               The
     STANDARD
          BEARER
P              A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE





       Hie you to Bethlehem! For the sake of
     your soul, for the sake of heavenly joy such
     as the first Paradise did not know. . . .
       Bethlehem still has its unspeakable
     charms!
       Focal point of the brilliancy of Divine
     Light!
       It is.the smiling Face of the Triune God!

                             Rev. Gerrit Vos
         Standard Bearer, December 15, 1948



                                            Volume LX, No. 6, December 15,1983 -


122                                                                THE STANDARD BEARER




                                                                                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER
                                  CONTENTS                                                                                 ISSN 0362-4692
                                                                                                 Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July, and August.
                                                                                                  Published b the Reformed Free Publishing Association, Inc.
  Meditation -                                                                                         SeconIfClass Postage Paid at Grand Rapids,  Mich.
                                                                                       Editor-in-Chief:  Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema
       The Bright and Morning Star. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .122                 Deparhent  Editors: Rev. Ronald Cammenga, Rev. Arie den Hartog, Prof. Robert
                                                                                       D. Decker, Rev. Cornelius Hanko, Prof. Herman C. Hanko, Rev. Ronald Hanko,
  Editorials -                                                                         Mr. David Harbach, Rev. John A. Heys, Rev. J. Kortering, Rev. George C.
                                                                                       Lubbers, Rev. Thomas C. Miersma, Rev.  Ma&us  Schipper, Rev. James  Slopse-
       Congratulations to a New Sister . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125                 ma, Rev. Gise J. Van Baren, Rev. Herman Veldman.
       Has the Leopard (WCC) Changed Its Spots? . . . .126                             Editorial Office: Prof. H.C. Hoeksema
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       A Reply Relative to "Untalented Singers" . . . . . 128                          Church News Editor:  Mr. David Harbach
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MEDITATION

                                The Bright and Morning Star
                                                                            Rev. C. Hanko

                    Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there
                came wise men from the east to Jerusalem saying, Where is He that is born King of the Jews?
                for we have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him.                                                      Matthew 2:1,2


  His Star!                                                                                  We, children of Japheth, were represented by
  We came a bit too late to accompany the                                                wisemen from the east who had come to Jerusalem
shepherds on their visit to the Babe Jesus in the                                        to inquire about the new heir to the throne of
cattle stall. But we did arrive exactly on time  ac-                                      David, for they had seen His Star in the east.
cording to God's plan, for the fulness of time had                                           They called it the Star. They were confident that
come when God's promise would be realized that                                           there  could be only one. And they were also  confi-
Japheth should dwell in the tents of Shem.                                                dent that the Star they had seen in the east, or, in its


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                              123



rising, was indeed His Star. Among all the countless       even know the names of these  wisemen, whom
stars of the heavens there arose one Star, larger, dif-    Matthew calls magi. We sing "We three kings of
ferent, more impressive in scintillating brightness        Orient are," but we do not know whether there
than any other star.  Fojr many centuries, since the       were three. The only basis for thinking that there
dawn of creation the stars in the heavens had sung         were three is the three  ,gifts they brought to Jesus.
the praises of their Maker. For the heavens declare        Although the prophets spoke of kings coming "to
the glory of God and the firmament sheweth His             the brightness of thy rising" (Isaiah  60:3, see also
handiwork. Night unto night shows wisdom. To               Ps.  68:31,  72:10), Matthew speaks of  wisemen, or
Abraham as the father of all believers, and there-         magi, who may have been learned men, possibly
fore to us God gave the numberless stars as a sign of      astronomers or astrologers. Nor is there any evi-
His covenant seed, the church, which becomes a             dence that they came from the East, that is, from
multitude that no man can number in the new crea-          the Orient. They may have come from Babylon
tion. Even now the night may be ever so dark,              where there were still Jews remaining after the
storms may rage under threatening skies, the earth         Babylonian captivity. From them the magi may
may rock and shake on its foundation, and nations          have heard of the prophecy of Balaam, that "there
may be engaged in bloody conflict, but the stars in        shall come a Star out of Jacob and a Sceptre shall
the heavens remain serenely undisturbed as they            arise out of Israel" (Num. 24:17). Indeed, we know
await the renewal of all things in the new creation.       so very little about these wisemen, yet God has re-
  In the  fumess of time Christ's Star arose among         vealed that which is important for us: They are the
the myriads of stars. Scientists have tried to find a      gentiles who come from afar, for they had seen His
natural explanation for this strange phenomenon.           Star in the east.
Some consider it a conjunction of three planets in           Where is He that is born King of the Jews?
the eastern sky. Others think it might have been a           We marvel at the confidence of our representa-
large comet or a nova. But the fact remains that           tives as they take up their long journey to find the
there is no scientific explanation for this Star,          King. Was it mere curiosity that spurred them on
which itself is a wonder of God, a miraculous sign         their way? That hardly explains their confidence,
of the great Wonder of wonders who has come into           their eagerness and determination. Was it pagan
our lives as the Bright and Morning Star.                  superstition that God used to bring them to the
  This Star was in its rising, even as the King of the     Savior? That also fails to explain their desire to find
Jews was born in Bethlehem. True, He was born in           and worship the King of the Jews. No, here we see a
poverty and weakness, His life would be a path of          second wonder: God not only displayed to them the
suffering which reached its climax on the cross. For       wonder. of the Star, but also added the wonder of
He was the great Servant of Jehovah who came to            faith wrought in the hearts of these gentiles.
challenge Satan and all the forces of darkness,              With the power of grace spurring them on, these
meeting them in mortal combat and entering into            magi travel toward Jerusalem. It is not true, as we
the very citadel of Satan in hell to crush him and         sometimes sing of the Star, "Westward leading, still
break his power over the elect, and to march tri-          proceeding," for these men did not see the Star on
umphantly through death and the grave to take His          their way to Jerusalem. They were on their own,
divinely appointed place at the Father's right hand        and actually they were off the right course. God
in the heavens. The Star arose to its zenith amid the      purposely left them with the assumption that the
stars of heaven. All power was given to Him in             newly born King of the Jews would be born in the
heaven and on earth. From His throne He rules the          capital city, Jerusalem. God did this as much for
nations with a rod of iron, carrying out the counsel       their sakes, trying their faith, as for Jerusalem's
of God for the salvation of His people. He is, in-         condemnation. What a disappointment met these
deed, the Bright and Morning Star who sends His            magi as they arrived in Jerusalem and failed to find
rays of eternal light and life into our hearts to lead     any evidence of celebration, any flags or banners
us ever onward to the eternal Day. His very pres-          honoring the royal Babe. A worse shock awaited
ence among us assures us that He is hastening to-          them as they stood in the palace of wicked Herod,
ward the hour when He will appear with the clouds          who obviously could not hide his consternation
to take us unto Himself in the new creation, where         when he heard the mission of these magi.  Herod
we will shine as stars of the universe to the glory of     was troubled, we read. He trembled in fear of
the Father, world without end!                             God's judgment as his throne seemed to totter
  As wonderful as the Star itself, so wonderful is         under him. And all Jerusalem was deeply disturbed
the amazing fact that this Star should appear to us        with him. Foreigners from a pagan country are in-
in our representatives; of whom we actually know           quiring about their promised King. They speak of a
so very little. Whether only the  wisemen saw the          sign from heaven, a Star. Balaam's prophecy comes
Star, and no one else, we do not know. We do not           to the minds of these scribes, doctors of theology.


124                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



There is a recollection of recent rumors of a Babe         these gentiles except as the work of Almighty God
born in Bethlehem, of shepherds, of a visit of             by His Spirit in their hearts? How else can we ex-
angels. And all this in David's city, of which Micah       plain these costly gifts, fit only for royalty, laid
had prophesied! All this was so contrary to their          down at the feet of the Babe already rejected by His
idea of how the promised Messiah should come to            own people. How else can we explain this interest
them. Why, if He were indeed the Christ, was He            in the King of the Jews if it were not that He meant
not born of royalty, in pomp and splendor, in Jeru-        so much to these gentiles? God had made them real-
salem. Their pride was hurt that they had not been         ize that their idols were but wood and stone, while
the first to be informed, the first to greet Him. And      Jehovah, the God of Israel, is the, only true and
now, as if to add insult to injury, foreigners from        living God. God gave them a deep awareness that
heathen lands came to worship Him who was sup-             their pagan superstitions and all their attempts to
posed to be  their  King! Since  Herod  insisted, they     appease their gods could never give them the peace
got out their scrolls and soon pointed out that            they sought. Against Jehovah they had sinned, and
Micah had spoken of Bethlehem Judah as the birth-          He alone could forgive and deliver them from their
place of one who was to rule Israel, whose goings          sins, and that only through the promised King.
out have been of old, from everlasting (Micah 5:2).        They believed that the marvelous Star that
To their own condemnation they read, informed              appeared before them, rising in the eastern sky, an-
the king, and then rolled up their scroll in unbelief.     nounced the birth of that King. It was that deep
Let the  wisemen continue their search, these              spiritual need for the Savior that virtually drove
learned men will not bother to investigate. They           them to Jerusalem, and from hard-hearted Jeru-
want no part of this Christ, the only and eternal          salem to Bethlehem to find Him who alone can
Lord. Jerusalem heard the Word and hardened it-            save. Nothing could deter them until they found
self against it, already rejecting Him who was born        Him whom their soul sought, before whom they
King of the Jews.                                          could bow in worship and present their gifts of
  Would that not be enough to cause the magi to            praise and thanks.
turn back to their country in total disgust? Unwit-          These were the firstfruits from heathendom, the
tingly they had served to harden the inhabitants of        fulfillment of the prophecy of Noah that Japheth
Jerusalem with another witness of the birth of the         would dwell in the tents of Shem. They were our
Savior. They had served their purpose and could            representatives, harbingers of Pentecost, when the
now continue on their way.                                 Spirit of Christ was poured out and began to gather
  Yet the scribes had helped them in their search          the church from every nation, and tribe, and
by pointing their learned finger to the prophecy of        tongue, even to the ends of the earth and the
Micah that spoke of Bethlehem as the birthplace of         islands of the sea.
the great King. In spite of their cold reception in the         Heathen lands and hostile peoples
palace and the total indifference of the teachers in              Soon shall come the Lord to know;
Israel they proceed toward David's city. It is the              Nations born again in Zion
power of God's grace that refuses to be hindered by               Shall the Lord's salvation show;
obstacles and even spurs them on to seek the new-               God Almighty shall on Zion strength bestow.
born King. Much to their amazement, help comes               0 come, let us adore Him, Christ, the Lord!
from Jehovah when they need it most. Amazed, yet
filled with relief, they see the Star appearing once
more before them and leading them to Bethlehem.
We read that they rejoiced with exceeding great joy
as they followed the Star. Any attempt to explain               The Standard Bearer
this appearance from natural causes must fail
again. With renewed confidence they commit
themselves unto the guidance of Almighty God,                    makes a thoughtful
Who causes the Star to rest above the house where
Mary and Joseph have sought refuge for themselves                     gift for the sick
and their Baby. Confidently these strangers enter,
yet they are filled with awe and reverence as they
approach the object of their search, the King of the                 or shut-in. Give
Jews lying in the arms of a common, ordinary
woman.                                                      The Standard Bearer
  Worshiping in Faith.
  How else can we possibly explain this worship of


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                               125



EDITORIALS
Prof. H.C. Hoeksema

                 Congratulations to a New Sister

  We have a `new sister in the family of our               south of the main intersection on Byron Center
Protestant Reformed Churches. Our baby sister's            Ave.
name is Byron Center Protestant Reformed                     From one of the elders I received a summary of
Church. She was born on October 20, 1983; and as           the history leading to the formation of the new con-
far as size is concerned, appears to be a healthy          gregation, from which I have gleaned the following
baby: 24 families, with 72 children, and 1 indivi-         items (accompanied by photos of the congregation
dual were the charter members of the congregation.         and their temporary meetingplace) :
  Congratulations, sister! We wish you a long and          * *During the summer of 1981 the church extension
prosperous life and healthy growth, and we pray            committee of Hudsonville church, with consistorial
that you may be a faithful and undaunted witness           approval, began a class (at the Byron Center
of our Protestant Reformed heritage in your com-           Library) for the study of the Canons of Dordt. The
munity.                                                    purpose was to extend our witness to the truth in
  For many of our readers the name Byron Center            this area, and the eventual goal was the formation
is undoubtedly a strange one, although this is not         of a new congregation. This class met during the
the first time that there has been a Protestant Re-        1981-82 and 1982-83 seasons under the leadership
formed Church in Byron Center. If your memory              of Prof. H.C. Hoeksema.
goes back as far as this, you will recall that the late    * *With the encouragement of members of our var-
Rev. G.M. Ophoff was for many years pastor of a            ious churches, the committee was expanded during
little flock there  - until the congregation was dis-      the summer of 1982 to include interested members.
solved in mid-1944, at which time the Rev. Ophoff          During the fall of 1982, after permission was re-
became full-time instructor in our seminary, with          ceived from each of the consistories involved, var-
the status of minister emeritus of First Church.           ious potentially interested families were contacted
  And now we have a congregation there once                with a view to determining whether there was ade-
more.                                                      quate support for a new church in the area.
  For those who are unacquainted with the geo-             Eighteen to twenty families expressed an interest.
graphy of this region, Byron Center is a little village    After two informational meetings were held, it was
in what might be termed the far southwestern               decided to petition Classis East for approval to insti-
region of the greater Grand Rapids area. The loca-         tute a new congregation. A request was filed at that
tion of the town is at 84th Street and Byron Center        time with eighteen signatures attached. Although
Rd., approximately 10 miles to the southeast of our        we were somewhat disappointed at the classical de-
Hudsonville church and some 13 miles to the                cision to postpone action until September, our de-
southwest of First Church. The temporary meeting-          sire and prayer persisted that we could once again
place of the congregation is the Byron Center Chris-       establish a Protestant Reformed witness in this
tian Junior High School, located a couple blocks           area.
                                                           **In July of 1983, at the request of several mem-
                                                           bers of Hudsonville church, the Consistory of Hud-


126                                       THE STANDARD BEARER





sonville decided to begin conducting worship ser-       occasion 24 families (with 72 children) and 1 indivi-
vices in Byron Center as church extension work          dual presented their membership attests and were
and with a view to the establishment of a congrega-     declared to be charter members of the Byron
tion. On August 7 the first services were held; at      Center Protestant Reformed Church. Three elders
that time a Sunday School, with 35 children pre-        and two deacons were chosen (by free election) and
sent, was also begun.                                   were duly installed in office.
* *At the September session of Classis East approval    * *We thank our heavenly Father for this joyous oc-
was granted to organize the new congregation. And       casion and for the opportunity to labor in the cause
the organizational service was held on October 20,      of His kingdom and in our Protestant Reformed
1983, with Prof. Hoeksema preaching the sermon          outreach and witness in this community.
on Isaiah 66: 11 ("Nourished By Breasts of Consola-       Postscript.  At its annual congregational meeting
tion and Glory"), and Rev. G. Van  Baren leading        the Hudsonville congregation voted to give the new
the congregational meeting and installing the newly     congregation a gift of $50,000.00 - you might call it
elected elders and deacons. As stated above, at this    a birthday present.


                           Has the Leopard (VVCC)
                                 ChangedIts Spots?

  A month ago we called attention to the fact that        But we may also face the question whether the
there was a considerable number of "evangelicals"       leopard has changed his spots, whether there has
- among them the Secretary General of the Re-           indeed been any significant and far-reaching
formed Ecumenical Synod - who claimed to see a          change on the part of the WCC, such a change as
change for the better in the World Council of           would enable "evangelicals," let alone Reformed
Churches at its recent Vancouver Assembly, even         churches, to participate.
sufficient change to warrant working together in
such a World Council. At that time we looked at the       Our answer to this question is No.
matter especially from the point of view of possible      First of all, anyone who followed the reports of
consequences for the Reformed Ecumenical Synod,         the secular press concerning the Sixth Assembly
which will again face the issue of dual membership      has to be aware of the fact that the WCC continues
at Chicago in 1984. Especially since some member        to be deeply involved in social and political action,
churches have already flatly rejected such dual         especially with respect to so-called Third World
membership as that presently held by the GKN,           countries. We do not believe that this is the busi-
there is the possibility of a serious clash at RES      ness of the church or of a council of churches.
Chicago.                                                Many so-called evangelicals do not as such object to


                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER                                                         1 2 7



this. But the striking thing about the Sixth Assem-              stinking abomination to the Lord of heaven and
bly, as in the past, was that it came down hard on               earth?
the social and political injustices of which the                    Nor was this an isolated instance of such syncre-
United States was supposedly guilty, while it trod               tism.
lightly, ever so lightly, when it came to the in-
justices of communist countries and those with pro-                 In the statement issued by a minority of dissident
Marxist philosophies. But remember: to be com-                   evangelicals headed by Dr. Peter Beyerhaus we
munist and Marxist is to be antichristian!                       find the following in paragraph 7:
   In the second place, the WCC is guilty of what is                       Non-Christian religions are presented as ways
called syncretism. What is that? The dictionary de-                  through which Christ Himself gives life to their fol-
fines it as "the reconciliation or union of conflicting              lowers and also speaks to us as Christians. The fear of
beliefs, especially religious beliefs, or a movement                 many that the WCC could move into an increasing
or effort intending such." In other words, syncre-                   syncretism is confirmed by the inclusion of Indian
                                                                     mythology in the worship program, by the invita-
tism is really a euphemism for  idoZatry   and for                   tions to leaders of other religions to address the As-
polytheism.  There was a glaring instance of this at                 sembly, even on its central theme ["Jesus Christ The
the opening worship service of the Sixth Assembly,                   Life of the World" HCH), and by the explicit state-
a grand affair with 15,000 people in attendance, a                   ment of a leading WCC official, Professor Dr. D.C.
choir of some 600 persons, a host of dignitaries, and                Mulder, that an evangelistic revival endangers our
an Indian tribal band from British Columbia. The                     dialogue with other religions.
Rev. Charles T. Fennema refers to this in an article                Space does not permit the quotation of the com-
in Calvinist Contact (Aug. 19, p. 8):                            plete statement of the Beyerhaus-led evangelicals,
      Two events in the liturgy I found rather distasteful       from which one receives an entirely different im-
    and unbecoming for a Christian worship service.              pression from that left by the so-called "radical
    There was first of all the Indian tribal band. It's great    evangelicals." Nor does the Beyerhaus statement
    to see the indigenous people of our land at a Christian      furnish mere opinions; it cites concrete facts and
    worship service. After the creation story of Genesis 1       events. Let me conclude by quoting three more
    was read and an appropriate hymn was sung the In-            paragraphs from this statement:
    dian band had its performance.                                         3) The very words of the Bible, although used more
      First there was an Indian dance. Very interesting.             lavishly than at previous conferences, often seemed
    But then one of the Indian chiefs gave an Indian ac-             to assume another meaning. We sensed a general
    count of the beginnings of mankind. Again very inter-            trend to mis-use the Christian heritage as a forum and
    esting but really a pagan account of the birth of men            language for social-political ideologies. Under the dis-
    into this world. I could not  - and still cannot  - see          guise of a biblical and trinitarian terminology, sup-
    what this story had to do with the Christian confes-             ported by dramatic illustrations of a threatening nu-
    sion that God created the heavens and the earth.                 clear holocaust and by communicating fascinating
      If this event was added to appease the indigenous              human dreams of peace in speeches, worship ser-
    people of Canada it was in very poor taste. If it had            vices and audio-visual presentations, a pseudo-chris-
    been added as part of the worship service to show del-           tian view of salvation which equates God with the
    egates our Canadian folklore it was a farce and de-              driving forces within the process of history, is de-
    grading for the Indian tribal band. If it was a part of          veloped.
    the worship because also our Indian culture might                      4) Only this ambiguity can explain the seeming in-
    contribute to a broad-minded, all-inclusive "witness"            consistency of speakers who represented traditional
    about man's origin, it was plain syncretism - an ac-             Christian doctrines featuring side by side with others
    commodation which is evil in the sight of a jealous              who expounded radical beliefs incompatible with or-
    God who alone is the Creator of heaven and earth.                thodox biblical convictions. One outstanding example
  The latter is exactly what it was. In other reports                was Dr. Dorothy  Soelle.  She denounced the biblical
I read that this Indian tribal service was complete                  concept of God and His Lordship, speaking of a "god-
with totem pole and that the totem pole was to be                    movement," and even encouraged her listeners to
shipped to Geneva, Switzerland to have a place on                    write "new bibles."
the grounds of the WCC headquarters.                                       5) Other speakers encouraged women to make
  Only, it should be called by its right name:                       their female experience the starting point of develop-
                                                                     ing a profoundly new theology in which the reverence
idolatry!                                                            for the biblically revealed God as our Father is
  How, I ask, can evangelicals, let alone Reformed                   changed into the cult of god mother.
men, defend such a WCC?                                            These quotations from the Beyerhaus statement
  Does such worship arise as a sweet smelling                    are quoted from Christian News, October 17, 1983.
savour to the Holy One? Or did this idolatry not                   Obviously, the leopard has not changed his
rather make the entire grand worship service a                   spots.


I    128                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



     CORRESPONDENCEAND REPLY


            A Reply Relative to "Untalented Singers"
                                                      Rev. R.C. Harbach


       The Standard  Bearer article, "God's Holiness"            absence of talent (Romans 1: 18 shows why). As the
     (Nov. 1, 1983, Vol. LX, No.  3), meets with a fine,         psalmist (Ps. 59:6-7a) put it, "at evening they make
     positive response from a young Protestant Re-               a noise like a dog . . . they belch out" of their mouth
     formed college student who principally agrees with          such senseless and "barbarous vocables" as  "bow-
     the content and thrust of the article but takes ex-         wow-wow-wow!"
     ception to the word "untalented" (see front cover             These purveyors of "Rock" filth, we agree, prac-
     and p. 61) as not applicable to today's popular             tice for many hours prior to their performances.
     "singers," adding that it should be recognized as           This recalls the old saying, "Practice makes per-
     modern "music theorists tell us . . . these `singers'       fect," not a very scientific statement, for all too
     are very talented," only they have debased their            often we keep practicing our mistakes, over and
     God-given gifts to the service of sin. Further, it was      over. Then practice becomes a continual rehearsal
     urged that we do not take God's gifts for granted.          of imperfection. Still, one wonders how much prac-
     For this good counsel we are grateful.                      tice it takes to produce a silly "bow-wow!"
       We appreciate this Reformed line of positive              Naughty children do this sort of thing all the time,
     criticism. This brings to mind that music and               without thinking and with no practice whatever.
     musical instruments originally came from the non-             God indeed has naturally endowed men with
     covenant line of the godless Lamech (Gen.  4:21).           certain natural skills and aptitudes, with brains,
     God had given them the ability to invent these in-          and a certain ability to use them. So that they not
     struments and, as Funk and Wagnalls Dictionary              only have knowledge but a certain kind of wisdom,
     defines the word talent, He gave them the "natural          yet withal not a shred of grace. But the natural man
     gift" or "natural endowment of eminent ability" to          rejects the idea that these good gifts are God-given
     produce classical music. But they proceeded to              and refuses to use them to God's glory, using them
     prostitute these talents to the service of the devil.       in the service of the devil, so that their "wisdom" is
     The  talented,  says the dictionary, possess skill,         not from above, but is this-worldly (I Cor.  3:18),
     genius, have marked mental ability and uncommon             natural (2:14),  hostile (Rom. 8:7) and demonic (Acts
     aptitude. A great Christian philologist well said,          13:lO). Cp. Jas.  3:15. They also have a talent for
     "men may choose to forget the ends for which their          getting wealthy. Their performances do no public
     talents  were given them . . . they may practically         service, but project and advocate destmction. Yet in
     deny that they were given at all; yet in this word'. . .    their own private lives they make sure that they
     abides a continual memento that they were so                protect  their own financial  security!  They get rich
     given . . . and that each man shall have to render an       making  boobe of their devotees. To this mis-use of
     account of their use." (Trench, On  the Study of            their talents to their own condemnation will be
     Words, lect. iii, p. 93, 1883, F. & W. Die.). The very      added the final judgment where they will not be
     word  taZented,  used negatively in the article re-         able to forget Who gave them their gifts, nor the
     ferred to, had been "denounced by Coleridge as              end for which they were given - the glory of God!
     `that vile and barbarous vocable,' " yet is "never-         And that final accounting day for them is near.
     theless correctly formed according to analogy of            Finally, who would disagree with ex-Rock king
     such words as booted, cloistered, horned,  ivied,           Little Richard, for saying, "Some music will keep
     sceptred, slippered,  venomed, and numerous                 you out of God's kingdom!" But again, we give
     others."                                                    thanks to God for Reformed young people who
       Therefore, instead of saying "they are an un-             "think Reformed!" - RCH.
     talented screaming mob," it might better have been
     written, "are a mis-talented (mis = wrong) mob" or
     "they are a screaming mob belching out talentless                          Read and Study
     trash, not worth three minutes of audition time."
     Then it would not be saying that they have no talent                  The Standard Bearer
     but that their trashy productions evidence a notable


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                               129



QUESTIONBOX


                                    Covenant Breakers
                                                       Rev. C. Hanko              -



   A reader from New Zealand, after expressing his                In the first statement there is a  generuZ  promise
appreciation for the  Standard Bearer,  writes:                 proclaimed to "every one of you," that is, to all
   "I was puzzled about a sentence in your article              who hear the preaching of the Word. This general
(S.B., p. 447) where you and the Prot. Ref.                     promise depends on man for its fulfillment: "if you
Churches object to the saying, `God promises to                 believe." You must believe to make God's promise
every one of you, that if you believe you shall be              a reality. That denies the fundamental truth that
saved.' You state that this militates against the plain         God's promises are always "yea" and "amen" in
teachings of Scripture. Rom.  10:9, however, does               Him. That also makes our salvation dependent on
say the same thing. In essence I see no difference in           us.
the meaning of these two statements. . . . Peter ends             The second statement is addressed to believers.
Acts  2:39  `. . . as many as the Lord our God shall            Verse 8 says, "The word is nigh thee, even in thy
call.' But we do not know who are called. . . . Is it           mouth, and in thy heart." To them God gives the
wrong to speak of covenant breakers? Was not                    particular  promise, "if (in the sense of when) you
Adam a covenant breaker?"                                       confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe
   This writer included in his letter copies of                 in Him in your heart, you shall be saved." This is a
articles written by H.J. Jager of Kampen written in             general proclamation of God's promise, which is al-
the periodical  Opbouw.  This writer is a member of             ways particular, addressed to the elect. In this case,
the Nederlandse Gereformeerde Kerk, an offshoot                 nothing depends on man, it is all God's gift (Ephe-
of the Gereformeerde  Kerken onderhoudende                      sians 2:8,9).
article 31, DKO (the Liberated Churches). He does                 This same thing holds for Acts  2:39. "For the
not include these articles to express agreement with            promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all
them, but rather to show how this branch of the                 that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God
Liberated Churches has become thoroughly Armin-                 shall call." In this passage Peter refers to the pro-
ian. The writer refers to John  3:16 as expressing              mise of Genesis  17:7, "And I will establish my
God's love for and desire to save all men, for, as he           covenant between me and thee and thy seed after
says, anybody can put his name there instead of the             thee in their generations for an everlasting cove-
term "the world." He speaks of losing one's faith               nant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after
and falling from grace. This is exactly the error that          thee." He declares this to those who repented dur-
is so strongly opposed and condemned in our                     ing his sermon on the day of Pentecost, assuring
Canons.                                                         them that the promise to Abraham also applied  to.
   The question in the mind of the reader centers               them as seed of Abraham. What is especially signifi-
about the `if' clause in the statement "God prom-               cant in this passage is the fact that Peter realizes,
ises to every one of you, if you believe you shall be           under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, that God's
saved," and the `if' clause in Romans  10:8, 9, "But            covenant continues in the line of generations of be-
what saith it (the Scripture)? The word is nigh thee,           lievers also in the new dispensation as well as in the
even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the               old. This covenant, however, does not include all
word of faith, which we preach; that  if  thou shalt            the natural children in the line of generations, but
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt be-             the spiritual seed. In Genesis  17:7 God makes dis-
lieve in thine heart that God hath raised him from              tinction between Abraham's seed and their genera-
the dead, thou shalt be saved."                                 tions. The seed is taken into the covenant in the line
   If we place the two statements next to each other            of generations. Peter makes this same distinction
the difference becomes obvious:                                when he says, "unto you and to your children, and
                                                               to all that are .afar  off, even as many as the Lord our
   1) God promises to every one of you, that if you             God shall call. Those that are afar off are the nations
believe . . . .                                                 even to the ends of the earth. Out of those nations
   2) If you shall confess . . . and shall believe . . . .      God will call His own. Paul never speaks in his


130                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



epistles of the calling of God from the external            distinction from the wheat, both of which grow up
aspect of the preaching of the Word. Paul speaks of         in the same field.
the calling of God as the almighty, efficacious call-         This same truth applies to the sacrament of
ing, whereby God draws His own out of darkness              Baptism. There are many who receive the outward
into His marvelous light. That is also the case here.       sign of baptism, but do not have the seal of the Holy
The promise of God is to the elect. It is always            Spirit in their hearts. Like carnal Israel they are out-
particular, to the believers and their spiritual seed,      wardly in the covenant, that is, they abide for a
even as God establishes His covenant with be-               time in the sphere of the covenant. Although they
lievers and their spiritual seed.                           are regarded as part of the church for a time, they
  This was true already in the old dispensation.            are not actually members of the true church of
Distinction is always made between the carnal seed          Christ. This compares with what Paul says in I Cor-
of Abraham and the true spiritual seed, between             inthians lO:l-5, "Moreover, brethren, I would not
those who were merely externally in the covenant            have you ignorant, how that all-our fathers were
and those who were actually internally, spiritually         under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
in the covenant. In Romans  2:28, 29 the apostle            and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and
Paul writes, "For he is not a Jew, which is one out-        in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meat;
wardly; neither is that circumcision, which is out-         and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they
ward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one in-        drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them:
wardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the       and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them
spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of       God was not well pleased: for they were over-
men, but of God." In Romans 4:11, Abraham is re-            thrown in the wilderness." This cannot possibly
ferred to as the father  of believers,  both in the old     mean that for a time God was well pleased with
and new dispensation. See verses 16, 17. In                 them, but that when it became evident that they
Romans 9:6-S we are told that "They which are the           were not elect, not sanctified in Christ by the Holy
children of the flesh, these are not the children of        Spirit, did not walk in faith, God was no longer
God: but the children of the promise are counted for        pleased with them. God knows the heart. Salvation
the seed." It is exactly for that reason that Paul tells    is of the Lord. He never changes. He who has
the Galatians, "Now to Abraham and his seed were            begun a good work in us will surely finish it. That is
the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as           our comfort in the preservation of the saints.
of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is             This also explains what Scripture means by cov-
Christ" (3: 16). From which the apostle concludes in        enant breakers. A covenant breaker is one who vio-
verse 29, "And if ye are Christ's, then are ye Abra-        lates, transgresses the covenant. Even a true be-
ham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."            liever violates God's covenant when he sins. True,
  It is exactly from this point of view that the            spiritual Israel transgressed God's covenant when
apostles in their epistles could address the various        they went along with the carnal element in serving
churches as "Called saints" (Rom.  1:7). "To them           idols, and is therefore accused of committing spiri-
that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints" (I      tual adultery. But there are also those who violate
Cor.  1:2); "the church of God which is in Corinth,         the covenant by despising all that is holy. Just as
with all the saints, which are in Achaia" (II Cor.          they break God's law, even all the commandments,
l:l, and so forth). Peter addresses the churches as         without being true members of the church, so also
"The strangers scattered abroad, . . . elect accord-        they can transgress God's covenant, become cove-
ing to the foreknowledge of God the Father" (I Pet.         nant breakers without being in the covenant. We
l:l, 2). Or, "them which have obtained like                 can speak of Adam as a covenant breaker. But
precious faith with us through the righteousness of         Scripture is much more emphatic about those in the
God and our Savior Jesus Christ" (II Peter 1: 1).           old testament who deliberately profaned God's
  Scripture always speaks of the church as an or-           covenant by knowing what God required of them
ganism, that is, it addresses the elect, the saints         and yet refused to obey Him. They are cast out and
which are in Christ Jesus. To them is the promise of        beaten with double stripes, for they despise all that
the gospel, not as something that they can accept or        is holy, even as Esau did.
reject by their personal choice, but which is as-
sured them by the power of the indwelling Spirit of
Christ. True, there is a general proclamation of this                 The Standard Bearer
particular promise to all who hear the Word, so that                makes a thoughtful gift
the carnal element of the church also hears this prom-
ise, despises and rejects it in unbelief. Of them                        for any occasion.
Scripture  says.that they have known the way, but
have not walked in it. They prove to be the tares in


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                               131



  STRENGTH OF YOUTH


                       The Christian and Dancing (2)
                                                 Rev. Ron Cammenga


     In our last article, we took note of the changed at-    do indeed give their approval to social dancing. Ini-
  titude toward the dance by the churches today.             tially it might seem that not only do the Scriptures
  Whereas in the past the church has always squarely         not condemn social dancing, but they actually en-
  opposed the practice of dancing, now the churches          courage dancing on the part of the people of God.
  are beginning to tolerate and even promote danc-             A closer look at these passages, however, will
  ing. The members, and especially the young                 show that this is not the case. A careful study of
  people, are encouraged to redeem the dance.                these Bible texts which speak of dancing will show
     Apparently there is Scriptural support for this ap-     that there is a sharp difference between the dancing
  proval of dancing. For the Scriptures themselves           of the Bible and social dancing.
   speak of dancing, dancing on the part of children of        First of all, the dancing spoken of in the Old Test-
   God, dancing which was approved of by God.                ament was a part of the religious worship of the
  Those who are busy promoting dancing in the                people of God. Their dancing was usually in grate-
   churches today appeal to these Scriptural passages        ful celebration of some wonderful deliverance
  as proof for their contention that dancing is permis-      which Jehovah had wrought for His people. They
-. sible for the Christian.                                  danced in spontaneous praise for the special tokens
     Exodus  15:20 records the dancing of Miriam,            of God's favor. Their dancing was an expression of
  Moses' sister, along with other women of Israel at         their joy in salvation. Their dancing was not simply
  the time of God's deliverance of Israel through the        a hobby. It was not a form of relaxation. It-was  not
  Red Sea and His drowning of Pharaoh's host: "And           for the physical exercise, or for entertainment. It
  Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a         was emphatically an aspect of their worship of
  timbre1 in her hand; and all the women went out            God. The children of Israel didn't hold parties
  after her with timbrels and with dances." I Samuel         which featured popular music to which the guests
   18:6 records the dancing of the women of Israel in        might dance. No such thing. They danced to the
  celebration of David's slaughter of Goliath and the        Lord.
  subsequent defeat of the army of the Philistines. II         Although dancing did have a place in the Old
  Samuel  6:14 describes David's dancing at the time         Testament worship of God, it no longer does today.
  of the bringing up of the ark of God: "And David           The fact of the matter is that the New Testament
  danced before the Lord with all his might; and             nowhere mentions dancing in connection with the
  David was girded with a linen ephod."                      worship of the New Testament church, All the im-
     Mention is made in several places in the book of        portant aspects of the church's worship are men-
  Psalms of the dancing of the people of God. In             tioned in the New Testament: the preaching,
  Psalm 30: 11 we read, "Thou hast turned for me my          prayers, singing, giving of our offerings. Nowhere
  mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sack-          is dancing included as a part of the worship of the
  cloth, and girded me with gladness." In Psalm              New Testament church. The reality to which the
   149:3 the psalmist enjoins God's people, "Let them        dancing of the saints in the Old Testament pointed
  praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises        is the joy in the Holy Spirit, Who has now been
  unto him with the timbre1 and harp." In Psalm              poured out into the New Testament church.
   150:4 he exhorts, "Praise him with the timbre1 and          Secondly, the outstanding difference between
  dance: praise him with stringed instruments and            social dancing and the dancing spoken of in the
  organs." The prophet Jeremiah describes the                Scriptures is that in the case of the latter the people
  response of the people of God to God's redemption          of God danced singly. The men of Israel did not
  of them like this, "Then shall the virgin rejoice in       dance with the women of Israel. But they danced
  the dance, both young men and old together: for I          individually and separately. There was no fond em-
  will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort        brace, no intimate contact, no sensual movements
  them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow."            of the body. And there was none of that because
     It might seem, at first glance, that the Scriptures     their dancing was not the mixed dancing which


132                                              THE STANDARD BEARER



characterizes the social dance of today. Miriam and         recognizes his calling to live a chaste and holy life,
the women of Israel danced in celebration of God's          can in good conscience participate in the dance.
deliverance of Israel. The women danced in joy                 It's worth noting that the dance isn't always
over David's defeat of the Philistines. David               spoken of in Scripture with approval. There is
danced at the bringing up of the ark. They danced           another kind of dancing mentioned which is far dif-
individually.                                               ferent from that which was sanctioned by God in
  This same point is made in  McClintock  and               the Old Testament. There is the naked, lascivious
Strong's Bible Encyclopedia.                                dancing of the children of Israel about the golden
          It remains to notice further that the Jew-        calf described in Exodus 32. On account of that
       ish dance was performed by the sexes sepa-           dancing God punished Israel severely. There is also
       rately. There is no evidence from sacred his-        the mention in Job  21:ll of the dancing of the
       tory that the diversion was promiscuously            children of the ungodly rich, children who are ob-
       enjoyed, except it might be at the erection of       sessed with the pursuit of pleasure. I Samuel 30:16
       the deified calf. . . . In the sacred dances, al-    records the eating and drinking and dancing of the
       though both sexes seem to have frequently            ungodly Amalekites, a dancing and celebration in
       borne a part in the procession or chorus,            which they were engaged at the very moment in
       they remained in distinct and separate com-          which God destroyed them utterly through His ser-
       panies .                                             vant David. Let those who seek to introduce the
                                                            dance today beware of the same impending judg-
  The social dance, the dancing with partners of            ment of God.
the opposite sex, is promiscuous. It is a violation of
the seventh commandment of God's law. It is                   This is our judgment of dancing. Dancing and the
sexual uncleanness. Our fathers were right when             Christian life are incompatible. The child of God is
they described dancing as "the mother of fornica-           called to separation from this form of worldy enter-
tion." It necessarily arouses in those who partici-         tainment. His refusing to dance is simply part of his
pate sexually impure thoughts and desires. It pro-          calling from God to live the antithesis. His not
motes and often leads to the act of fornication itself.     dancing is obedience to God's call to him in II Cor-
Young men and young women are not permitted                 inthians  6:14, 17: "Be ye not unequally yoked to-
the intimate contact with each other which they             gether with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath
have in the dance. Because our nature is what it is,        righteousness with unrighteousness? and what
the dance cannot be practiced without a breaking            communion hath light with darkness? Wherefore
of the seventh commandment of the law of God.               come out from among them, and be ye separate,
                                                            saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and
  The explanation of the seventh commandment                I will receive you." The Christian young person
by the Heidelberg Catechism in Lord's Day 41                takes seriously the Word of God in Ephesians  5:3,
makes very plain this condemnation of the dance.            11: "But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covet-
In that Lord's Day we are taught that the seventh           ousness, let it not be once named among you, as be-
commandment not only forbids the overt act of               cometh saints. And have no fellowship with the un-
fornication, but that (God also forbids in the seventh      fruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove
commandment  ". . . all unchaste actions, gestures,         them."
words, thoughts, desires . . .  ." And not only does
God forbid all of these things, and account these             Yes, this may very well not be a popular course
things as fornication, but God also forbids  ". . .         to take. If you refuse to dance you might lose some
whatever can entice men thereto." Positively, the           friends. You might even be mocked. But then, this
seventh commandment calls us to " . . . live chaste-        has always been the life of the people of God in the
ly and temperately, whether in holy wedlock, or in          world. You are in good company! And most of all,
single life." Really, there can be no doubt that            painful and self-denying though this way may be, it
dancing is forbidden the child of God. No child of          is the way of the favor of God. And that, in the end,
God who knows himself, and no child of God who              is all that matters.

                   The Standard Bearer makes a thoughtful
                           gift for the sick or shut-in. Give
                                    The Standard Bearer


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                                    133



BIBLE STUDY GUIDE

                   Hebrews - Christ, the Author
                of a Better Covenant (concluded)
                                                 Rev. J. Kortering


  In writing to the Hebrew Christians, the author           high priest to make reconciliation for the sinner
holds forth the new covenant as "better" than that          (2:14-18).
of the old. He uses the word better some thirteen              3. Christ is superior to Moses and Aaron (3:1-
times. To illustrate the comparative superiority of         4: 13). We are exhorted to consider Christ Jesus as
the new covenant in Christ, he speaks of a better           our faithful high priest (3: 1, 2). He is exalted over
revelation (Heb. 1: l-4); a better hope (Heb. 7: 19); a     Moses in that Moses was a servant in God's house
better priesthood (Heb.  7:20-28); a better covenant        (3:3-5),  but Christ is a Son over His own house, the
(Heb.  8:6); a better promise (Heb.  8:6); a better         church  (3:6). A word of warning is given that we
sacrifice (Heb. 9:23); better possessions (Heb.             should not harden our hearts as Israel did and died
10:34); a better country (Heb.  11:16);  and a better       in the wilderness over a period of 40 years, but
resurrection (Heb.  11:35).                                 rather we are to hearken to and believe in Christ
                                                            and be partakers of His glory  (3:7-19). The rest in
 All of this is centralized in Jesus Christ Who is the      Christ is compared to the rest of the Old Testament
author of this better covenant. Hence, he writes of         Israel (Jesus of 4:8 is Joshua). God had promised it
Christ: "God, who at sundry times and in divers
manners, spake in time past unto the fathers by the         to them, but they failed to obtain it because of un-
prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by         belief. Christ's rest is sure, for the gospel declares it
His Son, Whom He hath appointed heir of all                 and we enter into this rest by faith. The surety of
things, by Whom also He made the worlds, Who                our rest lies in the power of the gospel (4: 1-13).
being the brightness of His glory, and the express             4. Christ is the better high priest (4: 14-7:28). We
image of His person, and upholding all things by            may come boldly to Him in time of need, for He
the word of His power, when He had by Himself               understands  (4:14-16). The Old Testament priest
purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the          (Aaron) was taken from among men and had
majesty on high; being made so much better than             human infirmities common to man (5: 1, 2); he had
the angels, as He  bath by inheritance obtained a           to offer sacrifices for himself as well as for the
more excellent name, than they" (Heb. 1:1-4).               people  (5:13);  he could function only because he
BRIEF OUTLINE                                               was called of God  (5:4). Christ was also called by
                                                            God, but was of a higher order. He was after that of
  1. Christ is superior in His revelation over that         Melchisedec. He was appointed of God (5:5, 6). He
of the prophets (l:l-3). He personally is the bright-       is the author of salvation (5:8-10). At this point the
ness of God's glory and is seated at the right hand of      author of Hebrews interjects a warning against spir-
God (vs. 3).                                                itual immaturity and emphasizes the need to grow
  2. Christ is exalted over the angels (1:4-Z:  18). He     spiritually, from drinking spiritual milk to digesting
has a better name  (1:4). The Heavenly Father               spiritual meat. He also warns those who are in the
acknowledged Him as His only begotten Son (1:5).            church, who behold the works of the Holy Spirit
The angels are to worship Him  (1:6). Angels are            and come in the sphere of His power, that if they
ministering spirits. But Christ is exalted at God's         should fall away from the church, that it is impos-
right hand to reign over all things forever  (1:7-14).      sible to bring them to repentance. He encourages us
Compared to the messages of angels, which were              to continue in our labor of love and to be diligent to
true and had to be obeyed, how much more                    attain the full assurance of faith and hope (5:11-
Christ's message must be obeyed, for it is attested         6:12). He once again returns to the theme of
to by the Holy Spirit and miracles (2: l-4). Christ         Christ's priesthood and refers to Abraham as an
was made a little lower than the angels to become           example of God's faithfulness to His promise. He
God's servant in order that He might become                 emphasizes that Christ is the forerunner Who has
crowned with glory and honor (2:5-13).  The nature          entered into heaven for us (6: 13-20). Melchisedec is
He assumed was not of angels, but of fallen man,            identified and it is explained how Christ is priest
for only in that way could Christ become a merciful         after his order: he had great riches and honor and


134                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



was without known origin (eternal order)  - (7:1-            Rahab hid the spies (11:31). He lists many other ex-
10). Christ, like Melchisedec, belongs to an eternal         amples and refers to the great deeds which display
order and was confirmed by God's oath (7: 1 l-22).           a good report and great victory (11:32-40). As chil-
Christ makes continual intercession as God's high            dren of God, we are like a runner in a race, we are
priest  (7:23-25). He was also personally sinless,           surrounded by witnesses, we are to look to Jesus as
hence He was able to offer Himself for others, once          our captain. Even hardships must not deter us, for
for all, as a sacrifice for sin (7:26-28).                   chastisement is profitable (12: 1-13). We are to be at
  5. Christ's priesthood is exercised under a new            peace with God and avoid bitterness and evil influ-
covenant (8:1-13).  He is at the right hand of God in        ence, which destroyed Esau  (12:14-17). A contrast
the heavenly sanctuary (8: l-5). In contrast to the          is drawn between Mt. Sinai with its judgment and
old covenant which was enforced by the demands               Mt. Sion where God, the consuming fire, brings
of the law, the new covenant is realized by the law          peace to us (12:26-29). He deals with brotherly love
being written in the heart, which accomplishes vic-          and hospitality, slavery, marriage, contentment
tory over sin (8:6-13).                                      (13:  l-6), and requests that they remember those
  6. In this new covenant, Christ as high priest ac-         who preach  (13:7) and those who rule over them
complishes His work effectually (9: 1-19). The               (13: 17). He exhorts them to be doctrinally sound in
ancient sacrifices and ceremonies of the Old Testa-          the Lord Jesus  `(13:8,   9), to live as Christians in
ment were types (9: l- 10). Christ came as the fulfill-      purity as they follow Christ (13:10-16), and to pray
ment of these types and His blood actually cleanses          for all God's servants in their work (13: 18, 19).
from sin, and He accomplishes redemption (9:  ll-              8. Concluding benediction  (13:20-25). He prays
15). In the old covenant all purging of the earthly          that the God of peace Who brought Christ from the
temple was done by the shedding of blood, now                dead make them perfect  (13:20, 21). He asks them
Christ purged the heavenly tabernacle with His               to pay attention to this letter  (13:ZO).  He expresses
own blood (9: 16-28). All the sacrifices of the law          hope to see them, with Timothy  (13:23). And he
could not make a sinner perfect. They pointed to             asks them to bring his greetings to the other saints
the coming of Christ. Hence, the act of sacrifice it-        as those of Italy extend greetings (13:24,25).
self  did,not remove sin, it required repentance and         QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
faith in Christ  (lO:l-18).                                    1. Why is this letter called the Hebrews? For
  7. The remaining part of the letter deals with             whom was this letter written?
practical matters of the Christian life which results
from faith in Christ as high priest  (10:19-13:25).            2. Give briefly the arguments for and against
Through Christ we enter into -the holy of  holies            Pauline authorship.
where God dwells  (10:19-21). This requires                    3. Why was it necessary for this letter to be writ-
holiness on our part. We need sprinkled hearts and           ten?
washed bodies (10:22). It requires diligence in wor-           4. Show why Hebrews l:l-4 sets forth the grand
ship and mutual love for each other as God's people          theme of the entire letter.
(10:23-25). We are warned against willful sin, or              5. Look up the texts that describe the nine ways
counting the blood of Christ unholy. For such sin            in which the new covenant is better than the old,
there is only judgment  (10:26-31). We must be               and explain how that is true in each instance.
steadfast and willing to suffer for Christ (10:32-39).
He now describes the nature of faith. Our belief in            6. What was the relationship between the old
creation is an example (ll:l-3). The lives of the Old        covenant and the new one regarding the offering of
Testament saints testify to the power of faith. Abel         blood? See chapter 9.
offered a more excellent sacrifice (11:4);  Enoch was          7. What is the relationship between the doctrin-
translated so he didn't see death  (11:5, 6); Noah           al part of this letter (Heb. l:l-10:19)  and the practi-
built the ark  (11:7);  Abraham went to a strange            cal application (Heb.  10:20-13:25)?  Illustrate your
country and sojourned there  (11:8, 9) and also              answer.
offered Isaac  (11:17-19). Sarah brought forth Isaac           8. Explain Hebrews 6:4-8. How do we account
in her old age as an act of faith (11: 11, 12). These all    for the falling away of one "who has tasted the
were pilgrims looking for heaven  (11:13-16). Isaac          good word of God and the power of the world to
blessed Jacob and Esau  (11:ZO); Jacob blessed the           come"? See also Hebrews 10:26,27.
sons of Joseph (ll:Zl);-  Joseph gave commandment
concerning his bones  (11~22); the parents of Moses            9. Who was Melchisedec, and how is it that
hid him  (11:23); Moses chose to be identified with          Christ was priest after his order and not that of
Israel; he forsook Egypt and kept the Passover               Aaron? See chapter 7.
(11:24-28); Israel passed through the Red Sea                  10. Why is chastisement the proof of  sonship,
(11:29); the walls of Jericho fell down  (11:30);            Hebrews  12:7?


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                               135



  11. In chapters 5 and 6 we read of warnings              Why was that warning necessary then, and in what
against apostasy, the falling away from the faith.         way is it necessary now?
TAKING HEl7D TO THE DOCTRINE


                      Our Calling and Election (3)
                                                 Rev. H. VeZdman


  We concluded our second article on this subject          sense. Must we make sure for ourselves that the
with the observation that the apostle's exhortation        Lord calls men unto repentance and faith? Of
to make our election sure surely repudiates the ob-        course He does. We need not confirm this. How
jection that this making sure of our election is really    could this confirm us in the consciousness of our
vain and impossible. The Lord would not exhort us          election? The Arminian, we know, speaks of the
to make our election sure if this were vain and im-        general, well-meaning offer of salvation through
possible. The Lord does not exhort His people unto         the preaching of the gospel. But this simply means
that which is not attainable for them.                     that God loves everybody, also those who perish,
  In this connection, we would make one more re-           and this can never give me the assurance that this
mark. Shall we make our election sure through a            general love of God establishes my salvation, inas-
secret and mysterious revelation? Shall we wait, for       much as He also loves those who perish. Here is
example, until an angel whispers into our ear that         meant, of course, the particular, saving, almighty
we are elected of God? Shall we wait until the Lord        calling of God whereby the Lord, through the
reveals this unto us, let us say, in a dream or vision?    preaching of the gospel, efficaciously calls me unto
Or, if this does not occur, shall we separate our-         salvation. Even as the Lord speaks at creation's
selves from the world to seclude ourselves in a            dawn, calling the things into existence that were
monastery, and there, subjecting ourselves to a cru-       not, so the Lord, by His almighty, creative word,
cifying of the flesh, press behind the curtain of this     calls His people out of darkness into His marvelous
time and penetrate into the hidden thoughts of the         light, out of death into life. He opens our eyes that
Lord to receive an answer to the question: am I an         we may see, our ears that we may hear, and leads
elect of God? How wrong this conception is! First of       us to the cross of Calvary to see the wondrous
all, there is the word of Scripture that the hidden        beauty of the Man of Sorrows; He convicts us of sin
things are for the Lord our God (Deut. 29:29). And,        and evil and prostrates us into the dust before the
secondly, this is not God's way of salvation and of        living God; He calls us, consciously, out of the
revealing to His people His counsel of their elec-         darkness of sin and evil into the light of His ever-
tion. The reason for this is plain. Could this not be-     lasting covenant. This is the calling whereof the
come an occasion for spiritual laxity? If we could         apostle speaks here, God's almighty calling of His
penetrate into God's book of life to ascertain             own by the power of His irresistible grace and
whether our name is recorded there, whether we             Spirit.
have been foreordained to be conformed to the
image of God's Son, then we surely could lead a               It is only when we make sure our calling that we
                                                           make sure our election. Election and calling  - this
careless and profane life, inasmuch as having been         is the order as far as God's counsel and His work of
elected unto eternal life we would never be able to        salvation are concerned. Our election, of course, is
perish, regardless of how we conduct ourselves in          first. God did not elect us because of our translation
the midst of the world.                                    into His light; we are called because He elected us.
  The making sure for ourselves of our election is         This is clearly set forth by the apostle Paul in
possible only in the way of making sure our calling.       Romans  8:30, where we read that "whom He did
We have already called attention to the fact, as           predestinate, them He also called." However, as far
recorded in Romans 8, that, scripturally, election         as our knowledge and conscious experience are
and calling are inseparably connected. The calling         concerned, this is the order: calling and election.
here, we understand, is God's almighty, effica-            This is simply the divinely ordained way God calls
cious, irresistible calling. The apostle here does not     those whom He has foreordained to be made con-
refer to what we call the external calling through         formable to the image of His Son. Hence, the one
the preaching of the gospel. This would not make           called is therefore an elect, and therefore we must


136                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



make our calling sure to make sure of our election.        converted? Well and good. However, a conversion
To be assured of our election we must stand in the         without a continuous walk in sanctification is an
fruit of that election, our calling. Make this calling     impossibility. Whoever has been called by God out
sure. If we know this constantly, if this will stand       of darkness into His light has died to sin, forever.
firmly in our consciousness, namely our calling,           Of course, this is always true only in principle
then we must walk worthy of the calling where-             throughout our earthly pilgrimage. If we have little
with we have been called. Indeed, give diligence,          desire for the divine worship services, for a walk in
put forth all diligence, exert yourself to the utmost      sanctification, we may well question whether we
to stand in this calling in order that we may rejoice      have been called out of darkness into light. Always
in the knowledge of our election. Does the doctrine        we must put forth every diligence to stand con-
of election lead to carelessness and indifference?         sciously in our calling, because this work of God,
How absurd and ridiculous!                                 once begun, never stops. If we walk in sin, and in
  How urgently necessary is the diligence whereof          Scripture we have the examples of Noah, Abraham
Peter speaks in this scripture! We read: "Wherefore        (who lied twice in connection with Sarah), and of
the rather, brethren, give diligence." "Wherefore,"        David. We cannot possibly glory in our election.
we read, and this refers to the immediate context.         The two, election and calling, are inseparably con-
Hence, give diligence rather, or if you will, exert        nected. Of course they are! Election is the source of
yourself to the utmost, with all that is in you, to do     our calling, our calling is the fruit of our election,
what? To make your election sure, for yourself, in         and they can therefore never be separated. Election
the making sure of your calling. We must not be            is not merely a sovereign decree of God to translate
barren (verse  8), or unfruitful in the knowledge of       a people into glory, but this decree also includes the
our Lord Jesus Christ. Besides, according to verse 9,      way to that glory - hence, a cold, dead election is
he that lacketh these things is blind, cannot see afar     an absurdity. In the measure that we seek the
off, has forgotten that he was purged from his old         things that are below, we do not seek the things
sins. Indeed, this can occur in the consciousness of       that are above. And if we seek not the things that
the people of God, `to whom Peter addresses these          are above, how can we be interested in the doctrine
words.                                                     of election, God's sovereign decree to lead His own
                                                           into that eternal and heavenly glory? Besides, there
  We must not build our hope and assurance upon            is so much that would divert our eye from the mak-
the fact that God has caZZed us out of darkness into       ing sure of our calling and election. How many and
His marvelous light, that He has converted us in           great are the forces of evil all around us and
the past. There are people of God who incline to           especially within us! There is the power of' the
this view. They can tell you vividly how they              world and of Satan which always surrounds us.
walked in sin and how, dramatically, the Lord con-         And then there is the power of sin within us and
verted them. However, we must not build our hope           which is always ready to lead us astray. All things
and assurance upon this. Indeed, this conversion           would lead us to err.
may have been real. And if it occurred very recent-
ly we are able to recall it. It stands vividly in our        Wherefore, the rather, let us make our calling
consciousness. But as the moment of our conver-            and election sure. Put forth every effort unto this
sion recedes more and more into the background,            end, that the fact of our calling may ever be for us
our memory of it may become hazy and blurred.              firm and immovable, and this in the way of sancti-
Besides, the devil will attack us, ask us if we are        fication. How sad it is when a child of God goes
sure that our conversion was true and real,                along with the world and does not rejoice in the
especially in the light of the fact that we continue to    glory of his election! Or, how sad it is when a child
sin every day and all the day. And if our assurance        of God becomes involved in sin, comes to the con-
be based solely upon the past, that we were once           sciousness of his sin, and doubts then assail him
converted, then we may finally question its real-          with respect to his election and he doubts whether
ness and we may forget that our old sins have been         his former faith and conversion may have been in
purged. The fundamental question is not whether            vain! And this happens! Hence, exert yourself to
we  have  been converted, but whether we  aYe con-         the utmost, with all that is in you, for this is the
verted. God's work of conversion is not merely a           meaning of the expression: give diligence the
matter of the past, but of the continuous present; it      rather. Strive to walk in the way of holiness, contin-
is a work that, once begun, never stops, always con-       ually. Add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,
tinues.                                                    to knowledge temperance, to temperance patience,
  That it is so urgently necessary for us to put forth     to patience godliness, to godliness brotherly kind-
all diligence, exert every effort to make our calling      ness, and to brotherly kindness charity of love.
sure, is simply because we can make sure our               Struggle in the faith, pray fervently, confess your
calling only in the way of sanctification. You were        sin, be spiritually pure. Know that you are the


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                               137



called of God, live in it by walking in it, as having     tainly to the everlasting glory. Hence, do these
been called by God, irresistibly and efficaciously,       things: walk worthy of the calling wherewith the
out of darkness into God's marvelous light, out of        Lord has called you, be it always in principle. And
sin and death into the life of God's everlasting          you will never stumble, never doubt, but stand
covenant. This is our calling as set forth by the         firmly in the certainty of your election, to walk
apostle Peter and throughout the infallible scrip-        with head uplifted to the City that has foundations.
tures.                                                      Is this doctrine of election a cold doctrine? Is it a
  And the fruit of all this? Doing these things, we       doctrine with which we should not concern our-
shall never fall or stumble. Doing these things, that     selves, either upon the mission field, or in our own
is, all the things to make our calling and election       personal lives? Is it a doctrine which tends to make
sure, we shall never stumble. Literally we read: we       men careless, indifferent and profane? Is it a doc-
shall never, never stumble; or, we shall no, never        trine which we should ignore? The apostle exhorts
stumble  - the expression serves to emphasize the         us to make it sure for ourselves, to live out of it.
thought that we shall never stumble. To fall or           Indeed, it is the anchor of our hope and salvation,
stumble does not mean that we can ever lose the           the rock upon which we are safe, now and forever-
blessedness of our salvation. This is impossible. But     more.
it does mean that we proceed stumblingly, uncer-

INHIS FEAR

                                           God is One
                                               Rev. Ronald Hanko


  In our previous study we saw that God's com-            (Gal. 3: 19). That Mediator was Moses first of all,
mandments are not arbitrary regulations but God's         but he only as a foreshadowing of the great Law-
own revelation of Himself, according to which He          giver Who shall never depart from Judah (Gen.
requires that we be holy as He Himself is holy. That      49: 10). It is from the law, then, that the Christian in
self-revelation of God is the truth and substance of      Christ knows his sin in all its horror as sin against
the law, and thus it is that the law has abiding sig-     the living God and is able to confess, "Against
nificance, so that its use cannot be abolished among      Thee, Thee only have I sinned and done this evil in
Christians.                                               Thy sight" (Ps.  51:4); and thus the law brings him
  This, as we saw, is not to deny that the cere-          to Christ. And having known sin and found peace
monies and types of the law have ceased, so that          and deliverance from sin in Christ, he returns to
their use is no longer an obligation to believers.        Sinai and to God's revelation there in order that his
These ceremonies and shadows were used by God             whole life may be  organized'by that revelation of
to teach the church of the Old Testament the truth        God in thanksgiving and gratitude. Thus the law
and substance of the law, until the coming of             becomes also a lamp for his feet and a light upon his
Christ. Now Christ is the great Teacher of the            pathway (Ps.  119:105) as he offers himself a living
church through His Spirit, and these things are no        sacrifice of gratitude to God.
longer needed.                                              It is our duty, therefore, as redeemed and de-
  We were also able to see that the child of God,         livered sinners, to search out this revelation of God,
the believer, receives this revelation of God in the      to know Him as He makes Himself known there,
law through Christ, the Saviour. Without Christ,          and to make confession of His great and glorious
God's revelation of Himself in the law can only re-       holiness according to that revelation, not only with
veal our darkness unto condemnation and everlast-         our lips but also with our life as we live in obedi-
ing death. In Christ the law is restored to the man       ence to His commandments. But because the Ten
of God as a gift of God's grace and is profitable to      Commandments are but a summary of God's de-
him for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for    mands, we must search the Scriptures to find out
instruction in righteousness (II Tim.  3:16,  17), and    specifically what God tells us about Himself in each
works together with all things for his salvation.         commandment, that thus we may know clearly
  Thus it is that from the beginning the law was          how we are to be holy in relation to Him.
"ordained by angels in the hand of a Mediator"              The revelation which God gives of Himself in the


138                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



First Commandment is fundamental. Christ's sum-              cause of the law's positive requirement. Anything
mary of the whole law in Matthew  22:37-40  is es-           less than wholehearted worship of Jehovah is only
sentially the demand of this First Commandment,              idolatry. An atheist is not a man without a god but a
that we have no other God beside Him, but wor-               man who is attempting to get rid of the one true
ship and love Him alone with our whole being and             God, and though he can never succeed; since God
strength. And since this fundamental demand of               does not leave Himself without a witness, neverthe-
the whole law is expressed in the First Command-             less, in turning from Jehovah he always becomes an
ment, we should not be surprised to find that the            idolater, changing the truth of God into a lie and
truth concerning God which is revealed as the basis          worshipping and serving the creature more than
of the First Commandment is the most basic truth             the Creator, Who is blessed forever (Rom. 1:25).
of the Christian faith, that God is one. Nor is it diffi-      It matters not whether he worships gods of wood
cult to see that this truth is indeed the great prin-        and stone or the gods of this modern world:
ciple of the First Commandment.                              pleasure, wealth, or power. Nor does it matter
  This truth is taught in Deuteronomy  6:4, "Hear,           whether he worships his gods in temples made
0 Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord:" and from it         with men's hands, or in the temple of his heart and
follows the demand, "And thou shalt love the Lord            mind when he trusts in and loves the strength and
thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul,         wisdom and works of men. Always and every-
and with all thy might" (vs. 5). This demand is              where he reveals himself as an idolator.
more clearly set forth in verses 12-14 where it also
becomes evident that this is indeed the demand of              This is not so difficult to understand when we
the First Commandment: "Then beware lest thou                remember that man was created in the image of
forget the Lord, which brought thee forth out of the         God. Thus it was that his whole nature was adapted
land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. Thou               to God and he himself called in harmony with his
shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve Him, and              nature to live in relation to God. Through sin he lost
shall swear by His name. Ye shall not go after other         the image and glory of God, but his nature was not
gods, of the gods of the people which are round              changed. He still needs a god, and his nature is still
about you."                                                  that of a servant, so that when he turns away from
  Both the principle and its application remain for          Jehovah, he always seeks another master whom he
the New Testament church, as is evident from                 may serve and upon whom he may rely and in
Paul's words in I Corinthians  8:5, 6: "For though           whom he may trust for all his needs.
there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or            We might note, too, in this connection that all
in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many),           idolatry is really self-worship. When men worship
but to us there is but one God, the Father, of Whom          idols of wood and stone they are really worshipping
are all things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus            the work of their own hands, just as they do in
Christ, by Whom are all things, and we by Him."              these last times when they worship their own
  It ought also to be evident from these passages            pleasures and sensual philosophies. Even when
and from our discussion thus far that there is also a        they worship the host of heaven they are not com-
positive requirement in each commandment, even               ing nearer to the one true God, but still only serving
though the Ten Commandments themselves are for               an image and idol which their own minds have con-
the most part negative. This cannot be forgotten. It         ceived.
is not enough simply to refrain from what is for-              This too is not so strange, for man's first sin was
bidden; we must also do that which is required lest          that he desired to be like God. Now, having fallen
we fall short of the glory of God. This is true also of      into darkness, he imagines in his foolishness that he
the First Commandment. It forbids that we have               is God and worships  himself  and his own words.
any other gods beside Jehovah, but it also requires          This self-worship, which lies at the root of all idol-
that we "have" Him to be our God, by worshipping             atry, culminates finally in the worship of the Beast
and serving Him always.                                      in the kingdom of the Antichrist. Then the man of
  There are, therefore, in respect to the First Com-         sin is revealed, "who opposeth and exalteth him-
mandment only two possibilities, either that one be          self above all that is called God, or that is  wor-
a true worshipper of the God of heaven and earth,            shipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of
or that he be an idolater and worship other gods             God,  shewing himself that he is God" (II Thess.
beside Jehovah. We might imagine that there are              2:4). When all the world wonders after him and
three possibilities, that beside the heathen who             worships him (Rev.  13:3,  4), then the cup of idol-
worship their idols, and the church which worships           atry shall be full and the Lord Christ will return in
God, there are also the vast majority of modern              judgment and cast the beast and his worshippers
men who serve no god, who are either by confes-              into everlasting fire.
sion or in practice atheists. This is impossible be-           In all this the foolishness of the sin of idolatry


                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER,                                                         139



and of all sin is fully revealed. Isaiah in the 44th            feed on ashes and are utterly deceived so that they
chapter of his prophecy lays bare this folly. Very              cannot deliver their souls or say, "Is there not a lie
graphically he describes the man who grows weary                in my right hand?" (Is. 44:20).  Nor is the idolatry of
and faint, whose strength fails even as he forms the            modern civilized man any more attractive than that
god to which he will bow down. Again he describes               of those who bow down to the stock of a tree. To
the man who cuts down a tree and burns it in the                the end of the world sinners will worship in one
fire to warm himself and to cook his food. When he              way or another the work of their own hands, less
finishes he uses the rest to make for himself a god             even than themselves in strength or wisdom. So
and, falling down to it and worshipping it and pray-            they feed on the same ashes as the heathen.
ing to it, he says, "Deliver me for thou art my god."             But we also are children of Adam and idolators.
God Himself decries this folly when He says                     Even now we are always inclined to serve our own
through the prophet Jeremiah, "My people have                   lusts, to trust in the arm of flesh and in our own
committed two evils; they have forsaken me the                  strength for safety, for help, and for satisfaction.
fountain of living waters, and hewed them out                   We too are always tempted to glorify the things that
cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water"              the world glorifies and to make them our gods.
(Jer. 2:13).                                                    Only by grace are we delivered from the service of
   Surely, as Psalm 115 reminds us, "They that                  these vanities and turned to the living and the true
make them are like unto them" (vs. 8). Those who                God.' By grace alone we seek Him with undivided
worship idols are spiritually deaf and dumb, sense-             heart and confess in word and deed that He is the
less and unseeing, like the gods they serve. They               One Lord Who is worthy of all praise and worship.

ALLAROUND US
Rev. G. Van Buren


                      Writing the "non-sexist" Bible

  Several readers kindly sent additional materials                 this lectionary is the first designed to meet such a
on the subject of addressing God as "Mother" - of                  specific concern as that over what is seen as sexism in
which we commented in an earlier article. The                      the Bible.
articles dealt not so much with our address to God,                  When Scriptures are read in services, said Dr.
as with translations of the Bible which used this                  Susan B. Thistlethwaite, a professor who teaches
same kind of terminology. The National Council of                  theology at seminaries in Chicago and Boston, "one of
Churches in this country has been working on a                     the purposes.is  to create the Christian community." If
translation of the Bible which will remove all of its              the language of the Scriptures is exclusively mascu-
"sexist" language. Part of its work has been pub-                  line, women feel left out, she said.
lished  - and reviewed by different churches and                     Echoing her sentiments, a growing number of min-
writers. An article from the New York  Times,  Oct.                isters say women in their congregations feel excluded
15, 1983, presents some of the comments on, and                    when religious language uses masculine words at
reaction to, this new "translation":                               places where all of humankind is meant. To remedy
                                                                   this, many churches have tried to use more inclusive
      A new translation of Bible readings designed to e-           language in their worship services. As a consequence,
    liminate references to God as solely male was released         informal editings of the Scriptures are becoming in-
    yesterday by the National Council of Churches.                 creasingly common.
      The Bible readings are for voluntary, experimental             "People have already done what we are doing,"
    use in services by some of the country's leading Prot-         said Dr. Thomas Hoyt, Jr., a professor of Old Testa-
    estant churches. The changes include references to             ment at the Hartford  (Corm.)  Seminary Foundation
    God as both the mother and father of humankind, and            and a member of the committee. "We want to help
    one of the best-known verses of the New Testament              them do it responsibly."
    reads: "For God so loved the world that God gave                 . . . Dr. Gold, a professor at Pacific Lutheran Theo-
    God's only Child, that whoever believes in that Child          logical Seminary, said the committee and its advisers
    should not perish, but have eternal life."                     believed the lectionary was "consistent with the ori-
      . . . Though many recent editions of the Bible have          ginal languages of Scripture" even if it was not a literal
    tried to put the Scriptures into more familiar language,       translation.


140                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER



         For instance, the committee explained, the word                  It is probably a waste of time, energy and indigna-
       used in the Genesis story about the creation of the first       tion to denounce the latest effort to castrate the Holy
       human being is the .Hebrew  "ha-adam."  The transla-            Bible, but vandalism of this magnitude ought not to go
       tors say the word lacks a particular gender, though it          unremarked. The National Council of Churches is out
       has often been translated "man." In the same way,               to take the sex out of Scripture . . . .
       the Greek word "anthropos," is also translated "man"               . . . The rewriting urged by the National Council of
       in the Revised Standard Version but can mean an in-             Churches is indefensible. One example will suffice. In
       dividual man or humankind, the form preferred in the            Matthew's account of the Last Supper, Jesus an-
       new lectionary.                                                 nounces that He is about to be betrayed, and the
         Changes include the substitution of the words "Sov-           apostles ask, Lord, is it I? The Ring James version con-
       ereign" or "God the Sovereign One" for "Lord" or                tinues: "And He answered and said, `He that dippeth
       "King" and the addition of women's names to the text            his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray
       in such verses as the one in the Gospel of Matthew              me. The Son of man goeth as it is written of him; but
       that reads, "We have Abraham as our father." To that            woe unto that may by whom the Son of man is be-
       verse, the phrase "and Sarah and Hagar as our                   trayed!' " . . . .
       mothers" has been added to include the wife and ser-               The  NCC's  new lectionary would put it this way:
       vant of the Old Testament patriarch.                             "Jesus answered, `The one who has dipped a hand in
         . . . The most striking of these metaphors is the             the dish with me, will betray me. The Human One
       phrase "God, Father and Mother," which is used                   goes as it is written, but woe to that persom by whom
       often.                                                          the Human One is betrayed!' "
         . . . But editors of the new lectionary contend that             The first trouble with that abominable revision may
       using "father" as a metaphor for God ascribes to God             be stated simply: Matthew never wrote it that way.
       a sexual identity not supported by close study of the           The Gospels were written in Greek. I will not be
       Scriptures. They also say it fosters a male-oriented             drawn into an argument about divine inspiration and
       theology.                                                        the word of God; theology is off my beat. But I know
     Not all agree to these radical changes  - which                    something of the art of translation and of the respect
are not translations at all. The above article quotes,                 that is owed to an original author.
for instance, Dr. Bruce Metzger, a Princeton                              It is patent dishonesty - it is an act of corruption in
Theological Seminary professor who is chairman of                       the most literal sense  - to put into the mouth of
the committee planning future editions of the Re-                       Matthew words that Matthew did not say . . . .
vised Standard Version, also under the National                           The council's recasting is not only dishonest; it is
Council of Churches:                                                    the product of an essentially mistaken notion that
                                                                        "man" is invariably a sexist noun. This is nonsense.
         "It is necessary to tell people that God is not an old         Only the most wildly militant feminists believe that
       man," Dr. Metzger said, "but to explain that God                 "Man does not live by bread alone" applies to males
       transcends differences of gender is the work of the re-          only. Who is so blockheaded as to argue that "man-
       ligious educator, not the Bible translator."                     kind" excludes women? The NCC revisers evidently
         He said the alterations in the language about God in           are that blockheaded. . . .
       the new lectionary were tantamount to rewriting the            Perhaps it seems unnecessary to comment even
       Bible," adding, "Such changes are in my view alto-           on the nonsense which proceeds out of the NCC.
       gether unacceptable."                                        Still, this sort of nonsense gains a wide acceptance
         According to Dr. Metzger, coming editions of the           among men (or ought I say, "humankind"?). This is
       Revised Standard Version would avoid using "man"             in very reality a new "version" of the Bible  -
       when "humanity" or "humankind" might be appro-               man's (humankind's?) idea of what the Word of
       priate. "But to remove the patriarchal setting is to
       change the Bible," he said in a telephone interview.         God ought to say. It is man's correction of God's
                                                                    Word. It is not only that the translator corrupts
     Another interesting comment is made in the                     Matthew's word, it is a corruption of what God has
Grand Rapids Press in the syndicated column writ-                   to say. This represents one more attempt to under-
ten by James Kilpatrick. He also objects to the new                 mine and destroy the truth of the Divine inspiration
translation  - though not on theological grounds.                   an,d infallibility of Scripture. One could almost
He states:                                                          laugh at it all if it were not so terribly serious.


                                Take Time to read and study the
                                                 Standard Bearer
L


                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER                                                         141



                                                   ERA Again?

   There is not only the attempt to make the Bible                 incredulous response from pro-ERA Sen. Howard
less "sexist," but there is the renewed drive to ap-                Metzenbaum, who told Shalala, "I am not at all in a-
prove an ERA amendment to the Constitution of                       greement that it is justifiable for women's schools to
the United States. It has been introduced again into                discriminate.
the House of Representatives in Congress. Some                        Other  ERA proponents share Shalala's opinion.
are convinced that the amendment has less of a                     Judy Goldsmith, president of the National Organiza-           -
chance of passage this time than it had last time -                tion for Women, said women's schools could continue
when it fell short of ratification when three states               to operate because they are "advantaging the disad-
less than the necessary amount approved. What is                   vantaged." She denied that ERA  would have any ef-
particularly disturbing are remarks of those favor-                fect on religious institutions, but that is contradicted
ing this amendment. Not all are agreed as to what it               by NOW's stated opposition to the rights of churches
                                                                   to differentiate. NOW advocates sexual equality in
really means. In fact, many insist that ultimately                 seminaries, denial of tax exemption to churches that
the courts, perhaps the Supreme Court, will have to                do not ordain women, and federal intervention to stop
determine the meaning and application of this                      churches from discriminating.
amendment. Christianity Today, Oct.  21,  1983,                   Perhaps the ERA amendment will not pass this
states,                                                         second time. Yet what many are trying to do is ob-
      . . . Hatch asked her if single-sex institutions would    vious. The  Irights" movement can quickly turn
    be effectively eliminated by ERA, and she said yes, ex-     into an attempt to silence the church and drive it
    cept for women's colleges. "That would be the only          from existence - unless it submits to the decrees of
    exception," she said, as long as they were fulfilling       "humankind" and renounces certain of Scripture's
    their original affirmative action goals. This brought an    teachings. But God will preserve His church!



                                               Book Reviews

REDEMPTIVE HISTORY AND BIBLICAL IN-                             addresses; book reviews. In addition, it contains
TERPRETATION,  The Shorter Writings of  Ger-                    also a biography of Vos and a bibliography of his
hardus  Vos; edited by Richard B.  Gaffin, Jr.; Pres-           writings. Because of the wide variety of writings
byterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1980;                 found in the book, it is difficult to give a thorough
559 pp., $17.50. (Reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko)                   review. Some of the material presented here is un-
  This book is an important publishing venture on               doubtedly far more important than other material.
the part of Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing,               In the first section, the chapter, "The Idea of Bibli-
for it makes available a large number of writings of            cal Theology as a Science and as a Theological Dis-
a notable theologian which had previously been dif-             cipline" was particularly interesting. It contains the
ficult to obtain. Gerhardus Vos was born in the                 inaugural address which Vos delivered as Professor
Netherlands, but received a considerable amount                 of Biblical Theology at Princeton. In it Vos develops
of his training in the Christian Reformed Church,               his conception of Biblical Theology in distinction
However, at about the age of 30, Vos accepted an                from Systematic Theology. Perhaps a quote from
appointment to the newly created chair of Biblical              this chapter would be of interest.
Theology in Princeton Theological Seminary where                      The specific character of Biblical Theology lies in
he served for 39 years until his retirement. Al-                   this, that it discusses both the form and contents of
though he is mistakenly called sometimes "The                      revelation from the point of view of the revealing ac-
Father of Biblical Theology," his work in this field               tivity of God Himself. In other words, it deals with
has greatly influenced theological development in                  revelation in the active sense, as an act of God, and
our day.                                                           tries to understand and trace and describe this act, so
                                                                   far as this is possible to man and does not elude our fi-
  The book is divided into four parts: major bibli-                nite observation. In Biblical Theology both the form
cal and theological studies; shorter biblical studies;             and contents of revelation are considered as parts and


142                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER



       products of a divine work. In Systematic Theology           in Reformed Theology." While necessarily some-
       these same contents of revelation appear, but not un-       what brief, it gives the reader a bird's-eye view of
       der the aspect of the stages of a divine work; rather as    the history of this doctrine in continental theology.
       the material for a human work of classifying and sys-
       tematizing according to logical principles. Biblical           There are, of course, many other subjects
       Theology applies no other method of grouping and            treated, but these three chapters alone are worth
       arranging these contents than is given in the divine        the price of the book. Especially our ministers, but
       economy of revelation itself (pp. 6,7).                     also all those who are interested in theology, ought
         Biblical Theology, rightly defined, is nothing else       to purchase the book.
       than the exhibition of the organic progress of super-
       natural revelation in its historic continuity and multi-    THE CREATOR IN THE COURTROOM
       formity (p. 15).                                             "SCOPES II",  The Controversial Arkansas Cre-
  It is not our purpose to get involved in this re-                 ation-Evolution Trial, by Norman L. Geisler (in col-
view in a discussion of the relative merits of                      laboration with A. F. Brooke II and Mark J.
Biblical Theology over against Systematic                           Keough; Mott Media, 1982, 242 pp., (paper).
Theology. The controversy is not new. It was at                     (Reviewed by N. Hanko)
bottom the controversy which raged in the Nether-                     The purpose of this book is to give a clear un-
lands already in the 16th and 17th centuries                       biased report of the 1981 Arkansas Creation  - Evo-
between the followers of Cocceius and Voetius, the                  lution trial. The authors accuse the judge, William
former of whom can more rightly be called the                       Overton, and the news media of being biased in
father of Biblical Theology. It is interesting also                favor of evolution. Because there was no one from
that, in that controversy, the Cocceian Party                      the Christian media present at the trial, the secular
repeatedly accused the Voetians of scholastic                      news reports are the only reports available.
theology, while the followers of Voetius accused                      The purpose of the trial was to examine Act 590
the Cocceian Party of Dispensationalism. And both                   of the state of Arkansas to determine if it was in vio-
were ofterrcorrect  in their criticism. And, while the             lation of the First Amendment of the Constitution
defenders of Systematic Theology really won out in                  (separation between church and state). Act 590 re-
Reformed Theology, more recent years have seen a                    quires balanced teaching of evolution and
resurgence of Biblical Theology in both Reformed                    creation - science in the public schools.
and Presbyterian circles. The question is interesting
and important, and a reading of Vos is essential to                   Those who opposed the Act are typical of the
understand what Biblical Theology is really all                    unbeliever: anything to do with creation or any-
about. Vos not only defines it in the chapter quoted               thing biblical is forbidden. They do not even want a
above, but also shows how it works out in subse-                    creator to be hinted at in public school teaching.
quent chapters. While both methods of theologizing                    The defendants at the trial attempted to prove
undoubtedly have their weaknesses (simply                          that Act 590 was not in violation of the First
because theology has to do with the revelation of                  Amendment. Their claim was that creation is a
God in Jesus Christ) it nevertheless seems to me                    science and evolution a religion.
that the dangers of Biblical Theology are real and all                They also attempted to prove that Scientific Cre-
but impossible to overcome; that, therefore, the ap-               ationism can be separated from religious creation-
proach of Systematic Theology is the preferable                    ism. When separating creation and the flood from
one.                                                               the biblical narrative, they were forced to talk of a
  But this is not intended to leave the impression                  creator as a vague and supernatural being who
that there are not other important writings in this                 operated according to laws which are no longer in
book which deal with different questions. Also in                   existence today and to speak of a young earth 6,000
the first section there are two very important and                   10,000 years old. But they were forced to prove
thought-provoking articles on the doctrine of the                   creation from scientific data, something which can-
covenant. The first is on, "Hebrews, the Epistle of                not be done, since "through faith we understand
the Diatheke." The latter word, which may be                       that the worlds were framed by the Word of God"
strange to most readers, is the Greek word for                      (Heb. 11:3).
"covenant"  - at least it is usually translated this                  The decision made by Judge  Overton prohibited
way in the book of Hebrews and throughout the                      the enforcement of Act 590 and ruled it unconstitu-
New Testament. But on occasion it is translated,                   tional. Although Judge  Overton was biased in his
"testament." And this is what the article is all                   opinions, this was not the reason for the outcome of
about. It is excellent.                                            the trial. "While the statistical figures may be im-
  The second chapter will be of interest to many of                pressive evidence against the theory of chance
our readers. It is on, "The Doctrine of the Covenant               combinations as an explanation for origins, it  re-


                                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                               143



quires a leap of faith to interpret these figures so as                        plete let-down.
to support a complex doctrine which includes a                                    The argument of the book runs like this. While
sudden creation from nothing, a world wide flood,                              theologians and philosophers have written again
separate ancestry for men and apes, and a young                                and again about "the problem of pain," this is not
earth" (page 179).                                                             really a problem because of sin and the divine need
   The defendants produced an excellent case                                   to punish sin if God is truly God. The wicked do
against evolution, but did not produce much in                                 not suffer in this life as much as they deserve to suf-
favor of creation-science. Their basic mistake was                             fer, but the righteous do suffer when one would ex-
trying to separate creation from religion. This can-                           pect that they should not. Yet this is divine chas-
not be done.                                                                   tisement.
   Dr. George Marsden, Professor of History at Cal-                               We would truly have a problem if there were no
vin College, testified against the Act. At one point                           pain in the world. Hence the problem is: Why is
in his testimony he referred to Fundamentalists as                             there any pleasure? Especially if one considers that
"militantly anti-modernist" and concerned chiefly                              sin is infinitely heinous and God is infinitely holy,
with "spreading the faith."                                                    it is difficult to understand why there can be any
   This is a worthwhile book for those who are in-                             pleasure at all.
terested in the continuing battle between the  .cre-                              This problem is magnified when we consider
ationists and the evolutionists in the context of pub-                         that Scripture speaks of the fact that God hates the
lic school instruction. It also shows the foolishness                          wicked for their sin-and yet sends blessings upon
of evolution in a very convincing manner, but                                  them. This is the real problem.
shows the error of the creation-science position in                               There are, says Gerstner, only two possible solu-
attempting to maintain creationism apart from                                  tions to that problem. The first is that God is mak-
Scripture.                                                                     ing the wicked fat for slaughter. Gerstner does not
THE PROBLEM OF PLEASURE,  by John H.                                           completely reject that idea, but finally resolves the
Gerstner; Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing,                                whole dilemma by saying that the real reason is
1983; 27 pp., $1.50 (paper). (Reviewed by Prof. H.                             that all may be given opportunity to be saved:
Hanko)                                                                         "Now the problem of pleasure has its answer in
   I found this book to be a delightful little book                            full. God has spared you, not that you be damned,
written in a delightful manner which I carried with                            but that you be saved from the damnation that
me with growing eagerness to read what Gerstner                                otherwise would inevitably have been your
considered to be the solution to "the problem of                               destiny. Now Jesus Christ stands at the door of
pleasure." But the "solution" proved to be a  com-                             your heart and offers to come in and dwell with
                                                                               you forevermore."
               RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                             And so a delightful little book is spoiled.
  The Ladies Aid Society "Ruth" of the Hope Protestant Reformed
Church (Walker, Michigan), mourns the loss of its member, MRS.                                  WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
JOE KING, whom the Lord took unto Himself on October 24, 1983.
We express our Christian Sympathy to her daughter and our  fellow-                On December 28, 1983, the Lord willing, MR. AND MRS.
member, Miss Marily King.                                                      WILLIAM HENRY CLASON of Kalamazoo, Michigan, will celebrate
                                                                               their 40th wedding anniversary. We, their  childre;and  grandchildren
   "For the Lord God is a sun and a shield; the Lord will give grace           wish the Lord's continued blessing on their marriage and congratulate
and glory: no good thing will He withhold from them that walk up-              them.
rightly." (Psalm 84: 1 1)
                                                                                  "All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth to such as keep His
                                                                               covenant and His testimonies." (Psalm  25:lO)

               RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                          Bill and Julie Clason            Anita and Bill Lenting
                                                                                  Nathan                           Michelle
  The Consistory and Congregation of the Kalamazoo Protestant Re-                 Monty                            Rachel
formed Church extends their deepest sympathy to Mr. Homer Kuiper                  Esther                           Gregory
in the death of his wife, MRS. SUE KUIPER, who went to be with her                William                          Brian
Lord on October 10, 1983.                                                                                          Melissa

   "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." (Philippians  I:21  )

                                                                                              RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
               RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                             The Consistory of the Hull Protestant Reformed Church expresses
                                                                               its sympathy to our fellow office-bearer, Elder Egbert Gritters and his
  The Consistory and Congregation of the Kalamazoo Protestant Re-              family, in the death of his father-in-law, MR. BERT BRANDS. May our
formed Church extends their deepest sympathy to Mr. and Mrs. John              comfort be that  " . . . we know that all things work together for good
Slager in the death of her mother, MRS. ANTJE KNOT, who went to                to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His
be with her Lord on September 30, 1983.                                        purpose."  (Remans   8:28)

   "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints."                                                     Rev. Ron Cammenga, Pres.
(Psalm 116: 15)                                                                                                        Bert Van Maanen, Clerk


  THE STANDARD BEARER
       P.O. Box 6064
Grand Rapids, Michigan 4.9506





144                                       THE STANDARD BEARER


                          News From Our Churches
                                                November  14,1983

  Our Grand Rapids area church bulletins have                The Sunday School of First Protestant Reformed
carried many announcements of the transference             Church in Grand Rapids gave this report in Across
of membership papers to the new congregation of            fhe  AisZe,  November 1983.  "...Some  40 years ago
Byron Center. The Byron Center congregation                the Sunday School of First Protestant Reformed
organized with twenty-four families and two indi-          Church began to put in printed, pamphlet form
viduals. May our faithful covenant God establish           short treatises by Rev. Herman Hoeksema on topics
the truth of His Word with this new Protestant             such as The Antichrist and The Christian and Culture.
Reformed church.                                           In the early 70's there were added new titles,
  Hope Protestant Reformed Church of  Redlands             among which were The Infallibility of the Scriptures,
had this information in its October 30 bulletin:           by Prof. Hanko; The Marks of the True Church, by
"Our missionary, Rev.  Houck, informs us that he           Prof. Hoeksema; Creation . . . or Evolution, by Rev:
and the family have adjusted well to the  Ripon            Van  Baren;  Missions,  by Rev. Hanko. A new
area. The work goes slowly, the contacts few. The          pamphlet will appear soon...entitled  As A Father
group itself is doing well. This coming Thursday, a        Pitieth His ChiZdren, by Rev. David Engelsma." The
Reformation Day Lecture is scheduled there. The            response to these pamphlets has come from such
missionary asks to be remembered in our prayers."          places as the Chaplain at Oklahoma State Reforma-
It is a blessing from God to have three missionaries       tory; Ministry of Education, Exams Divisions,
and a candidate proclaiming His truth to those who         Benin City, Nigeria; and Uganda, Africa. The report
love the truth.                                            ends with these words, "Our hope is, of course,
                                                           that the King of the Church universal will be
  In addition to the above announcements in the            pleased to use our literature to bring His saints in
Redlands bulletin there was this information re-           other lands to a more perfect knowledge of the
garding their new church: "More and more the               truth."
scheduled date of November 20 for using the new              South Holland Protestant Reformed Church
church for worship services looks to be realistic.         made this announcement in its October 30 bulletin:
The carpet was laid this past week, the pews ar-           "The council has put two new books in the church
rived last evening and are to be installed tomorrow,       library. They are...The  Life  Of  David  by Pink and
D.V. As well the control cabinet and stove hood are        Bible History  of  the Old Testament  by Edersheim.
built and being installed." Again remember that            These books can be used by the Young People's
December 1 & 2 are the dates for the Dedication of         Society and the Mr. and Mrs. Society....We encour-
the new church and the celebration of their 50th           age all members to make use of our church
anniversary as a congregation. We hope that the            library."
congregation of Redlands is able to worship in their
new church by the time this news is printed.                 The October 30 bulletin of First Protestant Re-
                                                           formed Church read, "Beginning November 6, the
  Loveland Protestant Reformed Church was in-              Reformed Witness Hour will be heard over WFUR
vited to meet with the congregation of Hope Re-            both 4 P.M. Sunday on AM and at 9:00 A.M.
formed Church in observance of the Reformation.            Sunday on FM....This new time costs us an addi-
Loveland's October 30 bulletin read, "The congre-          tional $80 per week. . . .Remember  this is your radio
gation is invited to attend the worship service this       witness! Write us a card or letter also; we need your
afternoon at 2 p.m. of the Peace Reformed Church,          moral as well as financial help. Thank you." In con-
1725 10th St. S.W. Rev. Ploeger will conduct the           nection with the Reformed Witness Hour, some of
service."                                                  you are aware that the printing of the radio
                                                           sermons has fallen behind schedule. The main
  A cassette copy of Rev. Cammenga's speech,               reason for this is that there are not sufficient funds
"The Reformation: A Battle For The Bible" is avail-        in order to print these sermons in booklet form or
able for $2.00. I would assume that contact should         any other form. In addition, demands for the print-
be made through Rev. Cammenga.                             ed sermons cannot be met.                         DH


