      -- sI;QNDARD
A Reformed
Semi-Monthly
Magazine              BBR





VUI.  04,  /vu. 13
April I, 1988


 Contents                                                            ,.                                      THE
                                                                           April 7, 1988                SliUUD~
Meditation  - Cornelius Hank0                                                                               BMRER
   Our Prayer For Deliverance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .290
Editorial  -                                                                                             lSSN 0362-4692
                                                                                                        Semi-monthly, except monthly during June,  July,
   Calvin Professors Cleared . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .293                 and August. Published  bv the Reformed Free Pub-
                                                                                                        lishing Association, Inc.  Second  Class Postage Paid
Taking Heed To The Doctrine  - Ronald H. Hanko                                                          at Grand Rapids,  Mich.
                                                                                                        EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
   The Two Natures of Christ: The Humanity Of Christ. . . . . . .294                                    Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema
                                                                                                        DEPARTMENT   EDITORS
The Strength of Youth  - Barrett L. Critters                                                            Rev. Ronald Cammenga, Rev. Arie den Hartog,
   "How Shall I Prepare For Marriage?". . .                                                             Prof. Robert D. Decker, Rev. Barry Critters, Rev.
                                                             .  .  .  .  .  .  . . . . . . . . . 297    Cornelius Hanko, Prof. Herman C. Hanko, Rev.
All Around Us  - Cise  /. Van  Baren                                                                    Ronald Hanko, Rev. John A.  Heys,  Rev. I.  Korter-
                                                                                                        ing, Rev. George C. Lubbers, Rev. Thomas C.
   "Remember the Sabbath Day . ..." . . . . . . . .  .  .  .  .  .  . . . . . . . . 300                 Miersma, Rev. James  Slopsema,  Rev. Gise I. Van
                                                                                                        Baren,  Mr. Benjamin Wigger.
Guided Into All Truth  - Thomas C. Miersrna                                                             EDITORIAL   OFFICE
                                                                                                        Prof. H.C. Hoeksema
   Rationalism and Its Fruit (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301                  4975  lvanrest  Ave., S.W.
                                                                                                        Crandville,  Michigan 49418
Bib/e Study Guide-Jason L. Kortering                                                                    CHURCH   NEWS   EDITOR
                                                                                                        Mr. Ben  Wigger
   Deuteronomy-Exhorted Unto Obedience (3) . . . . . . . . . . ,303                                     6597  - 40th Ave.
                                                                                                        Hudsonville,  Michigan 49426
In His Fear  - Arie den Hartog                                                                          EDITORIAL   POLICY
   Distinctive Traits Of True Godliness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .306                        Every editor is solely responsible for the contents
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 Meditation                                        Ques. 127. What is the sixth                         reproduced in full;  b) that proper acknowledge-
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Cornelius Hanko                                                                                         office.
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290  / The Standard Bearer


our minds. Whether expressed in             such, they are nevertheless good       lust of the flesh, and the pride of
words or implied, our love to               and perfect gifts which Thou           life. 0 wretched man that I am.
Him, from whom all blessings                withholdest not from those who           This triple power of evil
flow, and who creates in us the             fear Thee. It is quite different       creates tension in our lives.
need to seek His face, impels us            when we deliberately seek and          Satan, the world, and our flesh
to desire His glory above all else.         invite temptations, for then the       are never motivated with good
       We also long for the final reali-    outcome must be that guilt and         intentions, even when they come
zation of His kingdom, for                  shame oppress our souls. But           with a pretense of seeking our
therein our God is most highly              when temptations come upon us          good. Their motives are always
exalted and we find our highest             unawares, we may be sure that          satanic, deceptive, cruel, evil.
good.                                       these come to us in Thy wisdom         Even when they offer us that
       Therefore His will must be           to serve Thy own good purpose          which is appealing to the flesh,
done, round about us, in us and             in our lives.                          they are out to destroy us
by us, that according to His eter-            Thou, who hast compassion            spiritually, drawing us away from
nal plan and purpose, we with all           upon us as a father for His            God and the way of salvation.
His wide and vast creation may              children, dost not tempt us in the     Their tactics are always un-
praise His glorious Name eternal-           evil sense of the word. Thou art       scrupulous, unsparing, devilishly
ly.                                         the holy God who cannot be             cunning. They initiate their at-
       Our daily existence requires         tempted, nor temptest any one.         tack at the moment when we are
that we live out of Father's hand,          Thy motive in all Thy dealings is      off our guard. They search out
so that in humble trust we pray             always pure, righteous, true.          our weaknesses, our character
for bread, no more, no less than            Even when Thou confrontest us          faults, which are so much a part
our daily ration as measured out            with temptations, Thou dost warn       of us. They make their offer so
in sovereign wisdom and mercy,              us by Thy Word and Spirit that         appealing, so pleasant, seemingly
according to our present physical           yielding to temptation is sin. In      so necessary for our well-being.
needs.                                      the hour of temptation the voice       They even come as false
  As our sin and guilt, as well as          of conscience is never completely      teachers, who cunningly twist the
our evil nature, appear before              silenced. Therefore whether we         Scriptures to deceive us and to
our consciousness, we plead for             stand or fall, Thy purpose is          lead us away from the narrow
forgiveness, even as we give                always to purify us as gold is         way that leads to life.
evidence of God's grace by                  refined by the refiner's fire, that      We fear ourselves, Father,
forgiving one another.                      our faith fail not, but that we        deeply realizing that we have but
       Last, but certainly not least, we    come forth spiritually stronger        a small beginning of the new
hear the voice of God coming to             than before.                           obedience. We will the good, yet
us through His Word, saying,                  On the other hand, our mortal        the evil is always present with us,
"My child, be thou holy, even as            enemies, the devil, the world,         because by nature we are in-
I am holy. Be perfect, as your              and our own flesh, cease not to        capable of any good and inclined
heavenly Father is perfect".                assault us. The devil has a large      to all evil. Our nature is still
       Therefore, joining our voices        host at his command, who cun-          prone to hate Thee and the
with the prayers of all the saints,         ningly plan their attacks against      neighbor.
even as our Lord teaches us, we             us. The more firmly we hold to           We can never stand in our
ask: "And lead us not into temp-            the truth, and the more sincere        own strength to resist the evil.
tation, but deliver us from evil".          we are in a godly walk, the most       We think of David, a man who
  We fear temptations.                      determined they are to destroy         was so valiant in battle against
       It is true, Father, that we have     us. The world round about us           the foes round about, and yet so
reason to thank Thee also for the           plays a double role, sometimes         weak when attracted by another
temptations that crowd in on our            luring and attracting us with her      man's wife. Before the temptation
lives, wherever we turn, and in             treasures and pleasures, and at        had run its course he had made
whatever we do. Thy Word in-                other times threatening us with        himself guilty of covetousness,
forms us that we should count it            her scorn, hatred, and wicked          adultery, murder, theft, dis-
all joy whensuddenly and unex-              assaults upon our lives. Along         honesty, yea, transgression of all
pectedly we are confronted with             with these two, our flesh is our       the other commandments. What
snares of evil. Although we do              worst enemy, as the foe within         an untold misery he brought
not always recognize them as                the gates who invites tempta-          upon himself. I am evil, born in
                                            tions, dreads persecutions, and is     sin; Thou desirest truth within.
                                            drawn by the lust of the eyes, the


                                                                                                   The Standard Bearer  /  291


  MY own sinful pride could well        cause here on earth, that we may         Thus we look for the final
be my downfall. We think of             stand up for the right, and defend     deliverance in the day of our
Peter, who loved his Lord so in-        it, even when it brings scorn and      Lord's return. We long for the
tensely, that he would readily          hatred upon us, even though we         day when we shall awaken in
have faced an army and die              must suffer persecution or death.      righteousness, to sin no more,
fighting to protect Him. And yet          These are perilous times for         but to be holy as Thou art holy,
when Peter could not fight, when        Thy church. Men are lovers of          and perfect as Thou, our heaven-
implicit faith was required of          self more than lovers of Thee.         ly Father, art perfect.
him, when he failed to under-           Many still have a form of godli-         Wilt Thou sanctify us, that we
stand that His Master would sur-        ness, yet they deny Thee who art       may redeem the time, and work
render Himself to the death of          the power thereof. Thou hast           out our salvation with fear and
the cross, then that faith faltered,    blinded their eyes and created         trembling, even as Thou workest
and he denied Him whom His              within them a spirit of delusion.      in us both to will and to do.
soul held as most precious. The         Their numbers are growing, their       Teach us to live no longer unto
warning comes to us: let him            strength increases, even as anti-      ourselves, but ever more earnest-
who stands beware lest he fall!         christ lifts his foul head around      ly unto Thee, seeking Thy honor
  It is exactly with that in mind,      us. Empower us in our spiritual        and glory above all else. Give us
that we fear temptation, and            conflict that we may strenuously       fitness to live close to Thee, in
sincerely beg: Father, never let        and constantly resist our foes and     the consciousness that Thou art
me depart from Thee so far that         stand steadfast in this evil day.      ever at our right side to sustain
it will be necessary for Thee to          Give us a rich measure of Thy        us, provide for us, and to bless us
cast me into the crucible of temp-      Word and Spirit. Bestow on us          with every spiritual blessing, until
tation, to give me over to my sin,      the grace to put on the whole ar-      the day dawns and all the weary
to teach me true obedience and          mor that Thou hast prepared for        night is spent.
self-surrender unto Thee:               us, that our loins are girt with         We wait upon Thee, even as
  Lead us not into temptation!          the girdle of truth, our heart is      watchers who wait for the morn-
  But deliver us from evil!             protected by the breastplate of        ing. May we do so in an ever in-
  Well aware that we are so             Christ's righteousness, our feet       creasing longing, eagerness, and
weak in .ourselves,  that we can-       are well shod with the prepara-        watching.
not stand, no, not for a moment,        tion of the gospel of peace, cling-      Teach us, Father, to pray this
and also that our mortal enemies,       ing to the shield of faith with our    prayer ever more perfectly. For
the devil, the world, and our own       left hand, and waving the sword        Thine is the kingdom, the power,
flesh, cease not to assault us, we      of the Spirit, Thy Word, with our      and the glory forever and ever!
earnestly pray that Thou wilt fur-      right hand, in order that when         Amen. 0
nish us with the spiritual courage      the smoke of battle fades away
and strength to fight the battle of     and the cry of warfare is si-
faith even unto our dying breath,       lenced, we may stand victorious
and to obtain the victory in our        over all Thy foes and ours. More
Lord Jesus Christ. Give us grace        than conquerors in the Captain of
to recognize the enemy, to be           our salvation, who blesses us out
aware of all his evil designs           of heaven!
against us, his subtle deception
and his wicked lies. Give us an
ever deeper spiritual insight into
Thy Word of truth, to maintain
and defend it, willing to die
rather than to compromise and
to be unfaithful to Thee. We
think of the power of faith which        The Standard Bearer makes a
made it possible for the three
friends of Daniel to defy the com-       thoughtful gift for members of your
mand of the king to bow down to
his image, choosing rather to be
thrown into the fiery furnace            family, friends, and neighbors. Give
than to deny Thy Name. Give us
love and zeal for Thy Name and          a gift of the Standard Bearer.

292  I The Standard Bearer


                                       Calvin Professors
Editorial                              Cleared

   In our March 1 issue we re-           "(2) We declare that the               "Does Dr. Clarence Menninga
ported on the basis of articles in     writings of Dr. Menninga, Dr.          use any method of biblical inter-
the  Grand Rapids Press that the       Van Till, and Dr. Young fall           pretation which excludes or calls
Board of Trustees of Calvin Col-       within the limits set by our           into question either the event-
lege and Seminary cleared the          denomination's guidelines for          character or the revelational
three Calvin College professors        how to interpret the Bible. But,       meaning of biblical history, thus
(Profs. Clarence Menninga,             at the same time, the board            compromising the full authority
Howard Van Till, and Davis             reminds the professors of the          of Scripture as the Word of God?
Young) whose teachings were be-        limitations that these guidelines      (See Acts of Synod 1972, p. 69)
.ing investigated by the Board of      place upon the interpretation of       Does he adhere to ". . . those ut-
Trustees. Since that time we have      the Bible.                             terances of the Confessions that
obtained a copy of the "Prepared         "(3) We commend these three          affirm the historical factuality of
Statement" released by the Board       professors for their deep devotion     the events recorded in Genesis
of Trustees and of the "Report of      to Christ and their diligence in       l-3? (See Acts of Synod 1982, p.
the Ad Hoc Committee" ap-              subjecting their work to His ser-      107)"
pointed by the Board. From the         vice.                                    The committee and the Board
latter it is clear that the reports      "(4) The study committee             clear Dr. Menninga without
in the Press were substantially        report will help us respond in-        negative comment even though
correct. It is also clear that what    telligently to the letters of          he teaches that "God used long
I stated near the end of that          criticism."                            periods of time to develop the
March 1 editorial, namely, that          The reference to the "denomi-        universe to its present condition"
behind all this is Report 36/44 on     nation's guidelines" is a reference    and that "The earth may be 4%
the Nature and Extent of the           to two sets of synodical decisions.    billion years old, while modern
Authority of Scripture, was cor-       The first set is a decision of         human beings may have lived on
rect.                                  Synod of 1972, when the report         earth for only 40,000 years," and
  According to the "Prepared           on the Nature and Extent of the        even though he leaves open the
Statement" of the Board of             Authority of Scripture was             possibility that "Maybe the dust is
Trustees, here is what the board       adopted (Acts, 1972, p. 69). The       a figure of speech and maybe
decided:                               second is a decision of Synod of       God formed Adam by enabling a
  "(1) We received the report          1982 (Acts, p. 167). The latter        more primitive mother to give
with gratitude and gave copies to      were decisions which resulted          birth to an offspring who
Dr. Menninga, Dr. Van Till, and        from a flurry of overtures             possessed the image of God."
Dr. Young for their study and          following the so-called Libolt           With respect to Dr. Van Till
guidance.                              case. The Ad Hoc Committee             the Ad Hoc Committee expresses
                                       makes reference to these deci-         concerns on two counts. First of
                                       sions in its report concerning         all, they are concerned about
                                       Prof. Menninga, and these were         what Dr. Van Till says about
                                       the guidelines applied to the          primeval history in his book, The
                                       teachings of all three professors.     Fourth Day. Secondly, they are
                                       The Ad Hoc Committee puts the          concerned about what Dr. Van
                                       question as follows:                   Till writes about human evolu-

                                                                                              The Standard Bearer  /  293


tion. However, while Van Till is        theologians of the Reformed            these doubts should now be
criticized for ambiguous and in-        Churches of the Netherlands.           removed when the concrete ap-
complete statements, and while             Finally, the report concerning      plication and results of that
he is cautioned to be clear and         Dr. Young is very brief and com-       report have become evident in
complete in his statements,             mendatory. He, too, is within the      this case.
nevertheless he also is found to        guidelines.                               And this is the most serious
be within the guidelines. Further,         The matter will now be re-          aspect of this investigation and its
nothing whatsoever is said con-         ported to the Christian Reformed       results. To be sure, that evolu-
cerning Van Till's "vehicle-            Synod, of course. And it is safe to    tionism and the denial of Genesis
packaging-content" approach to          say that the Synod will approve        1-11 is approved is a very serious
biblical interpretation. The latter     the findings of the Board of           matter. But even more serious is
is at the root of his entire posi-      Trustees with little or -no change.    the fact that the door is plainly
tion with respect to Scripture and        Why?                                 open for the denial of the in-
explains everything else that he          The answer is to be found in         fallibility and authority of Holy
says about Scripture in his book.       Report 36/44, which since 1972         Scripture on any truth what-
And it is that approach to biblical     has been binding doctrine in the       soever. 0                         HCH
interpretation which comes              CRC. If anyone had any doubts
straight from the liberal               about the evil of that report,





                                        The Two .Natures of
 Taking heed ~0 Christ: The Humanity
 The Doctrine
Ronald H. Hanko                         o f   C h r i s t

                                        2. The characteristics of Christ's     the very center of humanity, that
                                           human nature (continued).           is, out of the Jewish nation, the
                                          e. A central human nature.           covenant people of God, and the
                                        This last aspect of Christ's           church of the Old Testament.
                                        humanity is little appreciated and     The centrality of Christ's human
                                        seldom mentioned, even by those        nature, therefore, is connected
                                        theologians who have written ex-       with the fact that the Jews, at
                                        tensively on the subject of            least in Old Testament times,
                                        Christ's two natures. This is prob-    stood at the center of history
                                        ably due to the fact that it is the    from the viewpoint of God's pur-
                                        most difficult aspect of Christ's      pose and work (cf. Deut. 4:7, 7:6).
                                        humanity, at least as far as its         Among other things, this
                                        significance is concerned.             means that Christ Himself was a
                                          In referring to the centrality of    Jew as far as His race and ap-
                                        Christ's human nature, we mean         pearance were concerned. Those
                                        that He was not born at random         pictures, therefore, which present
                                        out of the human race, but ac-         Him with blond hair and nordic
Ronald H, Hanko is pastor of Trinity    cording to the purpose of God, ,at     features are not correct and
Protestant Reformed Church, Houston,
Texas.                                                                         neglect this truth, apart, of

294  / The Standard Bearer


course, from the fact that all pic-              Matthew's genealogy also                cumcision must be different
tures of Christ are a violation of             points, however, to the signifi-          covenants, the only explanation
the second commandment. That                   cance of the truth that Christ has        of which is to be found in the
Christ had a central human                     a central human nature. The              teaching that there are two dif-
nature also means that Christ was              genealogy is not given merely to          ferent peoples of God (Israel in
Mary's own flesh and blood, as                 prove the bare fact of Christ's           the O.T. and the Church in the
the angel promised Mary He                     descent from Abraham, obvious-            N.T.).
would be in Luke 1:31, and again               ly, but the very arrangement of              Now, at the time of the Refor-
in verse 35.                                   the genealogy shows that Christ,          mation, the Anabaptists actually
   The Belgic Confession men-                  as the seed of Abraham and                did deny that Christ was the flesh
tions this aspect of Christ's                  David, is also the fulfilment of          and blood of Mary. Men like
humanity in its article on the in-             the covenants made with them.             Melchior Hoffman and Menno
carnation:                                     In other words, the centrality of         Simons taught that Christ's
  Therefore we confess , . , that Christ is    Christ's human nature is seen             human nature was specially
become a partaker of the flesh and blood       here to be basic to all covenant          created in the womb of the virgin
of the children; that he is a fruit of the     theology.                                 Mary and that He was not really
loins of David after the flesh; made of the
seed of David according to the flesh; a          This is true first of all in regard     her flesh and blood. Mary's
fruit of the womb of the virgin Mary,          to the unity of the covenant, i.e.,       womb was only a kind of recep-
made of a woman, a branch of David; a          that there is only one covenant           tacle, therefore, for Christ before
shoot of the root of Jesse; sprung from        of God with His people. That              His birth, and she (to use a
the tribe of Judah; descended from the         Christ is born the seed of the            modern analogy) was only a kind
Jews according to the flesh; of the seed
of Abraham (Article XVIIq.                     woman, the seed of Abraham,               of surrogate mother to Christ. In
And, as the Belgic Confession                  and the seed of David in fulfil-          fact, some of the Anabaptists
shows, the proof of this truth is              ment of the promises made to              tended to deny the reality of
to be found in the Scriptural em-              each of these Old Testament peo- ~ Christ's humanity altogether.
phasis on His ancestry. This em-               ple, shows that these promises,           Their error is pointed out in Arti-
phasis is to be found from the be-             which are the covenant promises,          cle XVIII of the Belgic Confes-
ginning to the end of Scripture,               are essentially one promise and           sion.
in the Old Testament promises                  that the covenant to which they             This view of the Anabaptists
and prophecies concerning Him                  belong is also one covenant in            was, in part, an attempt to
(Gen. 15:5, 6 with Gal. 3:16, II               Christ.                                   preserve the sinlessness of Christ,
Sam. 7:12-16, Ps. 89:1-4, Is. ll:l),             The unity of the covenant in            and to that extent commendable.
in the story of His birth and                  the Old and New Testament also            However, the Anabaptists went
ministry (Lk. 1:32, 69, 2:4, l&38,             is connected with the centrality          astray at this point because of an
39, Matt. 21%16), in the                       of Christ's human nature. Our             incipient gnosticism in their
preaching and teaching of the                  unity with Christ, in other words,        system of teaching. They be-
Apostles (Acts 2:29-31, 3:22,                  is our unity with the whole Old           lieved and to some extent still
Rom. 9:5, Gal. 4:4, Heb. 7:14),                Testament, if He is truly the flesh       believe today in the inherent evil
and even in the promises of His                and blood of Abraham and David            of the material world. This was
glory and coming in the book of                through Mary, and if we are truly         evident in Reformation times in
Revelation (5:5, 22:16). It is also            flesh of His flesh and bone of His        their refusal to hold public office,
in connection with this truth,                 bone. There is indeed, then, a            to recognize the authority of the
then, that the genealogies of                  real organic connection between           magistrates, and in their attempts
Christ are included in the New                 God's Old and New Testament               to maintain a pure church
Testament. Matthew's genealogy,                peoples in Christ, a connection           (Donatism), and in their practice
which begins with Abraham, is                  which is basic to the unity of the        of world-flight, still seen today
especially important, for the pur-             covenant in both dispensations.           among Anabaptist groups such as
pose of Matthew's gospel is to                 This is, of course, denied by all         the Amish and Mennonites. It is
show that Christ is the fulfilment             Baptists in support of their prac-        also seen today in much of
of the whole Old Testament, and                tice of adult baptism. If the sign        Fundamentalism (which is largely
it is with this truth that He                  of the covenant is differently ad-        baptistic) in the separation that is
begins.                                        ministered in the New and Old             made, at least practically, be-
                                               Testaments (to children in the            tween religion and everyday life,
                                               O.T. and to adults in the N.T.)           especially in matters political. It
                                               then the covenants represented
                                               and sealed by baptism and cir-


                                                                                                         The Standard Bearer  I295


was, however, also connected               To be sure, Scripture teaches every-         Let us note at this point,
with their teaching concerning           where that Christ was a man, that He         however, this additional truth,.
baptism.                                 bore the human nature, but that He was       that insofar as Christ has a cen-
  Now insofar as this error is not       an individual, that amoung the variations    tral human nature and is born in
                                         of the seed of Adam there was also the
explicitly taught anymore in Bap-        variation Jesus is absurd (Dictaten          the family of Abraham and
tist circles, it would seem that it      Dogmatiek, Locus de Christo,  33, quoted     David, He is also the living proof
is not an integral part of their         from H. Hoeksema,  Reformed Dogmatics,       of the great promise of the cove-
theology, but only a temporary           pp. 354, 355).                               nant, that God will continue that
abberration (cf. L. Verduin, The         Since, as Kuyper himself admits,             covenant in the line of genera-
Reformers and their Stepchildren,        a general human nature is an                 tions. In fulfilment of that prom-
p. 253). But Berkhouwer (The             abstraction, it ought to be im-              ise, God continued His cove-
Person of Christ, pp. 198ff) and         mediately evident that this is               nant of grace from Adam,
others insist, as does the Belgic        really a denial of the reality of            through Abraham and David to
Confession by implication in Arti-       Christ's human nature, first of all.         Christ Himself, and so Christ is
cle XVIII, that it is indeed implicit    But even apart from that, it falls           the surety of that great promise
in all Baptist theology.                 into the same error into which               of the covenant as it was given
  The connection is this: in deny-       Baptist theology falls, that is, the         to these Old Testament people of
ing infant baptism, the Baptist is       error of cutting the organic con-            God. And what is more, He is
forced to deny any real connec-          nection between Christ and His               still the surety of that promise as
tion between Christ as the Head          people, especially the Church of             it is given to us in the New Testa-
of the New Testament Church              the Old Testament.                           ment, as in Acts 2:39. He would
and God's Old Testament people              Thus, though the error itself             not be this if He was not the
and covenant. This led in Ana-           seems to have died with Kuyper               flesh and blood of the virgin
baptism to a denial of the cen-          in Reformed circles, and though              Mary, the seed of Abraham, and
trality of Christ's human nature,        it is no longer explicitly taught in         the fruit of the loins of David.
i.e., to a denial of the fact that       Baptist circles, these errors do             That He is means that we can
He was born Mary's flesh and             serve to show how closely the                still sing the words of Psalm 89
blood. Thus, according to Ana-           doctrine of the two natures of               with hope:
baptist teaching there was, in-          Christ, especially a correct under-               For Him my mercy shall
deed, no real connection be-             standing of His humanity, is tied                     endure,
tween Christ and God's Old               to the Biblical doctrine of the                   My covenant made with Him
Testament people through Mary.           covenant. To this matter we shall                     is sure,
And even today in dispensation           return.                                           His throne and race I will
circles, Christ is not spoken of as                                                           maintain
the Head of Israel, which implies                                                          Forever, while the heavens
some kind of organic relationship                                                              remain
and connection, but only as                                                                (Psalter No. 243, 6). Cl
Israel's King (a purely formal
relationship). There is indeed,
therefore, an implicit denial of
the centrality of Christ's human
nature in Baptist theology.
  The centrality of Christ's
human nature has been explicitly
denied in Reformed circles also,
notably by Dr. Abraham Kuyper.           The Standard Bearer makes a
He taught that Christ did not
assume an individual human               thoughtful gift for members of your
nature, but human nature is
general, i.e., human nature as it        family, friends, and neighbors. Give
is common to all men. He says,
for example:                             a gift of the Standard Bearer.


296 / The Standard Bearer


                                              Hard Questions For Young People:
  The Strength                                "`How Shall I Prepare
 of Youth
 Barrett L. Critters                          For Marriage?"





                                                 Before you turn the page,               So you have never heard
                                              -because you know you are not            about preparing for marriage
                                               nearly close enough to marriage         before you were serious about
                                               even to think about preparing for       marrying. You suppose that you
                                              it, stick around a bit. This is writ-    will wait until you are ready to
                                              ten for you. It is not written for       get serious about marriage before
                                              those close to marriage. In fact, if     you will make any preparations. I
                                              you are engaged, and marriage is         hope I can convince you to think
                                              around the corner, it is almost          differently. The title of this article
                                              too late to think about preparing        does not ask the question, "Shall
                                              for .marriage in the sense that I        .I Prepare For Marriage?" You
                                              am speaking of it.                       simply cannot ask that question.
                                                This article is written for all of     It would be like asking, "Shall I
                                              `you who would like to be mar-           prepare to be an adult?" Whether
                                              ried some time in the future,            you like it or not, your entire life
                                              believe (or hope) that it is God's       is preparation for adulthood. The
                                      -1      will for you to marry some time,         same is true for marriage. For all
                                              and desire to enter that marriage        those whom the Lord has deter-
                                              relationship in a God-fearing            mined will marry, their whole life
                _.                            .manner. For you, it is a difficult      is a school for married life. What
Barrett L. Critters is pastor of the Prot-    question, "How shall I prepare           have you been learning?
estant Reformed Church of Byron Center,       for marriage?"
Michigan.

                                                                                                       The Standard Bearer  / 297


SOME THINGS YOU HAVE NO                 your father. I hope your parents       to learn. But nothing can replace
CONTROLOVER                             are home together often, spend-        the good example of godly
   The greatest preparation you         ing time with you, talking and         parents for preparing you for
will have for married life is what      having fun. My prayer is that          your own marriage. And nothing
you receive in your own home.           your family spends time around         can harm more than parents who
   You will learn how to behave         the Scripture after meals, discuss-    teach ungodliness.
in marriage by the way your             ing it, singing it in the psalms,      SOME THINGS THAT YOU
parents behave. Either conscious-       learning from it.                      CAN DO
ly or unconsciously, your mar-            Indeed, if you don't learn those       There are a good many things
riage behavior will be patterned        things from your parents, where        that you have some control over.
after the behavior of your              will you learn them? And how           I would like to present five exer-
parents. It is possible that you        will your life be different from       cises to help you prepare for
learn from the poor behavior of         theirs?                                marriage. I also realize that all
your parents, vowing to yourself          I also pray that your parents        these are gifts from God and that,
never to behave toward your             don't  teach you that possessions      apart from His Holy Spirit and
mate in that way. If that hap-          are everything. I hope they don't      grace, are impossible. (Pray and
pens, I hope that you can still         teach you by their example that        work!)
learn from the catechism's ex-          it's unnecessary to have a budget.       Learn to love others.
planation of the fifth command-         ("We have plenty of money; and           Husband and wife will be hap-
ment, that we "also patiently           we're assuming you will always         py if they love each other. When
bear with their weaknesses and          have abundance, too.") I pray          there is true love in practice,
infirmities, since it pleases God to    that your parents don't teach you      their marriage will be sound. A
govern us by their hand;" and,          that entertainment is the goal of      man treats his wife well when he
especially, that you remember           the weekend, that the whole of         loves her. The wife will submit to
that there is no sin that you are       spiritual life is showing up at        her husband when she loves him.
not capable of committing your-         church twice on Sunday, that           And both will submit in obe-
self, especially those that your        "remembering the Sabbath" is in-       dience to God in other areas,
parents are good at. This learning      structing the kids, "Learn your        because true love for each other
would be a conscious lesson.            catechism," and then jumping in        comes out of their prior love for
   But most likely your learning        bed for the afternoon. I hope          God.
about marriage from your                your parents don't do those              But true love is giving to
parents will be unconscious and         things: because your attitude          another person. Far from being
passive; you will simply adopt it       towards money and entertain-           only giddy feelings that magically
as your own from their example.         ment, your view of church life         appear or disappear, love is a
Then it is my prayer that your          and your observance of the sab-        spiritual bond that comes to ex-
parents (who are probably               bath day have a lot to do with         pression in actions. God's love for
"listening in" here) will be a good     the way your marriage is going         us gave His Son to die. A man's
example for you.                        to go.                                 love for his wife brings him to
   How?. I pray that you have             I make that prayer, because if       give time and energy to her. A
parents who love each other, and        you have parents like that, you        wife's love for her husband
aren't afraid to show that love to      are going to have a tough time         makes her give herself as a true
each .other when you're around; I       when you become married. This          "helper," suited for him. Loving
pray that you have parents who          is not to say that a good mar-         giving does not come easily, and
speak  to each otheroften, who          riage for you is impossible if you     will not last for a young man or
are true friends. I hope your           have had this kind of home at-         young woman who never prac-
father and mother confess their         mosphere and instruction. A boy        ticed that kind of giving love
faults to you, and pray for your        who grows up without the advan-        before marriage. One great prob-
forgiveness when they sin. I hope       tage of a good high-school and         lem for marriages today is the
your father respects your mother.       college education surely is at' a      attitude that everything I do must
I hope he loves your mother, and        disadvantage, but he can over-         be for me. The young person
gives good, strong, loving leader-      come that by getting a good            who lives with that mindset is
ship to her and to the children. I      education later on. A young            bound to have problems in mar-
hope your mother behaves as a           woman who has not had a good           riage. Love is selfless giving.
Sarah, cheerfully submitting to         family life can overcome that
                                        deficit by learning what marriage
                                        is all about and praying for grace


298  I The Standard Bearer


    If loving others in that way is      Solomon 4:4), Solomon was prais-                 This really is the heart of it all.
 difficult, what about loving others     ing the physical beauty of his                If you learn what friendship is,
 who are not always very lovable?        beloved. Physical attractiveness is           you will love others, submit to
 This, too, will be required of you      not something to be slighted. God             others, be attractive to others,
 when you are married. Your              has made us as human beings to                and remain chaste. If you know
 future spouse will not always be        see and appreciate physical beau-             true friendship, you will stay
 as attractive and lovable as when       ty in others.        -                        home with your spouse, have a
 you were dating. Pray for grace            But the lure for a good mate is            prayer life together, observe the
 to love unlovables. All young           not mainly physical, but spiritual.           Sabbath properly, and love to
 people can practice this before         I Peter 3 calls women to let their            spend time around the Word of
 marriage. It is not easy, but           cosmetics be inward - meek-                   God together. Marriage is friend-
 comes by grace.                         ness, a quiet spirit, a godly walk;           ship.
    Learn to submit to others.           and not outward - hairstyles,                    At bottom, our relationship
    Marriage means submission,           jewelry, clothing . . . . The same            with God is friendship. This is the
 especially for the wife. If there is    must be true for the young men.               essence of the covenant. The Bi-
 anything that is contrary to our        Let them try to cultivate the                 ble also describes the relationship
 natures, it is to submit. Just think    spiritual graces.                             between God and the church as a
 of Eve and the fall, Rebekah and           Any good fisherman will tell               marriage. (Spend some time look-
 the plot to steal the blessing          you that if you want to catch                 ing at both the Old and New
 (Cien. 27), Rachel and her idols        carp, you use carp bait; bullhead,            Testament passages that refer to
 (Gen. 30, 31) . . . .                   use bullhead bait; trout, you use             this.) If our marriages, then, need
    It simply will not happen that       trout bait. How many young                    to reflect the relationship be
 a young girl who hopes to marry         people will fail to see what is on            tween God and His church, they
 never submits when she's young,         their line until after it is too late         need to reflect that h-iendship
 but will for the first time when        to throw it back?                             first of all.
 she marries. This must come with           Spiritual beauty not only                     How do you learn about
 a lifetime of practice. I would         prepares for marriage by luring a             friendship? First, by cultivating
 warn young men that girls who           godly partner, but, just as impor-            your friendship with your God.
 show no submission to teachers          tant, prepares you to handle al1              Speak with Him; tell Him your
 at school and rebel against their       the issues you will face from the             secrets; listen to His secrets to
 parents at home, are giving pret-       time you have your first row un-              you in His Word. Learn to enjoy
 ty good indications that they're        til the day you part in death.           .    time with Him. Learn the
 not going to submit to your love        Knowledge of the Bible, the                   pleasures of His company. Learn
 in marriage either. Also, how           desire to pray, willingness to                to "open up" to Him.
 does she treat you when you             work through problems biblically                Second, cultivate friendships
 date? Is there any flexibility          and prayerfully, al1 form the only            with others. Make good friends
 when your opinions differ? Don't        solid foundation for good married             with others of the same sex, but
 forget the timely warnings of           life.                                         also with others of the opposite
Solomon in Proverbs  21:9, 19;              Remain a virgin.                           sex, without thinking that it
 27: 15, etc.                               Although there could be a lot              needs to be "serious." Learn to
    Pray for the grace of submis-        said here, I don't need to say                open up to them, tell them your
 sion to parents and teachers.           very much about this, except that             secrets, your needs, your
    Be a &active.                        both the young women and the                  troubles, your happiness. Learn
    The way to land a fish is to         young men know that this ap                   to listen to them, care for them,
 use the right bait. The way a           plies to them, and that violation             love them . . . .
 young person is usually led to his      of this important biblical rule                 Marriages made of two who
 or her God-ordained spouse is by        means untold misery both before               have learned about friendship
 being lured by the other's attrac-      and after marriage.                           before ever "leaving father and
: tiveness.                                 My hope is that parents,                   mother" will be (by God's bless-
    There is physical attractive-        pastors, and counsellors and                  ing) marriages that are not only
 ness. Solomon "sings" of this           teachers at school, will spell out            strong, but a great joy for both
 beautifully. Even though you            the details of this vital point,              husband and wife!
 might not look for a neck "like         showing the Bible's warnings                  * * * * *  * * * * *
 the tower of David builded for an       about promiscuity and encour-                   Marriage is not to be taken
: armoury, whereon there hang a          agement for virginity.                        lightly, nor its prospect ignored.
i thousand bucklers," (Song of             Learn what friendship is.                   You are preparing for marriage
                                                                                       right now. How are you doing? 0

                                                                                                        The Standard Bearer / 299


                                                "Remember the Sabbath
      All Around Us                                                               //
~     Gise 1. Van Baren                         Day 0 0 0 0


         Troubling times are in store for       destroy the whole foundation                  "The Sabbath was made for man, not
      the faithful child of God. We all         upon which our observance of                  man for the Sabbath" (Mark 227). God
     know that. One of the problems             Sunday rests. The sad part is that            instituted it for his creatures' interest and
     that many already face is: will I          many, especially among the                    well-being. People who do get weary of
                                                                                              the ratrace now and then might still
     lose my job if I refuse to work on         young, will consider the argu-                favorably acknowledge this wisdom of
     Sunday? Or the question might              mentations quite appealing - for              the Creator in forbidding work on one
     well be: will I be able to get a           after all, does not this editor,              out of seven days.
     good job if I refuse to work on            who has studied theology, know                  In a full-page ad in the Toronto Star,
     Sunday? One observes that in the           what Scripture teaches?                       Gerrit De Boer, owner of a large furni-
                                                                                              ture business, told the government of On-
     religious community there is seen             The editor writes of changing              tario that wide-open Sunday shopping is
     little objection anymore to the            practices with respect to Sunday              bad for the family life of store employees
     breaking of the fourth command-            observance:                                   and will not increase sales or produce
     ment. Many, apparently with                   One of the reasons for the sudden          jobs. Thousands agree with him.
     clear conscience, can eat out in           demise of our church's system of Sunday          But then the editor proceeds to
     restaurants on Sunday; many can            observance (all our do's and don't's) was     demolish the principles upon
     travel to or from vacations on             the weak theology that supported it. The      which rests our Sabbath obser-
                                                previous generation of Reformed and
     Sunday; many find "good" ex-                                                             vance. In this, he does dreadful
                                                Presbyterian Christians suffered through
     cuses for working on Sunday.                                                             disservice to the cause of God
                                                a legalistic form of Sunday observance
         It is high time that the church,       that was only quantitatively different        and His church. He writes:
     for principal reasons, insist on           from the infamous Sabbath rules of the          Although there are some attractive
     proper Sunday observance. And              New England Puritans. At any church           (and speculative) theories that demon-
                                                gathering or family reunion one may still     strate how the Christian Sunday has
     one would expect from Reformed             collect horror stories about "what we         replaced the Jewish Sabbath, theres no
     circles that such strong emphasis          could and what we could not do" in            New Testament evidence to that effect.
     upon the Sabbath as a day of               those days.                                   One has to be either a strict Sabbatarian
     spiritual rest would be particular-           The editor continues by show-              and Seventh-Day Christian or stand in
     ly heard. It must, then, be cause          ing that there are some good                  the freedom of the New Coveuant, which
                                                                                              has no holy days, holy foods, or holy
     of great grief and sad disappoint-         social reasons for maintaining                places (and no holy land) but only a holy
     ment in the Christian Reformed.            Sunday as a day of rest:                      people who are elect in Christ, dedicated
     Church when the editor of its                But we are Christians in the nation,        to God, and zealous to do his will.
     Banner appears to deplore the              and we ought to promote a national              . . . I remember how in the 1950s
     growing secularization of Sunday           form of Sunday observance. We ought to        practically all the discipline cases in our
                                                do it for the honor of God, the health of     Canadian churches had to do with "Sun-
     - but on practical grounds, not            the nation, and the protection of Chris-      day labour." But those who milked cows
     on the basis of religious prin-            tians.                                        or worked in hospitals were all right.
     ciples. The editor attempts to               Shoppers want to have the stores open         I myself once worked in a gas and oil
                                                on Sunday; the store clerks aren't asking     field, overseeing production from the
                                                for it. We should try to make all people      wellhead to containers. Sometimes I
                                                realize that having seven business days is    worked on Sundays. As a result I faced
                                                bad for all and benefits none.                principled opposition from a number of
                                                   Whatever the religious significance of     delegates at the Albertan classis to which
                                                                                              I applied for financial support to study
     Gise J Van Baren is pastor of the Prot-    the Old Testament Sabbath was, it had a
                                                                                              for the ministry. Yet these same delegates
     estant Reformed Church. of Hudsonville,    basic social and humanitarian purpose,
     Michigan.                                  according to Jesus' own interpretation:

     300  / The Standard Bearer


used their gas furnaces on Sundays              - which encourages the use of           church bodies. Sunday becomes
without any qualms.                             the day as one of non-labor, but        just another day - which might
   Sunday is not the Sabbath. And we are        denies any principle reasons for        conceivably still be used as a day
not under law but under grace!
  I love those people who stand firm,           doing so. One can relax with the        of non-work (not necessarily for
knowing that one cannot work on Sun-            family at the beach, engage in all      "rest" - which is a spiritual con-
day once or twice and then close the            kinds of recreational activities,       cept).
shop again. Rightly, they draw the line.        enjoy togetherness - or he can             There appear to be so many
They say no because they have said yes          work on that day if he wishes.          who seem to strain at "gnats",
to God.
   Unfortunately, people who stand firm         Each must be at liberty to do as        yet are ready to swallow these
are not always inclined to let others be        he desires in this New Testament        "camels". How long can all this
free. I know how desirable solidarity is        age of "freedom". Of course, this       undermining of the old land-
with respect to supporting the Christian        means that the worship services         marks continue?
school and with respect to observing Sun-                                                  But we too must be on guard.
day. Common commitment should weigh             in church are also a matter of
heavily on us. We don't make our deci-          personal choice. If one desires to      How easy it is to find the argu-
sions in isolation from one another. But        worship another day, he need            mentations concerning such
our good decisions do not give us the           not go to church. Or he may             breaking of the Sabbath to be ap-
right to lay down the law for others.           determine to worship in his own         pealing. Were not our forefathers
  . . . The church gives no detailed rules                                              just too strict? In how many ways
for Sunday observance. But church               home and ignore public worship
members are people who want to love             altogether. Why not?                    might we not already be break-
God above all and who have lost their              And if one can so treat the          ing the fourth commandment?
hearts to Jesus.                                fourth commandment, what                For us, observance of the fourth
  In a time when the secular Sunday is          about the other nine? Are none          commandment must not just be a
being ever more widely accepted, Chris-
tians will find creative ways to fulfill the    of these binding anymore? But if        condemnation of those who
Sabbath command.                                they are, why not the fourth?           might go out to eat in restaurants
  . . . And when we approach the                   It is indeed a sad day in the        on Sunday. Rather, there must be
children of this secular age, we shouldn't      history of the Reformed churches        that labor of love, that true
come with a packet of commandments              when all that which had been            spiritual rest, in which (especially
about Sunday observance. But we do pre-                                                 on Sunday) we contemplate the
sent the gospel that delivers people from       faithfully maintained in the past
greed and worry and places them, body           is rapidly being overthrown.            wonders of the work of our God.
and soul, for this life and the next, in the    Theistic evolution is openly ac-          And could not we also find
hands of the heavenly Father.                   cepted, approved by official            ways to promote the observance
   There may be many who re-                                                            of this day of rest for our greater
joice in such a defense of Sunday                                                       profit? 0





 Guided  /nto                                   Rationalism and Its
 A/I Truth
 Thomas C. Miersma                              Fruit (3)

                                                  Modern philosophy begins as           fore to be divine revelation is
                                                we have seen with man, man's            one which philosophy opposes
                                                reason, and man's experience. As        and against which it strives.
                                                such, in its very starting point, it    Throughout the eighteenth  ten-
                                                has no place for divine revelation      tury and the era which preceded
 Thomas C. Miersma is pastor of the First
Protestant Reformed Church of Edmon-            `or the need of the Scriptures. The     it, the drive of worldly philos-
ton, Alberta, Canada.                           claim of the Word of God there-         ophy was to set man's wisdom

                                                                                                        The Standard Bearer / 301


and experience upon the throne          certainty and truth are con-            Europe and North America by
as the sole standard of authority.      cerned. The mind is driven to           those who brought his ideas into
That which did not measure up           seek an underlying unity in all         the church. Kant's philosophy
to that standard as acceptable to       things which we behold and ex-          constitutes a denial of the Bible
human reason was ridiculed as           perience in the phenomena of            as in any sense God's Word of
false. The object of the attack of      the world about us. This attempt        truth. Revealed truth is an im-
human reason was first of all the       of our reason, or pure reason, to       possibility. Religion is reduced to
contents of Scripture, particularly     find in the realm of thought and        a matter of mere morality and
the wonders or miracles set forth       ideas the absolute and ultimate         ethics. Take Kant's ideas into the
in the Word of God. Behind this         unity or unifying principle of all      minister's study as the basis from
attack, however, lay an attack          things (god) can never be more          which to proceed with Scripture
upon Scripture itself as a work of      than a projection of the mind.          in making sermons, and the Bible
God and as God's Word.                  While this activity of the mind as      becomes simply a source book
  This attack was given further         it synthesizes our experience           for teaching morals, a source
impetus through the philosophical       may be useful to categorize and         book of object lessons illustrating
writings of Immanuel Kant               to reduce our experience to its         good and acceptable behavior
(1724-1804). Kant himself was lit-      underlying unity, its result is         and moral conduct. Religion has
tle concerned with Scripture or         nevertheless no guarantee that          as its object the good moral life,
revelation. His importance lies in      that unity actually exists. Funda-      and happiness through socially
bringing together the threads of        mentally Kant's approach leads          acceptable behavior. This is ex-
rationalism, evaluating them            to the denial that man can ever         actly the effect that Kant's ideas
critically, and laying the founda-      achieve any real knowledge of           had as they were brought into
tion for the development of             God through human reason. But           the Christian church by those
philosophy from the 1800's to the       by limiting truth to that which         who followed him or were in-
present. Kant was a rather              man beholds and experiences,            fluenced by him. Religion ceases
unusual individual. He was born,        Kant at the same time denies the        to be the worship of God in Jesus
lived and died in Konigsberg in         possibility of any real objective       Christ and becomes only a tool
Prussia, Germany, though he was         revelation, of a revealed and           for promoting the philosophy of
of Scottish descent. A home-            knowable Word of God, and of            the so-called golden rule and
body, he never went more than           revealed truth. Kant does not           good neighborliness.
forty miles from Konigsberg dur-        stop, however, with this                  Moreover, since it is man's
ing his whole life. A life-long         theoretical form of agnosticism.        own inner sense of right and
bachelor, his personal life was         That which cannot be discovered         wrong, of duty and obligation,
one of clock-like regularity, rising    by the mind, he finds in the            which is the basis of morality,
at five in the morning to read,         sense of moral right and wrong          man is now principally made also
study, and write; dining at one-        and justice, which we experience        the standard of his own morality.
thirty; taking his afternoon hour-      ought to be, though it does not         There is no place either in Kant's
ly walk at four; and retiring to        appear in the real world round          approach for a revealed objective
bed at ten o'clock. His pattern of      about us. We experience a sense         standard of right and wrong, no
life was so regular and consistent-     of duty and obligation. This            place for the revelation of the
ly punctual that the town's in-         moral imperative or sense of law        righteous judgments of God. The
habitants are said to have been         then becomes the basis in Kant's        Kantian god is himself subject to
able to set their watches by his        thinking for the practical belief in    the same moral law or obligation
appearance at the door of his           the idea of a moral being (god) as      which man senses in himself, and
house in the afternoon for his          a matter of practical reason.           god may really be dispensed with
daily walk.                               Kant in effect denies any real        altogether. The door is open for
  At the center of Kant's               knowledge about God or any real         a functioning atheistic humanism
thought, and his critical approach      objective revelation of God or          in which man is his own standard
to the rationalistic philosophy         Word of God, but makes room             of morality and judgment. Man's
which preceded him, is the prin-        for morality as a practical matter,     sense of what is right and wrong,
ciple that human reason is finite       for the role of the conscience.         of what ought to be done and not
and limited by time and space to        While it may seem as if this has        to be done may also be imposed
the realm of experience as far as       little to do with the doctrine of       upon Scripture, for it is man's
                                        Scripture, Kant's influence and         own conscience which becomes
                                        thought had a profound effect           the true standard of morality.
                                        upon the Christian church in


302  I  The Standard Bearer


   Again we also find in the                   in man as sin develops in this         as a certain knowledge grounded
 philosophy of Kant the use of                 world, morality ceases altogether.     upon the facts of our redemption
 Christian theological language,                  By his approach, however,           in the death and resurrection of
 which is separated from its actual            Kant also brought the develop-         Christ. The Bible stands and func-
 meaning, and reduced to a tool                ment of the philosophy of human        tions on two levels, which have
 to teach non-Christian ideas.                 reason as the standard of truth to     nothing whatsoever to do with
 Christianity as a religion exists, in         a new point. Pure reason accord-       one another. On the level of ob-
 this approach, upon a higher                  ing to Kant is limited to the          jective reality and truth it is simp
 plain than other religions of the             phenomena of this world, which         ly a human document like any
 world only because of its higher              we see and experience. This is,        other, to be treated as literature.
 moral development and purer                   in Kant, the only realm of cer-        As a book of religious faith and
 achievement of the moral idea.                tainty and objective truth.            feeling, a source book of morali-
 The incarnation of the Son of                 Religion is a matter of practical      ty, it functions quite independent-
 God in our flesh and blood is                 reason and morality which is not       ly of whether any of its contents
 taken up as a mere symbol of                  founded in objective truth, but in     are in fact historically true. It
 man's moral nature. Christ                    man's sense of morality, of right      may be a collection of complete
 becomes only a moral example                  and wrong. This approach intro-        fairy tales as far as its objective
 who shows us what man ought to                /duces a fundamental divorce, not      reality is concerned. The
 be as an ideal and what he can                ,only between truth and the reali-     philosophical system of Kant
 become. Our Savior becomes                    ty of good and evil, between any       opens the way to separate com-
/ simply a good teacher of a re-               real standard of right and wrong       pletely faith and its foundation in
1 fined morality, a better teacher            < and morality, but it also             the historicity of any events
 than those found in other                     separates religion and theology        recorded in Scripture. The facts
 religions.                                    from any contact with real truth       of history belong to the
   Kant opened the way for the                 ,or reality. Kant not only uses        phenomena of this world which
 philosophers that followed him in             tChristian terminology as a tool to    are subject to science and human
 succeeding generations to                     1teach philosophical ideas, but he     reason. Faith and its contents
 redefine what is right and what is            Iopens the way to the treatment        belong to the realm of religious
 wrong in man's own image and                  Iof religion and theology as a         ideas and feelings which are the.
 according to man's judgment.                 1mere symbolic expression for           projection of human thought and
 Morality is reduced to a matter of           1religious feelings, which have         the exercise of practical reason
 practical expedience and is made             1nothing to do with truth. The          and the sense of moral order.
 relative. Where the conscience is            7way is opened to identifying           Kant lays the basis for building a
 seared as with a hot iron; as it is          1faith with emotion and defining        wall between faith and reason. 0
                                              1Faith as simply religious feelings.
                                              1Kant's philosophy destroys faith




                                              D e u t e r o n o m y   -
  Bible Study                                 E x h o r t e d   U n t o   -
  Guide
 Jason 1. Kortering                           Obedience (3)  .'  _,_

                                                 In the book of Deuteronomy,          a review of the instructions
 Jason L. Kortering is pastor of the Prot-     we do not have additional laws         which God gave the people at
 estant Reformed Church of Grandville,         given by Moses. Rather we have         Mt. Sinai, for the people who
 Michigan.

                                                                                                       Jhe Standard Bearer  / 303


         were about to enter the land of             the elders of the city closest to it      she was not a virgin, the
         Canaan. The book is divided into           would redeem the city by taking            evidence of her virginity has to
         four parts: the first discourse of          a heifer to a deserted valley and         be brought to the elders. If he is
         Moses (l:l-4:43), the second dis-           cutting off its head and washing          found to be a false accuser, then
         course of Moses (4:44-26:19), the           their hands over it, acknowledg-          he is to pay 100 skekels of silver
         third discourse of Moses                    ing before God that they did not          to the father of the woman for
         (27:1-30:20),  and the last words of       know the murderer, and asking              the evil brought upon his family,
         Moses, including the record of his          God to put away the guilt                 and she has to remain his wife. If
         death (31:1-34:12).                        (21: l-9). Reference is made to the        there is no evidence of her
            With our outlining, we are in           taking of a wife from among the            virginity, she is to be stoned to
         the midst of the second discourse          women captured in battle. If an            death (22: 13-2 1). If a man lay
         of Moses, beginning at chapter             Israelite discovers a beautiful            with either a married woman or
          19:14.                                    woman among them, he may                   betrothed virgin and she does not
            We have a series of general in-         take her to wife. Only she had to          cry out, both are to ,be stoned to
         structions regarding residence in          shave off all her hair and cut her         death. If this fornication takes
         Palestine. Mention is made of the          nails and bewail her captivity for         place in the field, where no one
         landmarks which were set in old            one month. After this the man              could hear her cries, only the
         times marking each one's in-               may take her to wife, and if he            man is to be stoned. If a man
         heritance. They were not to be             delight in her, keep her. If not,          forces a virgin not betrothed, he
         removed (19:14). Accusations               he may let her go, only he may             must pay her father 50 shekels of
         against anyone of evil had to be           not sell her for money. Similarly,         silver and take her to wife. In no
         sustained by two or three wit-             if a man has two wives, one                case was a man to take his
         nesses, and false witnesses had to         loved the other hated, if the first-       father's wife (22:22-30).  The con-
         be removed (19:15-21).  When               born son is of the wife whom he            gregation of Israel is to be con-
         Israel was ready to engage in              hates, he must give him all the            secrated to God. Hence all
         battle with an enemy, they were            privileges of the firstborn, even          unclean are to abstain from com-
I                                                   though he hates his mother                 ing among the people, e.g.
I        to be encouraged by the officers
         by the reminder that Jehovah               (21:10-17).  A stubborn and dis-           eunuchs, bastards, the Ammonite,
         was the One Who went before                obedient son who lived as a glut-          and Moabite to the tenth genera-
         them in battle. If anyone had              ton and drunkard was to be                 tion (23:1-8). The people are to
         built a.new house -and had not             taken to the elders of the city,           purify themselves and remove all
         yet dedicated it, or planted a             and they were to stone him to              abominations when they go forth
         vineyard ,and not eaten of it, or          death (21:18-21).  The body of a           to battle (23:9-14). A runaway
         become .betrothed to a woman               person put to death by hanging             slave could be kept in one's
         and had not yet taken her, or              was not, to remain on the tree at          house, but harlots.and homo-
     I. `. was fainthearted for .battle,  he        night,:;for that would defile the          sexuals were banished (23:15-l@.
         was instructed to return home,             land (21:22, 23). Any lost ,proper-        Usury (making money by charg-
         (20:1-g). In attacking cities in bat-      ty belonging to the neighbor had           ing interest) was forbidden
         tle, those which were in the land          to be returned. Also a fallen              among the people, but could be
         of Canaan had to be completely             animal had to be lifted up                 practiced with strangers (23:19,
         destroyed and all its inhabitants,         (22:1-4):;Men and women were               20). Vows were to be freely
         lest they corrupt the people by            forbidden to wear the clothes of           ,taken, but once taken they had
         their evil influence. Concerning           the opposite sex (22:5). -Care had         to be kept (23:21-23).  Grapes and
         cities, which were farther away,.. , to be taken topreserve'life  in the              corn could be eaten freely from. %.
         they ce&&l~o&  peace to them,              midst of nature;(bird'sj;nests); and       the neighbor%  field, only none,:
         and if accepted make them                  at `home,. by providing safety on          could take extra.home  with them
     tributaries; but if not accepted,            ' the roof of a house (22:6-g).              (23:24, 25). A bill of divorcement
         they should kill al1 the.men and           Separation was emphasized: an              is described: a man marries a
         keep the women, chi!dren, and              ox or-;ass could not plow                  woman in whom he finds some
         possessions .@r. themselves. In the.       together, wool and .linen .could           uncleanness.and he puts her            .  .F,.~..
     `, . process  of',b&tl&  they'should not not be'worn together, equal                      away. Once pmaway he may               `.`.
         destroy trees (good&r  food                fri&!e&had to be on garments               not marry her again (24:1-4). A
         (2O:,IO-2O)::If the'bwdy  .of one          122:~19-$Z).,,We then have a few         , newly married man,was exempt
       .`. slain would be found in the field,       mstru,$tIFns concerning marriage. from war and business for one
                                                    A won@-is-given  in marriage to            year, in order that he might
                                       i
                                                    a man,`and `if he later claims that        cheer up his wife. A niillstone


         304  I The Standard Bearer


was not to be taken as pledge for       Levite, stranger, fatherless and        way of repentance, God will
debt (it was his livelihood). If a      widows. They are to be glad in          receive them and give them a
man pledged his garments, it            this and keep the laws which            new, circumcised heart, and bless
could only be for that day, and         God commanded, for therein are          them richly by returning them to
kidnapping required the death           they a special people before Him        their land and maintaining His
penalty. They are reminded to           (26:12-19).                             covenant with them (30:1-10). A
keep the laws regarding leprosy           4. Moses' third discourse             final summary is given, "See, I
(24:5-13). Hired servants who           (27: l-30:20). Instruction is now       have set before thee this day life
were poor and depended on dai-          given that when Israel crosses          and good, and death and evil, in
ly wages had to be paid (24:14,         the river into Canaan, a special        that I commend thee to love the
15). Children were not to be            ceremony is to be conducted.            Lord thy God, to walk in his
punished for sins of fathers, nor       The law is to be written upon           ways, and to keep his command-
fathers for children's (24:16). The     plastered stones set up in Mt.          ments" (30: 1 l-20).
stranger's judgment was not to          Ebal, in connection with an altar         5. This is the final section of
be perverted, nor a widow's rai-        built of field stones, and offerings    the book, Moses' last words and
ment taken in pledge (24:17, 18).       made to Jehovah. This is a              the record of his death
Gleanings were to be left in the        reminder to keep God's law. Mt.         (3 1: l-34: 12). Moses reminds the
field and on the trees for the          Gerizim is the mountain of bless-       people that they are now by the
poor (24: 19-22). Corporal punish-      ing and Ebal the mountain of            edge of Canaan. He will not be
ment for an offender was limited        cursing. A list of curses follows       able to go with them into the
to forty stripes (25:1-3). The ox is    (27:1-26). By hearkening diligent-      land, but Joshua will go before
not to be muzzled when he               ly unto the Lord, Moses assured         them. God will destroy all the na-
treads corn (25:4). If a man dies,      them God would bless them. A            tions that occupy the land. They
his widow is to be married to his       list of such blessings follows          are not to fear since Jehovah will
surviving brother and the first-        (28:1-14). Once again a list of         go with them (31:1-6). He gives
born son shall take on the name         curses follows, an indication that      the same encouragement to
of his brother. If the brother          the people would be unfaithful          Joshua (31:7, 8). Moses presents
desires not to marry, he shall          and should be warned of this            to the priests written copies of
give account to the elders of the       very carefully. Many of the             the laws which he rehearsed
city and the brother's wife shall       curses are prophetic of what will       before them and instructs them
come and loose one of his shoes         happen to them, e.g. in the even-       to read these to the people every
and spit in his face and say, "So       tual captivity in Babylon               seventh year (31:9-13). Both
shall it be done to that man that       (28: 15-68). Moses then proceeds        Moses and Joshua were in-
will not build up his brother's         to instruct the children of Israel      structed by God to appear before
house." His name is to be "one          in the covenant which Jehovah           Him in the tabernacle, and the
who has the loosed shoe"                established with them. He does          Lord appeared before them in
(25:5-10). If two men are fighting      this in addition to the words           the pillar of cloud. Jehovah now
and the wife of one comes to            which God gaveat Mt. Sinai. This        instructs Joshua of Moses' death
intervene and grabs him by his          is now in the land of Moab. He          and the coming apostasy of the
genitals, her hand is to be cut off     rehearses the loving care of God        children of Israel. He gives to
(25: 11, 12). Dishonest weights are     shown during the forty years in         them a song which must be com-
forbidden (25:13-16).  The people       the wilderness. They had bread          mitted to memory by the con-
are reminded of Amalek's sin            to eat, water to drink, their shoes     gregation, so that when evil days
when he attacked the feeble of          did not wear out, and God even          come they may recall God's
the congregation. They are to           protected them from the enemies         promises in the singing of this
blot out his name when they ar-         (29:1-g). He calls the people to        song (31: 14-23). The law which
rive in Canaan. Also, they are to       witness that they stand before          was presented to the priests must
offer to God the firstfruits which      Jehovah with their families and         be kept in the ark of the cove
they would gather from the en-          tribes to assume loyalty to God.        nant (31:24-30).  Cl
tire land and rehearse before God       They are not to turn to the gods
His providential care shown in          of the heathen lest Jehovah will
the journey (25: 17-26:ll). They        punish them, and the land be
are reminded of the importance          consumed before them - a
of tithing for the sake of the          reference to the eventual captivi-
                                        ty (29:10-29).  On the other hand,
                                        Moses assures them that in the


                                                                                                 The Standard Bearer  /  305


                                          Distinctive Traits Of  -
  In His Fear
 Arie den Ha-tog                          True Godliness

   The Word of God often exhorts          Godliness is the knowledge and         image and to manifest His own
us to live in godliness. Sometimes        love and fear of God. It is true       glorious virtues in our life.
this term is used to describe a           piety born out of a deep con-             True godliness is never osten-
specific virtue along with a              sciousness of who God is, and out      tatious. The truly godly man does
number of other Christian vir-            of a serious and earnest desire to     not call attention to his own god-
tues, such as in 11 Peter 1:5-7:          live unto Him. The truly godly         liness. He does not boast about it.
"And beside this, giving all              man has a profound knowledge           As soon as a man does that, he
diligence, add to your faith vir-         of the sovereignty and holiness        ceases to be truly godly, and
tue; and to virtue knowledge;             and righteousness and truth of         becomes a hypocrite. The truly
and to knowledge temperance;              God. He is conscious that God is       godly man is deeply humble
and to temperance patience; and           ever present with him and that         because of the consciousness of
to patience godliness; and to             he lives his whole life before the     his own great sin and weakness.
godliness brotherly kindness; and         presence of God.                       He has nothing to boast about in
to brotherly kindness charity."             Godliness must characterize          himself. All his glorying is in the
Other times this term is used             our whole life. It must be the         Lord alone. He is not self-
alone to describe the sum of all          spiritual principle out of which       conscious about his godliness. His
Christian virtues. In the next few        we live. True godliness is the         godliness is evident to all men.
articles in this department we            fruit of the Spirit of God in the        We must all strive to live in
want to consider some of the              heart and soul of the child of         godliness. In a recent article we
distinctive traits of true godliness.     God. There is both an inner            discussed the great need of exer-
We shall use this term, therefore,        godliness of the heart and an out-     cising ourselves unto godliness.
in the more general sense. Godli-         ward manifestation of that godli-      We need not repeat that here.
ness, as the term itself suggests,        ness in our life. There is, accord-    Godliness does not come auto-
is God-centeredness in our life.          ing to the Word of God, a false        matically. It does not come easy,
                                          form of godliness. This "form of       for it is against our sinful and
                                          godliness" denies the power            ungodly nature. Every moment
                                          thereof. Therefore it is a sham. It    we are not careful and fail to
                                          may bear some outward                  walk by faith in the strength and
                                          resemblance to true godliness,         grace of God, our sinful nature
                                          but it is mere form and hypoc-         will again arise in us and we will
                                          risy. It is not the fruit of the       cease to be godly. Maintaining
                                          almighty work of regeneration          true godliness involves a constant
                                          and sanctification in the heart of     spiritual struggle. We often fail.
                                          the child of God. True godliness       We always fall far short of the
                                          is the manifestation of Gods           standard of the Word of God. But
                                          mighty and wonderful working in        we must continue to fight the
                                          us, which causes us to be more         good fight of faith.
Arie den Hartog is pastor of the Prot-    and more conformed to His own            Our life of godliness must
estant Reformed Church of Randolph,                                              adorn the doctrine of God that
Wisconsin.

306 / The Standard Bearer


we confess. God has given to us                The chief trait of true godliness      Love for God is evident in the
that true doctrine that is in Christ    is an evident love for God. The             life of the godly man. It is true
Jesus, the. blessed gospel of salva-    great commandment of the law                that first of all that love must be
tion. As Reformed Christians we         of God is that we love God with             in his heart. But it must also
have this doctrine in all of its        all our heart and with all our soul         come to manifestation. Love for
glory and truth. We are highly          and with all our mind and with              God is not merely a nice warm
privileged of God. Who are we           all our strength. There is no               feeling inside or a mere passing
that we should be so favored of         higher and more glorious virtue             emotion. The godly man is one
God? We have the calling to con-        possible for man than love for              who is manifest as a man that
fess and maintain and defend the        God. There is no more holy affec-           truly loves God. It will show itself
doctrine which God has given to         tion imaginable. The godly man              first of all in a strong desire to
us. We must preach this doctrine        desires to love God perfectly. He           know more and more about the
as a church, and confess it in our      knows that by nature he is prone            true doctrine of God. He is not
personal lives as Christians. Our       to hate God. The natural man is             satisfied with a mere shallow and
godliness must adorn this doc-          at enmity against God. The only             superficial knowledge of God. His
trine. Many Christians who have         reason why there is in our heart            love for God constrains him to
confessed the true doctrine of          any love for God at all is because          desire more and more to know
salvation have by their ungodly         God loves us first and shed His             the blessed revelation of God.
lives brought shame to the gospel       own love abroad in our hearts.              This becomes evident in that he
of Christ. This has been the occa-      Therefore we can begin to love              frequents the house of God to
sion of blasphemy against the           God. Always the source of our               hear the preaching of the Word.
truth of God by the world. Some-        love to God is His love towards             He loves to search the Scriptures
times we have witnessed in the          us.                                         in his own home with his family.
sphere of the church those who            Love for God is a personal and            He desires to know more and
have vehemently confessed the.          holy affection and delight in God.          more of the revelation of Gods
true doctrine of God, but even          It is more than a mere assent to            mighty deeds and wonderful
while doing that have displayed         certain doctrines about God. It is          works among His people. Above
such ungodly attitudes and man-         a personal delight in Him. The              all, he delights to search the
ners that they have done                godly man has holy pleasure in              wonderful revelation of God in
grievous hurt to the cause of           God and all of His virtues. With            His works of salvation and in the
Christ. It has happened even that       fear and trembling He loves God             person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
faithful ministers of the gospel        for all that He is in His perfect             The love for God which fills
have been slandered and                 righteousness and holiness and              the godly man causes him to
maligned by these "professors of        absolute sovereignty. The godly             desire the fellowship and commu-
the truth." While on the one            man who loves God does not                  nion of God. Church for him is
hand seeking to stand for the           seek to clothe God with attributes          more than a building where ser-
truth, these have manifested a          of vain human philosophy, as the            mons are preached. It is the
most ungodly manner in which            modernist does. Anyone who                  place where the God-fearing man
they have treated brethren of the       seeks to do that hates the true             enjoys communion and fellow-
Lord. So grievous has this been         God and denies the true God,                ship with God, who dwells
that weaker saints of God have          desiring an idol of his own vain            among His people. The truly god-
been driven from the church. For        imagination. Love for God in-               ly man spends time every day in
all of these reasons it is so urgent    volves a spiritual longing after            prayer to God, and personal com-
that we adorn the doctrine of           God and desire for His commu-               munion with Him in his own in-
God we confess with a life of true      nion and fellowship. The man                ner closet.
godliness. When we live in true         who loves God can say with the                The godly man who loves God
godliness, the glory of Gods own        Psalmist; "Whom have I in                   delights in the commandments of
work becomes manifest in us. If         heaven but thee? and there is               God. He knows the words of His
we are truely godly we will             none upon earth that I desire               Lord; "If ye love me, keep my
greatly desire this and rejoice in      beside thee." Psalm 73:25 and               commandments. And I will pray
this.                                   again; "My soul longeth, yea,               the Father, and He shall give you
                                        even fainteth for the courts of             another Comforter, that He may
                                        the Lord: my heart and my flesh             abide with you forever. John
                                        crieth out for the living God."             14:15, 16. A man who says that
                                        Psalm  84:2                                 he loves God and is not serious
                                                                                    about the law of God in his life is


                                                                                                    The Standard Bearer  /  307


a liar. He does not know the              something about which he                  the cause of the church and king-
truth about love for God. The             becomes complacent. It is the             dom of God, and delights to see
godly man finds the joy and               cause of continual sorrow to the          them prosper.
blessing of the Lord in the way of        godly man. He longs to be                    Much more, of course, could
keeping His commandments. The             delivered from all of his remain-         be said about how the love of
man who loves God hates every             ing sins and weakness. He ear-            God becomes evident in the life
way of the wicked ungodly. He             nestly strives against them in the        of the godly man. Love for God
weeps because Gods command-               fear and love of God.                     is the principal virtue out of
ments are transgressed by the                The godly man who loves God            which proceed all of the other
ungodly world. He is deeply con-          has an evident desire to see the          distinctive traits of true godliness.
scious of his own sin and weak-           name of God as the highest pur-           In succeeding articles we shall
ness. He knows that he does not           pose of his own personal life. He         continue to consider some of
himself keep the commandments             actively supports and promotes            these traits. 0
of the Lord perfectly. This is not





                                          Book Reviews

Lori, Gertrude Hoeksema; Re-                 You probably think that as the         Secondly, we should not under-
formed Free Publishing Associa-           husband of the author I am a              estimate the ability of the Spirit
tion, Grand Rapids, Mich. 153 pp.         biased reviewer. I freely concede         of Christ to drive home and to
(paper) $6.95. [Reviewed by Prof.         this. And from that point of view         apply that instruction. If this
H.C. Hoeksema]                            I gladly allow the book to recom-         book serves to underscore these
    Truth is-stranger than fiction, it    mend itself. Besides, the rather          two items, then, in addition to
is sometimes said. This true story        overwhelming public response to           being a moving and highly in-
of the conversion of a deaf-mute          this latest RFPA publication also         teresting true story, it will serve
and mentally impaired girl is cer-        serves as a recommendation.               a positive purpose. 0
tainly a confirmation of that max-           However, from my position as           [Note: You may order the book directly
im. If some of the details of this        the author's husband and as               from the publishers: Reformed Free
story were found in a novel, they         firsthand observer of many of the         Publishing Association, P. 0. Box 2006,
would probably be characterized           events recounted in Lot-i, I am           Grand Rapids, Michigan 49501. Inciden-
                                                                                    tally, this has been the RFPA's fastest
as unbelievable and non-realistic.        also able to confirm the facts of         selling book so far; in a few months' time
But this deeply moving account            the story. It is safe to say that, .if    almost a thousand copies have been sold.
of the instruction and conversion         anything, the author has under-           If you sign up as a RFPA Book Club
of a dear child of God is truth,          played the drama of the events,           member, you can purchase this and all
not fiction.                              possibly because sometimes                RFPA books at a 30% discount. HCH]
                                          words were inadequate to
                                          describe .them.                           Sources Of Secession, Gerrit J.
                                             In conclusion, two things. First       tenzythoff; Grand Rapids, Michi-
                                          of all, this little book should en-       gan; Wm. B. Eerdmans Publ. Co.;
                                          courage us - parents, churches,           189 pp., paper, $12.95. [Re-
                                          schools - to do all in our power          viewed by Prof. H.C. Hoeksema]
                                          to furnish Biblical and spiritual           This is No. 17 in the Historical
                                          instruction to the handicapped            Series of the Reformed Church in
                                          among our covenant seed.                  America.

308  / The  Standard Bearer


   For anyone interested in Dutch        cap, because the history is in-        curacies, both doctrinal and fac-
Reformed church history, and             volved and the author's account        tual. For example, the author
especially ,in the history which         is filled with detail, evincing        does not accurately describe
gave rise to the Secession of            rather thorough research. But all      either supra- or infralapsarianism;
1834, which forms such an im-            of this is worth your while.           nor is it true that De Cock and
portant background to the                   The book does what its title        the Seceders held the confessions
history of the Holland colony and        suggests: it goes back to the roots    to be infallible. But these do not
its RCA church, the history of the       of the Secession of 1834, with         detract from the value of the
CRC by way of its secession in           which the names of men like De         book.
1857, and thus also the history of       Cock, Van Raalte, and Scholte            Add this volume to the church
the Protestant Reformed Churches,        are connected. There are some          history section of your library. Cl
this is a book to read. You will         40 pages of footnotes, some of
have to put on your thinking             them even more interesting than
                                         the text itself.
                                            Here and there the book is .
                                         marred by some evident inac-





                                         Report of Classis west

                      March 8,1988       presided over the Classis. Elders      requests and forwarded them to
   For the first time in its history,    A. Bleyenberg (Hull) and R.            Synod, 1988.
the Hope Protestant Reformed             Brands (Edgerton) were present           Classical appointments were
Church of Redlands, California           at Classis for the first time and      given to Isabel according to the
was host to a meeting of Classis         signed the Formula of Subscrip-        following schedule: March 20, 27
West. The Spring, 1988 meeting           tion.                                  - Miersma; April 10, 17 -
of Classis was held in the beauti-         Among the reports were those         Kuiper; May 1, 8 - Haak; May
ful, new church building of the          of the Reading Sermon Commit-          22, 29 - Engelsma; June 12, 19
Redlands Church on March 2.              tee and the Church Visitors. The       - Moore; July 3, 10 - De Vries;
The delegates enjoyed the warm           report of the Reading Sermon           July 24, 31 - Cammenga; August
hospitality of the Redlands Con-         Committee reminded Consistories        14, 21 - den Hartog; September
gregation. For many, it was the          to return reading sermons that         11, 18 - Lanting.
first opportunity to see the im-         have been used and reminded              The Consistory of Redlands
pressive buildings - church,             Pastors to submit a new reading        sent an overture to Classis that
Christian school, and parsonage          sermon this year. The Church           intended to "clarify the authority
- and grounds of the Protestant          Visitors informed Classis that         of doing mission work and the
Reformed saints in Redlands.             they have visited all the churches     role of the calling church, mis-
   Twelve ministers and thirteen         during the past year and "found        sionary and the mission commit-
elders represented the thirteen          a good spirit of unity and peace       tee in doing mission work." Pro-
`churches of Classis West at this        in our churches . . . ."               ceeding on the basis of their
one-day meeting of the Classis.            Six Churches - Edgerton, Ed-         belief "that the work of missions
Rev. C. Terpstra led in opening          monton, Houston, Isabel,               is that of the local church," Red-
devotions, speaking to the               Lacombe, and Pella - requested         lands called for substantial revi-
delegates from John lO:ll-13. By         subsidy for 1989 in the amount of      sion of the Constitution of the
rotation, Rev. R. Cammenga               $120,537. Classis approved these       Mission Committee. This revision,

                                                                                               The Standard Bearer  / 309


 according to Redlands' overture,                 -Classical Committee: Rev. R.            Stouwie, Sr. (South Holland),
"would give to the local calling                    Dykstra.                               J. Van Den Top (Doon), E.
 church its rightful authority."                  -Delegates ad examina:                   Van Ginkel (Doon); secundi
 Classis was asked to adopt the                     primus - Rev. A. den Hartog;           elders - R. Brunsting (Hull),
 overture as its own and to for-                    secundus - Rev. C. Terpstra.           A. Hendriks (Edgerton), J.
 ward it to the June, 1988                       -Church Visitors: Rev. G.                 Tolsma (Lynden), G.F. Van
 meeting of Synod. Classis re-                      Lanting, Rev. R. Moore.                Baren (South Holland).
 jected the overture on the                      -Stated Clerk (to fill the un-          After April 1, 1988, all cor-
 ground that it "violates Article 51                expired term of Rev. D.           respondence for Classis West
 of the Church Order which states                   Engelsma, who resigned due        should be sent to the new Stated
 that the General Synod regulates                   to press of other duties):        Clerk, Rev. R. Hanko, 218
 the mission work of the churches                   Rev. R. Hanko.                    Barker-Clodine Rd., Houston, TX
 in a mission order."                            -Delegates to Synod, 1988:           77094.
    In closed session, Classis                      primi ministers - den Hartog,        Classis will meet next in Love-
 treated the request of a Con-                      Engelsma, Koole, Kuiper,          land, Colorado on September 7,
 sistory for advice concerning dis-                 secundi ministers - Cam-           1988, the Lord willing.
 cipline.                                           menga, De Vries, Haak,                      Rev. David J. Engelsma,
    Results of the necessary voting                Moore; primi elders - J. Flik-                 Stated Clerk
 were the following:                               kema (South Holland), E.                       Classis West





                                               News From
 Ben Wigger                                    Our Churches

 (Editor's Note: For some inexplicable         Ministers, Trios, Calls                auditorium for a few weeks to
 reason the Postal Service took several          Trio: First P.R.C., Holland,         receive cash and pledge dona-
 days to deliver the March 15 news col-        Michigan: Revs. J. Kortering, R.       tions.
 umn the few miles from Hudsonville to
 Grandville, with the result that there was    Van Overloop, B. Woudenberg.             -Southeast P.R.C., Grand
 no news column in the March 15 issue.           Call declined: Hope P.R.C.,          Rapids, MI, is in the midst of an
 With the News Editor's permission, I here     Isabel, S.D., by Rev. D.J.             extensive building improvement
 present a condensation of his March 15        Engelsma.                              program. Their monthly paper,
 and April 1 columns. HCH)                       Rev. Steven Houck, missionary        News From De Pews, tells of an
                                               in Modesto, California, has under-     unplanned addition to the pro-
                                               gone further testing for nausea        gram; a burst water pipe flooded
                                               which could be due either to an        their basement recently, with the
                                               ulcer or to gall bladder problems.     result that the basement carpet
                                               He thanks the congregation in          will have to be replaced - with
                                               Redlands, CA, as well as all of us,    help from their insurance com-
                                               for our prayers of support.            pany.
                                               Building Projects and Improve-           -Lynden P.R.C., Lynden, WA,
                                               ments                                  recently rescinded their decision
                                                 -Hope P.R.C., Redlands, CA,          not to build on their current
                                               recently decided to build a new        property, and has instructed their
                                               garage at the parsonage. To help       New-Church-Building Committee
                                               finance this improvement a box         to investigate thoroughly the
Ben Wigger is an elder in the Protestant
Reformed Church of Hudsonville,                was placed at the rear of the          possibilities of building on their
Michigan.                                                                             present property.

310  / The Standard Bearer


   ---In Lacombe, Alberta,               --If you have driven past              Europe at Hope School, Walker,
Canada, the congregation was to       Southwest P.R.C., Grandville,             Michigan; and the proceeds were
be given an opportunity to in-        Mich., recently, you will have            for the Young People's Conven-
spect the building of the             noticed that their new sanctuary          tion.
Nazarene Church which is for          is rapidly taking shape.                  Outreach
sale.                                 Young People5 Convention                    -Rev. T. Miersma (Edmonton
   -Hudsonville  (Mich.) Protes-      Fund Raisers                              P.R.C.) and Rev. D. Kuiper
tant Reformed Church has a new           Several bulletins carried an-          (Lacombe P.R.C.) recently visited
sanctuary organ - a digital com-      nouncements of various activities         Monarch, Alberta in response to
puter organ, product of the Ad-       designed to raise funds for next          a request for help from some
vanced Custom division of the         summer's convention.                      saints there. Edmonton and
Allen Organ Company. It features         -At Trinity P.R.C., Houston,           Lacombe plan to keep in touch
46 equivalent ranks, numerous         Texas, the young people spon-             with these devout people; but
front and rear speakers, and          sored a chili and hot-dog supper.         they do not see this area as a
chimes. The February 17 Dedica-          -At Hull, Iowa P.R.C. the              field of labor for the present.
tion Program featured selections      young people sponsored their an-            -South Holland, Illinois,
by the Choral Society and an          nual soup supper.                         P.R.C., because of interest in the
organ recital by Mrs. Fran Lub-          -At South Holland, Illinois            Fort Wayne, Indiana area, has
bers, member and organist of          P.R.C. the YPS sponsored a gym            begun conducting a regular Bible
Southeast P.R.C. A couple weeks       night.                                    study there. If anyone knows of
later Mr. Carlo Curley, world-          -The Federation Board also              persons in the Ft. Wayne area
renowned organist, presented a        sponsored a gym night/volleyball          who might be interested in a
concert of classical organ music      tournament.                               Reformed Bible study, invite
which also served to demonstrate        -Hank and Lois Brands                   them to attend and put them in
the potential of the new instru-      recently gave a slide program on          touch with South Holland
ment.                                                                           Church. 0

                                                                           -

RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                NOTICE!!!                                 NOTICE!!!
  The  Adult  Bible Study Society        Classis East will meet in                Covenant Christian School of
of the Southeast Protestant Re-       regular session on Wednesday,             Lynden, Washington, is seeking
formed Church mourns the loss         May 11, 1988, at the Hope Prot-           a third and fourth grade teacher
of a faithful member, MR.             estant Reformed Church,                   for the 1988-1989 school year.
THOMAS NELSON, who went               Walker, Michigan. Material to             Interested applicants may call
to his eternal home on March          be treated at this meeting must           Ben  VanderVeen (Sec'y. of the
12, 1988.                             be in the hands of the Stated             school board)  (206-354-3188),  or
   The Society expresses its          Clerk at least three weeks prior          John Hilton (principal) (206-354-
Christian sympathy to our  sister-    to the convening of this meet-            5436) (206-988-6032 home). Ap-
member, Mrs. Thomas Nelson,           ing.                                      plications should be sent to:
and their children and grand-         Jon  J. Huisken                           Covenant Christian School, 9088
children.                             Stated Clerk                              Northwood Road, Lynden, WA
   "Blessed are the dead which                                                  98264.
die in the Lord from henceforth:      RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
Yea, saith the Spirit, that they        The Martha Ladies Society of            NOTICE!!!
may rest from their labors; and       the Hull Protestant Reformed                Adams St. Christian School is
their works do follow them."          Church would like to express              in need of a full time teacher in
(Revelation  14:13)                   their Christian sympathy to Mrs.          the primary grades for the
Pastor Steven Key, Pres.              Bernard  Driesen, in the death of         1988-89 school year. Please con-
Mrs.  J. Kamminga, Sec'y.             her father, MR. JOHN                      tact Ed Ophoff at (l-616)  ,247-
                                      HOEKSTRA.                                 8382 or send a resume to
                                        "The Lord knoweth the days              Adams St. Christian School,
                                      of the upright: and their inheri-         1150 Adams St. S.E., Grand
                                      tance shall be forever." (Psalm           Rapids, MI 49507.
                                      37:18)
                                      Rev. R. Moore, Pres.
                                      Bonnie Hoksbergen, Sec'y.

                                                                                               The Standard Bearer  / 311


  THE
STANDARD                                                                                      SECOND CLASS
                                                                                              Postage Paid at
 BELZRER                                                                                      Grand Rapids, Michigan
 I?O. Box 6064
Grand Rapids, MI 49506



WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                      RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                he-seminary Students:
    On April 15, 1988, the Lord            The Martha Ladies Society of          A transcript of grades from
willing, our parents and grand-          the Hull Protestant Reformed          high school and college (if
 parents, MR. AND MRS.                   Church extends its sincere sym-       any), a letter of testimony from
 BARNEY HAAK, will celebrate             pathy to our associate member,        the student's pastor or  con-
their 40th wedding anniversary.          Mrs. John Boer, in the death of       sistory, and a certificate of
    We thank our God with them           her sister, MRS. JOHN                 health from a reputable physi-
for the gift of forty years of           SIETSTRA and in the death of          cian must accompany the appli-
 marriage.                               her brother, MR. JOHN                 cation.
    We also thank our God for            HOEKSTRA. May God comfort             Seminary Students:
 them and the Covenantal in-             her in this double sorrow.              A testimonial from the stu-
 struction they have given us.             "Precious in the sight of the       dent's consistory that he is a
    We pray that Cod will con-           Lord is the death of His saints."     member in full communion,
 tinue to bless them in the years        (Psalm 116:15)                        sound in faith and upright in
 to come.                                Rev. R. Moore, Pres.                  walk, a certificate of health
Richard Haak                             Bonnie Hoksbergen, Sec'y.             from a reputable physician, and
 Ken and Marilyn De  Jong                                                      high school and college
   Edward, Sharon,  Stephan, Michael,    ATTENTION STUDENTS!!!
   Elisa, Kristin, Diana, Emily,                                               transcripts must accompany the
                                           The Protestant Reformed
   Melissa, Melinda                                                            application. All applicants to
Carl and Mary Haak                       Scholarship Committee is taking       the seminary department must
   Bethany,  K e r i                     applications for scholarships to      have completed the equivalent
60TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                 be awarded to future Protestant       of a four-year college education
   On March  13,1988, our be-            Reformed ministers and                (125 semester hours) and must
loved parents and grandparents,          teachers for the 1988-89 school       meet the course requirements
MR. AND MRS. ALBERT  GRIESS              year. Each applicant must also        for entrance to the seminary
celebrated their 60th Wedding            submit an essay of at least three     department. These entrance re-
Anniversary.                             hundred words, presenting a           quirements are listed in the
   We are grateful to our cove-          defense of the Bible's infallibil-    seminary catalog available from
nant Cod for His special love            ity in the context of theistic        the school.
He has given to them by pre-             evolution. For an application,          All seminary department ap-
serving them for one another             contact Dirk Westra, 7960  Ron-       plicants must appear before the
and for us these many years.             son,  jenison, MI 49428. The ap-      Theological School Committee
We pray for God's continued              plication, accompanied by the         for interview before admission
blessing and care upon them in           essay, must be returned by June       is granted. In the event that a
the remaining years ahead.               1, 1988.                              student can not appear at the
   "But the mercy of the Lord is                                               April 21 st meeting, notif ication
from everlasting to everlasting          CALL TO ASPIRANTS TO THE              of this fact along with a sug-
upon them that fear him, and             MINISTRY                              gested interview date must be
his righteousness unto children's          All young men desiring to           given to the secretary of the
children; To such as keep his            begin studies for the 1988-89         Theological School Committee
covenant, and to those that              academic year in the Theologi-        before this meeting.
remember his commandments                cal School of the Protestant Re-        All correspondence should be
to do them." (Psalm  103:17,  18)        formed Churches should make           directed to the Theological
Bernice Schmidt                          application at the April 21, 1988     School Committee, 4949
Larry and  Tillie Nelson                 meeting of the Theological
Rolland and Nola Criess                                                        lvanrest Ave., S.W., Crandville,
                                         School Committee.
  I3 grandchildren                                                             Michigan 49418.
  13 great grandchildren                                                       Jon Huisken, Secretary


 372  / The  Stanbard Bearer


