in the hope that this
why are they then baptized for the dead?"                       would aid the unbaptized dead.
  There is no doubt about it that this is a some-                 It is, I think, important to understand that the
what difficult passage. One commentator mentions                apostle does not put his stamp of approval on this,
the fact that there are at least 30 different explana-          and Scripture nowhere teaches that this ought to be
tions of this passage; so it is clear that commenta-            done. But the apostle recognizes that this supersti-
tors do not at all agree. And' the difficulty of the            tion, this practice was being carried on in the
passage centers exactly in the questions you raise:             church of Corinth. And so he appeals to this prac-
"The dead cannot benefit from the baptism of a                  tice as proof of the resurrection of our bodies. He
living person for their destiny was determined at               asks, in effect: "If the dead do not arise, why then
the time of death."                                             do some of you perform this ritual? What good is it?
                                                                What is the sense of being baptized for the dead, if,
  However, I think that we must take the words at               in fact, the grave is the end and death terminates
face value and not try to force some kind of inter-             our existence. Your own practice, as wrong as it
pretation on them which does not fit the plain                  may be, has sense only if there is a resurrection
meaning of the words. Only, the main point of the               from the dead."
apostle in this whole chapter must not be forgotten.
We must remember, first of all, that the apostle                  It is, I think, important to understand that, when
writes this beautiful and glorious chapter on the               this practice was carried on by the Corinthians,
resurrection because there were those in the                    these people who were living were being baptized
church of Corinth who denied the truth of the res-              for dead believers. They were not being baptized for
urrection of the body. The apostle is proving that              all the dead, for the dead willy-nilly; but, emphat-
the saints shall indeed arise at the coming of Christ,          ically for departed saints. And, while the practice
and his main line of proof is that this must neces-             was undoubtedly wrong, Paul turns this very
sarily follow from the resurrection of our Lord                 practice into an argument against their position that
Jesus Christ. This verse stands in direct relation to           the dead do not rise.
that: the apostle makes this statement as an                      It seems to me that this is the clear meaning of
additional proof of our glorious resurrection.                  the text. If, however, you still have questions,
  Secondly, it appears from the text, and this is not           please feel free to write again. Or, if you so choose,
really all that surprising, that the saints of Corinth,         you may write to the Standard Bearer and ask that
at least some of them, were concerned about vari-               the question be answered by the editor of "Ques-
ous fellow saints who had died without being                    tion Box. ' ' It may be that he will come up with
baptized. In a congregation of new converts this                some other idea. Nevertheless, I think this interpre-
was indeed a possibility. They were converted very              tation is correct.
shortly before death and before there was oppor-                  Thank you for your interest in our radio ministry
tunity to baptize them; or they were too sick, too              and your concern about matters of Scripture.
weak and feeble to come to church for the sacra-                Whenever we have occasion to study the Word of
ment of bantism. And so thev died before thev were              God more fully, we can only profit from this.
baptized by the church. Those who  wereLliving             -
THE DAY OF SHAD0 WS

                              Jacob Blesses Pharaoh
                                                  Rev. John A. Heys


  At Babel God confused man's speech and drove                  that tower of Babel was built. Japheth's  descen-
the descendants of Ham and Japheth away from                    dants went north into Asia Minor and into Europe.
those of Shem, who remained in the area where                   Ham's descendants settled in the land of Canaan


                                          THE STANDARD BEARER                                              449



and in Egypt and Africa.                                 to Jacob is the question, "How old art thou?" And
  Many years later God called Abraham from the           Jacob's response is a reference to the fact that he
regions near the tower of Babel and brought him to       was a sojourner and that his sojourn was short in
Canaan, which He promised to him and his seed. A         comparison with that of his fathers, and that it was
famine throughout the land of Canaan and Egypt           full of evil. Apparently Jacob thought that the day
brought Jacob and his family, which was two and          of his death was near. Otherwise why would he say
three generations removed from Abraham, down             that it was so short? He was now one hundred
into the land of Pharaoh, the descendant of Ham          thirty years old and he lived another seventeen
and ruler in Egypt.                                      years. He did come quite close to Isaac his father
                                                         who lived thirty-three years longer than Jacob. But
  Now what God had separated physically is re-           outside of that one item of speaking of his life as a
joined in a rather close relationship. Jacob and his     pilgrimage, there is nothing spiritual in the whole
family dwell in  Goshen, a part of Egypt which           conversation recorded between Jacob and Pharaoh.
Pharaoh willingly gave them for their sojourn, and       Surely more was said. But when just this little bit is
dwell there in a secluded and separate life. Yet         recorded, we may be sure that the tenor and nature
Jacob's most beloved son was Pharaoh's right hand        of the exchange between them was no more spiri-
man and was loved by Pharaoh as a political leader       tual. Otherwise the spiritual aspect would have
under whom Egypt prospered materially.                   been presented.
  This meeting was all arranged by God and was             Was Jacob ruled here by his flesh to bless
not the result of carefully laid human plans. He         Pharaoh even though he knew Pharaoh to be an un-
sent the famine, and before that sent Joseph into        believer? Was he moved by the great things that he
Egypt to interpret the dreams of Pharaoh. He             had done for his son Joseph, and for this kindness
moved Pharaoh to exalt Joseph to supervise the           of giving them the land of Goshen to dwell in until
whole gathering and distribution of the food. It was     the famine was a thing of the past? We also do that.
His hand that brought Joseph's brothers to his feet      We do it in the hymn, "God bless America" which
seeking bread, and later on arranged to have Jacob       some so glibly, or thoughtlessly, sing. It is quite a
come into the land and to be set before Pharaoh. All     cry from singing, "God bless His people in Amer-
this was divinely planned and divinely executed.         ica" and singing "God bless America".
Had He not told Abraham that his seed would be
strangers in a land that was not theirs? He knew           How does this fit in with Psalm 1: 1, "Blessed is
that this long sojourn in Egypt was coming because       the man that walketh not in the counsel of the un-
He planned it all in every detail.                       godly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor
  And now the "unexpected" happens when Jacob            sitteth in the seat of the scornful"? And would you
the descendant of Shem comes before Pharaoh the          contradict the Christ Himself Who, in His Sermon
descendant of Ham. A Star would arise in Jacob,          on the Kingdom  - usually called The Sermon on
and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel (Numbers          the Mount, naming it after the place where it was
24:17);  and He is the Son born unto us, the Child       preached rather than after its content  - when He
given to us on Whose shoulder is'the government,         lists those who are blessed in the Beatitudes? God
and before Whom every knee shall bow and every           bless America means God bless all in America; and
tongue shall confess that He is Lord to the glory of     it limits it to America while there are surely people
God (Philippians  2:10, 11). And yet Jacob blesses       of God in every nation, tongue, and tribe. But God
Pharaoh. A child of God blesses an unbelieving           bless America means God bless the scorners who
ruler of this world. He in whose line the Christ will    teach Evolution and the Atheists who say that there
come blesses him from whose camp the Antichrist          is no God. It means bless the sinners and the un-
will ultimately come.                                    godly, those who are not poor in spirit; those who
                                                         do not mourn over their sins but laugh about them;
  How shall we explain it?                               those who are not the meek of the earth; those who
  There are those who are ready to say that Jacob        do not hunger and thirst after righteousness; those
wished God's blessing upon this worldly king. And        who are troublemakers instead of peacemakers;
there are those who insist that Pharaoh must have        those who are vile in heart and not pure in heart;
been a believer. Otherwise Jacob would not do this.      those who persecute the righteous. Let us not do
As to the latter we have no evidence at all that he      that! Put the music away and sing instead, "Bless
was a believer; and Jacob does not, outside then of      Thy inheritance, Our Savior be, I pray; Supply
this "blessing," speak to him as though he were a        Thou all Thy people's need, And be their constant
believer. Nor is there anything in the passage to        stay" (Psalm  28:9;  PsaZter  Number  75:6). Or, "0
indicate that God was speaking here through Jacob        truly is the nation blest Whose God before the
and that he was sent to speak God's blessing upon        world confessed Jehovah is alone. And blest the
him. The only item recorded of what Pharaoh says         people is whom He Has made His heritage to be,


450                                          T H E   STANDARD  B E A R E R




And chosen for His own" (Psalm  33:12;  Psalter               when he cares not about what  is. truly a blessing?
Number  86:3). These men spoke under divine in-               Then turn to I Samuel  25:i'd, where we read of
spiration and spoke what God speaks. Let us not               David saluting  Nabal, who by his wife is called
dare to contradict them and pray God's blessing on            such a son of Belial that a man cannot speak to him.
those for whom. Christ did not die, and for those             Do you suppose that David wished him God's bles-
then on whom Scripture  - and thus God Himself                sing? Would you not here keep the translation that
- declares that the wrath of God abideth.                     David saluted, that is, greeted churlish Nabal.  In II
  Go back to Psalm 1 and now verses 4 and 5, "The             Kings  lo:14 we have wicked Jehu saluting. Did he
ungodly are not so; but are like the chaff which the          wish God's blessing upon Jehonadab? Was he even
wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not            wishing him material blessings?
stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congrega-              And please note that in Genesis  47:7-10  Jacob
tion of the righteous.!'                                      blessed Pharaoh when he first was brought before
  But perhaps you say, "Does Paul not teach us to             him, and he blesses him again when he leaves
pray for kings in I Timothy 2 and for all men?"               Pharaoh's presence. Is that not exactly what one
Indeed he does, but he does not say that we are to            would do before a dignitary; that is, greet him and
pray for a blessing upon them. He spells it out               say farewell to him? There is nothing spiritual in
clearly, "that we may lead a quiet and peaceable              the whole thing. It is simply saying Hello and
life in all godliness and honesty." The prayer here           Good-bye, except that our good-bye is a contraction
is for the Church and for her good, for a blessing of         for God be with you. And if that is what we mean,
quietness and peace to be able to teach the genera-           we also should not say this to the wicked.
tions to come God's praises; and to build up the                 Jesus said it, "I lay down My life for My sheep."
church in the truth and in the faith.                         For them there are blessings flowing from the
                                                              cross, and for no one else. What men call material
  But then there are those who also want to insist,           blessings, and claim also to have come from that
in spite of all the texts quoted above, that there is a       cross, will only testify against the wicked; and they
material blessing for all and that God has a certain          would have been better off, yea let us say it, it
grace for everyone. And in that sense Jacob could             would have been much closer to a blessing if they
wish God's blessing on Pharaoh. Yet how do they               had not gotten these material gifts. For their
explain it that too much rain, and thus too much of           torment in hell would not have been as great. They
a blessing, ruins man in his crops and does damage            are rewarded according to their works. Had they
to his home? And that too much sunshine, and thus             not received these material possessions, they could
too much grace kills him and causes his food                  not have sinned with them.
supply to wither away and die and so denies him
food and brings him famines? And shall we rebuke                 But for the child of God the loss of material pos-
and contradict Him Who is the Way because He is               sessions is a blessing. It is a blessing for him to lose
the  Truth  and the Life, when He says, "I pray for           his life. As Paul put it, "For me to live is Christ and
them: I pray not for the world, but for them which            to die is gain" (Phil. 1:21).
Thou hast given Me; for they are Mine" (John 17:9).              Some would count it loss. But it is only in the
And again, "For what shall it profit a man, if he             way `of losing this body and this sin cursed world
shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"           that we can enter into a realm of everlasting bles-
(Mark  8:36). What blessing, Jesus asks, is there in          sedness with new spiritual bodies. And unless Paul
getting material possessions, if you lose your soul?          did not speak the truth when he said that all things
  No, the text does not teach anything like that.             work together for good to those that love God - he
Jacob wished God's blessing upon Pharaoh neither              did not say to all men  - the losses we suffer, the
in the sense that he wished him worldly riches and            pains we experience, the afflictions that are our lot
prosperity, nor that he prayed for his salvation. The         ARE blessings, because as he also wrote in II Corin-
simple fact in the case is that the word "bless" used         thians  4:17, 18, "Our light affliction which is but
here can mean and does here mean simply that he               for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding
greeted Pharaoh. It is translated as bless 121 times          and eternal weight of glory.. . ." Is it not a blessing to
in the Old Testament. But it is also translated 5             receive that which works glory for us? That also is
times as salute. Let us look at one or two of these.          why Paul can call death a gain, a pure gain, and far
You have in I Samual  13:lO King Saul saluting                better than to continue in this vale of tears.
Samuel. Saul had sinned in that he did not wait for
Samuel to offer but offered himself. But he came to                           Take time to read
salute Samuel. Did he mean to bless him? Could
you, would you, so translate this passage? Can a                       The Standard Bearer
wicked man sincerely wish you God's blessing


                                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                      451



ALLAROUND US
                                                                                                                                ._     .


                               `The Dance is Redeemed -
                                 Finally, after Many Years
                                                                  Rev. G. Van Buren



  The  Calvinist Contact,  June 25, 1982, reports on                            text  in  which  such  dances   are   held   often  reflects  the
the decision of the  ,Christian Reformed Church                                 hedonistic   values  dominant  in our   culture. Christians
Synod of 1982 concerning the dance:                                             will find it difficult to redeem  ballroom dancing  with-
                                                                                out  monitoring   closely  their  attitudes,   the  nature  of
      Synod   has  mandated   the  Christian   community  to                    their  participation,   and  the  context  in  which  these
   learn  how   to  dance   redemptively.   Old  and  young,                    dances  take  place. Christians  should  not participate in
    mature  and  maturing,   Christians  are  challenged   to                   them  without  the  exercise  of  genuine   Christian
    look  dance  squarely  in the eyes  and redeem  it.                         maturity.
      In one  of the most  difficult discussions  of Synod  for                    e.  Such  contemporary  dances   as  disco,   present  a
   many,  the delegates  struggled  hard  with the content of                   whole   array   of  features  that  are  sharply   in  conflict
   the report  written by the study  committee and recom-                       with  Christian   standards.   These  features  include  a
   mended  by the Majority Report  of the Advisory  Com-                        blatant  sexual   suggestiveness,   a  narcissistic  orienta-
   mittee.                                                                      tion,   and  use  of  musical  themes  that   flout  Christian
  The same paper also quotes the statements and                                 values.  Christians  will find it difficult to redeem  these
guidelines as these were adopted by the Synod                                   dances   and  should   firmly  reject  them  as  they  appear
(with the exception of one part which will be noted                             in our  culture.                                :
below) :                                                                       More was written in the statement adopted by
      a.  It  is  biblical  and  therefore  fitting   that  God's            Synod  - but the above represents the statement of
    people   use   appropriate   liturgical   dance   forms  for  the        position on the dance itself. Dancing is "in" - al-
    expression   of  their  deep   feelings   of  praise   to  their         though for the present it would appear that the
    God. The God who gave  us bodies  responsive  to music                   disco is too difficult to redeem, and the liturgical
    and  capable  of  rhythmic  movement  does   not  require                dance (which would presumably be part of the
   that we ignore  our bodies  in worship  or that we praise                 church worship) is under further study. The liturgi-
    Him   only   with   our   minds   and  voices.  (Note:   Synod           cal dance was, evidently, too much for the dele-
    referred  point  a.  to  the  Liturgical   Committee  for  fur-
    ther  study   of  its  implications  and  its  feasibility  of           gates at this Synod. Perhaps this was true, in part,
    implementation and to report  to Synod  in 1984.)                        because the Banner (May 24, 1982) had pictured on
                                                                             its cover three ladies participating in a liturgical
       b.  Like   painting,   sculpture,   and  music,  artistic             dance. That Banner cover was featured on the front
    dance   forms   such  as  ballet  are   legitimate   avenues   of
    expression   for  the  Christian   who   pursues   them  in              page of the Grand Rapids Press (June 16, 1982)
    acknowledgement  of Christ's  redemptive  claims.                        along with a report of some of the discussion at
                                                                             Synod:
       c.  The folk dances  of many   ethnic cultures, includ-
    ing  various   square   dances,   generally   reflect  a  joyful               . ..But the debate  at Calvin  College  was  not without
    use   of  music,  rhythm,   movement,   and  social   involve-              its  pointed   moments,  as  one  delegate   questioned   the
    ment which can be redeemed  by a Christian  commun-                         committee's   report   suggesting   that  Christians   could
    ity  that  makes   a  sensitive   effort  to  control  the  ingre-          redeem  dance  to "God-honoring  use."
    dients  of music, motivation,  and context.                                    That prompted  some  shifting  about in seats.'
       d.  The  ballroom  and  social   dance   of  our   con-
    temporary   culture  present   a  far  greater   challenge   to                "We  have   the  spiritual   mandate   that   God  forbids
    conscientious Christians.  While many  of these dances                      we  do  anything   that  will  lead  us  to  unchastity,"  said
    present  positive   potential   for  the  expression   of  gen-             one  delegate  who  was  opposed  to the idea of liturgical
    uine  artistic skills  as well  as healthy  social  interaction,            dancing.
    they also present negative  potential.  They can be, and                       He then drew  attention to the cover of a denomina-                 '
    often  are,  deliberately sexually  suggestive;  they allow                 tional   magazine,   the  B a n n e r ,   where  three  Calvin
    partners  to make  physical contact indiscriminately on                     College  students  were pictured performing  a liturgical
    a very casual  and superficial basis;  and the entire  con-                 dance  for a Good  Friday  service.


452                                                               THE STANDARD BEARER



          "These  three lovely  ladies  on the Banner  cover are                  today,   because  of  the  close  physical  contact  between
       doing  a  liturgical   dance,   but  how   can  we  expect  to             the  sexes,   is  fundamentally  immoral.   Its  fascination
       give  a  good   sermon   after  these  girls  have   done  their           lies  in its sex-appeal.  It thrives on the sex-instinct, and
       work?  Why,  on the cover,  her leg  is exposed  as high as                is therefore a violation  of the seventh  commandment,
       the  leg goes,"  he said as the  audience  and other  dele-                as  explained   in  the  Heid.   Cat.  This  kind  of  diversion
       gates  burst into  laughter.  . . .                                        would  almost  die out if there were no mingling  of the
  Others were not too happy about that Banner                                     sexes  in the mazes  of the dance.  It is an unclean thing
cover and liturgical dances either. In the Banner of                              and  is  in  principle  immoral   because  it  nourishes  for-
                                                                                  bidden   lusts.   It  can  and  does   entice  men   to  unchaste
July 5, 1982, another wrote to "Voices":                                          thoughts  and desires  if not to impure  actions.
          Regarding  the Banner cover of 5/24/82,  it is odd  the                    But  how   about   the  dance   for  amusement's  sake
       things   different  people   see  in  the  same   object.  By  no          when  it  is  not  suggestive   or  promiscuous?   Since  the
       stretch  of  my  imagination   do  I  see  three  crosses   or             mere act of dance  is not condemned  in the Scriptures,
       three nights  in the tomb.                                                 either  directly  or  indirectly,  the  conclusion  might
          What  I  see   is  the  degradation   and  desecration   of  a          seem   justifiable,   even   inescapable,  that   there  can  be
       Christian   church  service.  I  see  the  Israelites  dancing             no  harm   in  the  private   dance   in  the  home  between
       and  worshipping   Baa1  when  Moses   left  them  for  a                  members of the same  family,  the aesthetic dance  and
       while.   I  see  druids   dancing   at  a  witches'  coven.  I  see        the  folk-dances   which  are  taught   in  many  public
       three  scantily  clad  girls  cavorting   before  their  Lord              schools.  We do not believe, however,  that this  conclu-
       and Master.                                                                sion  should  be drawn.  The rule of self-denial  and self-
                                                                                  preservation  determines  our  attitude   in this  case.  We
          I go to church to hear  the Word  of God, not to see a                  believe  that   in  view  of  the  rapidly   increasing   popu-
       spectacle.                                                                 larity  of the promiscuous dance  and the low  morality
  What must one say of this sad turn of events? I                                 of the modern  dances,  Christian parents  and teachers
am not going to argue against the decision of Synod.                              and  the  Christian   church  should   frown  even   on
I would rather have the C.R.C. Synod of 1928 in its                               the  most   innocent  forms  of  this  kind   of  amusement.
"Report on Worldly Amusements," as this was                                       The folk-dance  and the parlor  dance  so easily  become
printed for public distribution by the Synod of the                               the  stepping-stone   to  the  promiscuous  dance.   The
C.R.C. of 1945, do this. I present brief excerpts:                                child  which is permitted to take dancing  lessons  will,
                                                                                  as  a  rule,   not  stop   at  the  mixed   dance,   as  its  parents
          .  ..The  same   principle  (that  the  honor   of  God  is             may   require  and  expect,  and  say,  "There  I  draw   the
       superior  to all other  interests)  requires that the Chris-               line!" It has entered  the danger  zone  and may  lose  its
       tian shall deem it a matter of loyalty to his God and Savior               soul   because  of  the  carelessness  of  its  parents!   Such
       not to farther the interests of an institution which in its                parents  are not less  foolish  than those who  allow  their
       general influence is an unmitigated evil, even  though                     children   to  play   with  matches  on  the  ground   that
       occasionally  it  may   offer  amusement  which  is  not                   matches  were  made   for  useful  purposes!   Here   again
       positively baneful.. . .                                                   we have  a case  where Christians  should  hate  even  the
          .  ..He  knows   that   he  belongs   to  a  peculiar  people,          garment  which is spotted  by the flesh.
       and is not satisfied  with differing  from  the world  only               There follow many quotations from Reformed
       in the ground  he has for his hope  of heaven.  He wants                writers and other churches, condemning the dance.
       to lead a Christian  life, a life as rich and varied  as that
       of  the  worldly   man,   but  a  life  which  in  all  its  ramifi-    There seemed no doubt in the mind of the church
       cations   bears  the  Christian   stamp   and  grows   from  a          in 1928 about the dance. It was wrong - and even
       Christian  root.  . . .                                                 required discipline and excommunication except
                                                                               the sinner repent.
          .  ..It  is,  for  example,   not  correct  to  say  that  a
       moving-picture  is a sinful  thing,  even  though  the god-               But the decision of 1928 had a "fly in the oint-
       less   world   turns  it  into   pollution  on  an  enormous            ment." It pointed to the effect of common grace
       scale.  But,  on the other hand,  this statement  embodies              upon the wicked, and allowed that this permitted a
       the stern  ethical principle that  everything  is forbidden             measure of cooperation and participation with the
       which,  though  lawful in itself, has become defiled  by                ungodly (cf. page 15 of the pamphlet). The C.R.C.
       the  world   to  such  an  extent  that   a  Christian   cannot         Synod of 1966, in approving of "good" movies, also
       participate  in  it  without  endangering   his  spiritual   or         referred to the work of common grace whereby the
       moral  purity.. . .                                                     wicked do produce that which the Christian can
          .  ..But when we speak   of "the dance," we  speak  of               enjoy. The same argument was also presented in
       the  modern  dance,  the suggestive  dance  in  which the               connection with the dance. In 1928, common grace
       sexes  mingle  and that promiscuously,  that  is, any man               could not be stretched far enough to cover the
       with  any   woman.   Reformed   moralists   and  Christian
       writers   in  general   have   condemned   the  dance   for             movie and the dance - but by 1966 and 1982 it had
       amusement   when  it  is  suggestive,   because  of  an                 gained that elasticity!
       immodest   exposure   of  certain  parts   of  the  body,   and           Some troubling questions could also be asked in
       also when  it is promiscuous.                                           connection with this sad decision. One was ex-
          The promiscuous dance,  especially as it is in vogue                 pressed by a delegate to this year's Synod as quoted


                                                           THE STANDARD BEARER                                               453



in the G.R. Press (6/17/82):                                            about sin. What a strange way of ridding oneself of
   After the Synod  approved  the different forms  of danc-             sin and of making the church "holy"!
   ing,   and  suggested   that  families   and  institutions  take       Thirdly, in all honesty, can any say that this deci-
   responsibility  for  the  dancers'  surroundings,   an  older        sion represents "painful growth" in theology, that
   Wisconsin  delegate   stood   before  his  fellow  delegates         it represents increased spiritual sensitivity, that it
   to express  his dismay.                                              points to a growth in the holiness and godly life of
      Explaining  he had taught  his children  "that  sin was           the church? Can any say that this represents spiri-
   sin  and  dance   was   sin,"  the  delegate   asked,   "Now   I     tual development beyond what Calvin expressed,
   have   to  go  back  to  Wisconsin  and  say  I  was   wrong         or other Reformed writers, or even over the deci-
   because  Calvin   [College)   is  doing  this.   How   can  you      sion of the C.R.C. of i928? I would dare any to say
   supervise  sin?"                                                     so!
      Synod   moderator   Rev.   Clarence  Boomsma...sym-                 Finally, one would expect that the Synod and
   pathized   with  the  Wisconsin  delegate.   "I  empathize
   with  you,   brother,  because  all  of  us  older   brothers        individual consistories ought to take remedial
   were  brought   up  to  believe  that   dance   was   sin,"          action to "rehabilitate" those "sinners" who were
   Boomsma   said.   "But  I  do  think  this  (decision)   is  part    disciplined because they had fallen into the evils of
   of our painful growth."                                              the dance in earlier years. There ought to be public
  I not only empathize, but sympathize too with                         apologies expressed to all those who were dis-
that delegate and all others who now must have                          ciplined for what now turns out to be not sinful
their children brought up also under this decision                      after all.
- while they still know in their hearts that the                          We too, as Protestant Reformed, must learn from
dance is sin.            ,,                                             all of this. Though we have continued to condemn
  More: if the dance and the movie are now "re-                         "worldy amusements," though our stand is not so
deemable" (whatever that might mean), what will                         dissimilar from the C.R.C. of old, yet the pressures
be the next sin which the church will take upon                         of worldliness can be seen in our midst too. We
itself to "redeem"? Will it perhaps be homosexual-                      must be on guard  - lest we also succumb to the
ity  - as the G.K.N. of the Netherlands has already                     pressures  of, such worldliness. If any of us would
done? If much more work is done along this line,                        want also the dance, or the movie, these would be
the church will have redeemed all that which is                         welcomed with open arms within the C.R.C. - but
now sinful  - and there will be no more concern                         such have no place with us. Let us maintain the
                                                                        standards set forth long ago already by John Calvin.


                                                     Book Reviews


THE CHURCH IN THE TWENTIETH CEN-                                        period, and in the history of Western civilization.
TURY: Elect From Every Nation; by Louis Praams-                         He has produced a book, therefore, which catches
ma; Paideia Press, 1981; 289 pp., $9.95 (paper). [Re-                   the breadth and scope of the wide variety of cur-
viewed by Prof. H.C. Hanko]                                             rents which have swept the modern church. And
  This is the last volume in Dr. Praamsma's series                      he has succeeded in bringing it all together in an
on the history of the Christian Church. This book is                    interesting and significant volume. The modern
a translation from the Dutch in which language it                       day church is described against the background of
was originally printed.                                                 the wars, social upheavals, and technological devel-
                                                                        opments of our modern times. It will aid greatly in
  Dr. Praamsma has done good service to the                             an understanding of our modern period and it will
Church in writing a series of books on Church His-                      help to put the church in its proper perspective.
tory from the conservative Reformed position. It is
a necessary addition to the library of all who read                            The book has, in this reviewer's judgment, one
and study in the field of Church History and it                         weakness. It gives altogether insufficient attention
ought to have a place in the libraries of our high                      to the  frue church of our Lord Jesus Christ and, in
schools, colleges, and seminaries.                                      this failure, it does not relate the history of the true
  Dr. Praamsma has read widely in the field of                          `church to the history of Christendom in its broader
Church History, in the original literature of every                     scope. A great deal of time is spent,on the effect of


454                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



the two world wars upon the church, on the                 name, ' `Anabaptists," a name which designates
theology of liberal theologians, and on the history        those who denied infant baptism and required re-
of the ecumenical movement. But there is almost            baptism of those who joined them. Yet the views of
nothing in the book about conservative  Presbyter-         these "radicals" on baptism were by no means the
ianism and the history of the Reformed Churches.           only points in which they differed from the Re-
                                                           formers. They held divergent views on such
MY GOD IS YAHWEH (Elijah and Ahab in an Age                important doctrines as the nature of the church, the
of Apostasy), M.B. Van't Veer (translated by               incarnation of Christ, and the doctrine of sanctifi-
Theodore Plantinga); Paideia Press, St. Catherines,        cation.
Ontario, Canada; 440 pp., (cloth) $14.95. [Reviewed          This book deals almost exclusively with Calvin's
by Prof. H.C. Hoeksema]                                    defense of the truth of Scripture over against the
  According to the dust jacket, the author "lived a        Anabaptist position. The book is divided into two
comparative brief but active life as a scholar, pastor     parts: the first part deals with Calvin's attitude
and church leader. He held several pastorates in           towards the Anabaptists in his successive editions
the Reformed Church of the Netherlands and                 of the  Institutes and his actions against the
authored a number of important publications in             Anabaptists during his first and second stays in
Dutch,- including a dissertation on catechism              Geneva. The second part is primarily doctrinal and
instruction in relation to the writings of John            gives a systematic summary of Calvin's teachings
Calvin." More than this we are not told concerning         over against the doctrines of the Anabaptists.
the author; nor are we informed as to the origins of         The book makes extensive use of quotations
this book. It is not a book of sermons, neither is it a    from both primary and secondary sources and is for
commentary in the usual sense of the term.                 this reason also a valuable book. It gives, on the
  Nevertheless, this is a delightful and well written      whole, a fair and balanced treatment of both the
work about the ministry of the prophet Elijah. It          Anabaptists and Calvin and succeeds rather, well in
begins with the rebuilding of Jericho (I Kings             putting the whole controversy in its proper histori-
16:34), and it concludes with the calling of Elisha (I     cal light.
Kings  19:19-21). The book is well written, and, in          The book seems to be somewhat overstated at
my opinion, in general offers a sound explanation          times. E.g., the author, in the interests of his.thesis,
of this particular segment of Old Testament history.       seems to find references to the Anabaptists in
Anyone who wishes to preach on the history of              Calvin's writings where it is at least doubtful that
Elijah could well profit from many of the insights in      this is true. Nevertheless, the book gives an insight
this book.                                                 into the Anabaptist controversy which is important
  Although I cannot compare the English version            to an understanding of the Reformation period.
with the Dutch original, it strikes me that this work
also appears to be well translated.                        THEOLOGICAL REFLECTIONS,  Henry Stob;
  My only negative comment is that the book does           Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids,
not completely cover the history of Elijah, and I          Mich. 267 pp., (paper)  $$11.95  [Reviewed by Prof.
was at a loss to understand why the author ended           H.C. Hoeksema]
where he did.                                                As the author himself points out in the Preface,
  Recommended.                                             "This volume contains some of the occasional
                                                           papers and addresses which, in the course of years,
CALVIN AND THE ANABAPTIST RADICALS,                        were delivered to restricted audiences or published
by  Willem Balke; Wm. B. Eerdmans Publ. Co.,               in journals with a limited circulation." Most of the
1981; 338 pp., price not given; (paper). [Reviewed         chapters of this little volume were familiar to me
by Prof. H.C. Hanko]                                       from my having read them when they first
                                                           appeared in various journals. And with many of
  This book, originally published in Dutch and             these writings I disagreed when I first read them,
translated by William J. Heynen, is a welcome              and disagree also today. This does not change the
edition to the literature on the "radical" movement        fact that Dr. Stob is an interesting writer, well able
of the Reformation. While the chief enemy of the           to express his viewpoint. His approach, however, is
Reformers on the continent was surely the Romish           frequently more philosophical than theological.
Church, the Reformers were troubled, almost from
the beginning, by different groups of people who             My general negative criticism is that the title
had also left the Romish Church, but who hold              Theological Reflections is a bit pretentious. Only a
views fundamentally different from the Reformers.          limited number of the essays in this book actually
These constituted an entire wing of the Reforma-           fit under that title, in this reviewer's opinion.
tion and are usually all included under the general          Let me end this review on a positive note.


                                                        THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                    455



Chapter 28 is an essay which first appeared in The                         tive student of Scripture would be negative, that is,
Reformed JournaZ  in 1952. It is entitled, "Catechesis:                    they would serve as examples of how not to
On Using and Revising the Compendium." In this                             interpret Scripture.
chapter I found much worthwhile instruction con-                             My main criticism of them is that the viewpoint
cerning the subject of catechism instruction. Every                        of all three of them is that of higher criticism. The
seminarian and pastor, and especially those who                            commentary of Exodus is shot through with the
are from time to time charged with revision and im-                        documentary hypothesis. The commentary on
provement of our catechism materials, could profit                         Isaiah l-39 proceeds from the higher critical view-
from some of the instruction and the cautions in                           point that Isaiah is the product of more than one
this chapter.                                                              human writer and that its parts were written at
                                                                           different times; this theory really denies the
THE NEW CENTURY BIBLE COMMENTARY                                           prophetic character of the book. And the commen-
(Wm. B. Eerdmans Publ. Co., Grand Rapids, Mich.)                           tary of Job questions the historicity of Job.
EXODUS,  J.P. Hyatt; 351 pp. (paper), $7.95
ISAIAH  l-39, Ronald E. Clements; 301 pp. (paper),                            Besides, as far as explanation of the text is con-
$7.95.  JOB,  H.H. Rowley; 281 pp. (paper) $7.95.                          cerned, for the most part these volumes furnish
[Reviewed by Prof. H.C. Hoeksema]                                          very little more than a running commentary. They
                                                                           provide very little substantive explanation of the
   These three commentaries on the Old Testament                           Scriptures.
are of very limited value. Perhaps it may be said
that their main value in the library of any conserva-


                   WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                                       WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
   On August 15, 1982, our parents, MR. AND MRS. STUART                       On July 28, 1982, our beloved parents, MR. AND MRS. DICK
BYLSMA will celebrate 35 years of being married in the Lord. The           KOOIENGA, celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary. We, their
Lord Who has united them in marriage has been good to them, bles-          grateful children, thank them for the covenant instruction they have
sing their home with children and grandchildren. We, their children        given us. We thank our heavenly Father for sparing them for us and
and grandchildren thank them for the dedicated covenant instruction        for each other these many years. Our prayer is that the Lord will
and loving care that they have given us. We thank above all our Lord       continue to bless them and keep them in His abiding care.
and Father for them and pray that He who has joined them together          Bob and Joan Miedema                  Don and Mary Kooienga
may keep them in the days ahead and to all eternity.                       Earl and Lois Dykstra                 Stan and Bette Dykstra
   "But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon      Rog and Lou Kooienga                  34 grandchildren
them that fear Him, and His righteousness unto children's children."       Arnold and Donna Dykstra              29 great-grandchildren
(Psalm 103: 17)                                                            Don and Judie  Sall

                                    Gary and Marilyn Bylsma
                                    Rev. Richard and Marcia Flikkema                         WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
                                    Jan and Carole  tenHaaf
                                    Phyllis Bylsma                            Our parents, MR. AND MRS. JAKE REGNERUS, SR., celebrated
                                    Tim and Sharon Rus                     their 35th wedding anniversary on June 18, 1982. We are thankful
                                       and 12 grandchildren                to our Covenant God for having kept them for each other and for us.
                                                                           May they experience God's richest blessings in future years.

                               NOTICE!!!                                      "For the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting and His truth
                                                                           endureth to all generations." (Psalm  100:5)
   Classis  West of the Protestant Reformed Churches will meet in                                                    Steve and Ev Oosterhouse
Doon,  Iowa, on September 1, 1982, at  8:30 A.M., the Lord willing.        their children and grandchildren
                                                                                                                           Mary, Elizabeth
Delegates in need of lodging are to inform the clerk of the  Doon  Con-       Joan Regnerus
                                                                                                                     Rich and Jan Regnerus
sistory of their need.                                                        Jake and Rene Soodsma
                                                                                 Rebecca, Heide, Benjamin                  Jonathan, Jaclyn
                                   Rev. David Engelsma, Stated Clerk          Jack and Sue Regnerus                  Norb and Sandee  Alsum
                                                                                 Matthew, Sarah                            Sandeelynn

               RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
   The Consistory of the Hull Protestant Reformed Church expresses                           WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
its heartfelt sympathy to our fellow officebearers, elders John               On July 28, 1982, our dear parents, MR. AND MRS. VERNON DE
Hoksbergen and Tony Jansma, in the death of their brother-in-law,          VRIES, celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. We, their children
MR. JOHN HAVERHALS. "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is            and grandchildren, are grateful to our heavenly Father for keeping
gain." (Philippians 1  :21)                                                them for each other and for us through these years. May the Lord
                                            Rev. Ron Cammenga, Pres.       continue to bless and keep them that they may long live together in all
                                            Bert Van Maanen, Clerk         godliness and holiness.
                                                                                       ,_
                                                                              "Yea, thou shalt see' thy children's children, and peace upon
                               NOTICE!!!                                   Israel." (Psalm  128:6)
                                                                                                               Rev. Michael and Dawn De Vries
   Classis  East will meet in regular session on September 8, 1982 at                                             Jeffrey, Connie, Russell, Karen
the Hope Prot. Ref. Church. Material to be treated in this session                                             David De Vries
must be in the hands of the Stated Clerk at least three weeks prior to                                         Carla De Vries
the convening of this session.                                                                                 Ruth De Vries
                                            Jon Huisken, Stated Clerk                                          Tom De Vries

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





456                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



                         News From Our Churches

  Three months ago we reported concerning the                Wyckoff, New Jersey  - Rev. R. Hanko  - "The
difficulty of our bulletin typists to find room for the      Church and Her Creeds"
numerous spring bulletin announcements. Things                               *    *    *     *     *
are quite different now: announcements are spread
out across the page and excess space is often given          The following announcements were taken from
to a variety of poems and other quotes. One                the June 20th bulletin of First Church in Grand
bulletin clerk, considering what was written about         Rapids, Michigan: "Seminarian Ken Hanko has re-
overflowing bulletins, I think, added this little          turned from Florida. The consistory decided to dis-
handwritten note to the bottom of a bulletin which         continue the work there at least for the summer
had announcements widely spaced: "How's this               months due to the negative response of Synod and
for making a little news look like a lot?" A few           the poor attendance there during the summer."
weeks later that same bulletin clerk wrote, "Sorry,        And "Last Monday evening it was decided to accept
I couldn't stretch it this time!" Needless to say,         the offer of the Franklin St. Church of Christ for our
there was a lot of white showing on that bulletin.         church property.. Approval of the new building
                                                           plans will be delayed until after the closing of the
  As we reported earlier, much of the bulletin             sale." Standard  Bearer readers who have seen the
overcrowding problem in the spring is due to               big, beautiful church building on the corner of
numerous speeches that are addressed at that time          Fuller and Franklin can appreciate, I'm sure, the
to a variety of church groups. Since we now have           difficulty of reaching that decision.
the space, I will briefly list to whom the speeches
were addressed, the speakers and the titles of the           Since we're on the subject of First Church,
speeches that have been announced on bulletins             maybe now would be a good time to throw in a
since the beginning of the year:                           little tidbit about First's old parsonage: A few
-Kalamazoo Church  - Prof. Decker  - "Assurance            months ago The Standard Beaver business manager,
  of Salvation - What is it?"                              Mr. Vander Wal, noticed something familiar about
-Ladies' Society of Hope in Walker, Michigan  -            the return address of a letter requesting some of our
  Prof. Hanko  - "Organ transplants, Right or              pamphlets. Closer examination revealed that the
  Wrong?' '                                                address was indeed that of the former First Church
-Adams St. Chr. School Mothers' Club  - Rev. C.            parsonage (located next, to the church) which at that
  Hanko - "Prayer and Our Children"; Mrs. Mari-            time was being rented out to a party not affiliated
  lyn Decker  - "Early Years' Training in the              with our churches.
  Home"; Prof. Hanko - "Authority to Serve"                                  *    *    *     *     *
-The Eastern League of Men's and Ladies' Soci-
  eties - Rev. Haak - "Faith Healing"                        Quite a bit of the news in this column is on the
-A Ladies' League meeting in Edgerton, Minn.  -            old side. To continue in that vein  - only a little
 Rev. Slopsema - "The Wise Woman"                          deeper this time - we include a discovery made by
-Men's Society of South Holland, Illinois  - Rev.          Seminarian Gritters while he was doing some re-
. Houck - "Return to Historic Calvinism"                   search for a term paper on 1953. He found the fol-
                                                           lowing article of interest in the April, 1953 Minutes
-Mr. and Mrs. League Meeting at Holland, Michi-
 gan - Rev. C. Hanko - "Schisms of 1953"                   of Classis East: "Moved to send a letter of sympathy
                                                           and greeting to our brother, Rev.  ---A, who
-Spring Lecture in Grand Rapids  - Prof. Decker            soon must submit to a major operation, and our
 - "The Believer and His Bible"                            stated clerk shall execute this."
-Office-Bearers Conference at Holland, Michigan
 - Rev. Miersma  - "Putting on the Whole                     Mr. Gritters added this editorial comment, "And
 Armour of God"                                            you thought stated clerks had to be qualified now!"
-Lecture sponsored by our Covenant Church of                                                                      CK


