                             STANDARD
     A Reformed              BBR
     Semi-Monthly
     Magazine





                                Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema





~
 Vol. 65, No. 7         :
     October 7, 7988


 Contents                                                 October 7, 7988
Meditation  -  Rev.  lames D.  Slopsema
IMITATORS OF GOD                                                              3
Editorial Column  - Prof. Robert D. Decker                                         ISSN `0362-4692
A NEW EDITOR                                                                  5    Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July,
                                                                                   and August. Published by the Reformed Free Pub-
                                                                                   lishing Association, Inc. Second Class Postage Paid
Editorial  - Prof. David  1. Engelsma                                              at Grand Rapids,  Mich.
A W O R D O F T H A N K T O H C H . . .                                       6    EDITORIAL   COMMITTEE
                                                                                   Editor-in-chief: Prof. David  J. Engelsma
. . . AND AN INTERVIEW                                                        6    Managing Editor: Prof. Robert D. Decker
                                                                                   Editors' Assistant: Mr. Don  Doezema
Walking in the Light  - Prof. Herman C. Hanko                                      DEPARTMENT                  EDITORS
                                                                                   Rev. Ronald Cammenga, Prof. Robert Decker, Rev.
HOMOSEXUALITY (1)  `,                                                         8    Arie  denHartog,  Rev. Russell Dykstra, Rev. Barry
                                                                                   Critters, Rev. Cornelius Hanko, Prof. Herman
                                                                                   Hanko,  Rev. Ronald Hanko, Rev. John  Heys, Rev.
The Day of Shadows  -  Rev.  lohn A. Heys                                          Jason Kortering, Rev. George Lubbers, Rev. James
PARTICULAR GRACE FORESHADOWED                                               IO     Slopsema, Rev. Charles  Terpstra,  Rev.  Cise
                                                                                   VanBaren,  Mr. Benjamin Wigger.
                                                                                   EDITORIAL   OFFICE
In His Fear  - Rev. Arie  denHartog                                                The Standard Bearer
DISTINCTIVE TRAITS OF TRUE`GODLINESS:                                              4949  lvanrest
                                                                                   Crandville,  Michigan 49418
BROTHERLY LOVE                                                              13     CHURCH   NEWS   EDITOR
                                                                                   Mr. Ben Wigger
All Around Us  - Rev.  Cise  I.  VanBaren                                          6597  - 40th Ave.
                                                                                   Hudsonville,  Michigan 49426
RECONSTRUCTIONISTS  AND CHARISMATICS                                        15     EDITORIAL   POLICY
                                                                                   Every editor is solely responsible for the contents
ANNUAL                                                                             of his own articles. Contributions of general in-
                  SECRETARY'S  REPORT - Mr. /im Van Overloop                       terest from our readers and questions for the
                                                                                   Question Box Department are welcome. Contribu-
Decency and Order  - Rev. Ronald L. Cammenga                                       tions will be limited to approximately 300 words
                                                                                   and must be neatly written or typewritten, and
MINISTERS WITHOUT REGULAR SEMINARY TRAINING                                 18     must be signed. Copy deadlines are the first and
                                                                                   the fifteenth of the month. All communications
BOOK REVIEWS                                                                20     relative to the contents should be sent to the
                                                                                   editorial office.
                                                                                   REPRINT   POLICY
NEWS FROM OUR CHURCHES  -  Mr. Benjamin Wigger                                     Permission is hereby granted for the reprinting of
                                                                                   articles in our magazine by other publications,
                                                                                   provided:  a) that such reprinted articles are repro-
                                                                                   duced in full;  b) that proper acknowledgement is
                                                                                   made;  c) that a copy of the periodical in which
                                                                                   such reprint appears is sent to our editorial office.
 In This Issue . . .                                                               BUSINESS   OFFICE          NEW   ZEALAND   OFFICE
                                                                                   The Standard Bearer The Standard Bearer
                                                                                   Mr. H.  Vander   Wal       c/o Protestant Reformed
                                                                                   P.O. Box 6064                Church
   "           The relationship between the AIDS epidemic and the sin of           Grand Rapids, MI           B. Van  Herk
    .  .  .                                                                          49516                    66  Fraser St.
homosexuality brings sharply before us the crucial issue of the moral-             PH: (616) 243-2953         Wainuiomata, New Zealand
ity of this terrible sin. It does so not in an abstract way, but in a very         SUBSCRIPTION   POLICY
                                                                                   Subscription price, $12.00 per year. Unless a
practical manner which underscores the deep chasm not only between                 definite request for discontinuance is received, it
the church and the world, but also between one segment of the church               is assumed that the subscriber wishes the subscrip-
                                                                                   tion to continue without the formality of a re-
and another."                                                                      newal order, and he will be billed for renewal. If
   So writes Prof. Hanko, as he begins in this issue a study of a sin so           you have a change of address, please notify the
                                                                                   Business Office as early as possible in order to
repulsive that it surely belongs to those things concerning which it is a          avoid the inconvenience of delayed delivery. In-
                                                                                   clude your Zip Code.
shame even to speak. However, with a good part of the church world                 ADVERTISING   POLICY
already condoning homosexuality, keeping silence "would be tanta-                  The  Standard  Bearer does not accept commercial
                                                                                   advertising of any kind. Announcements of church
mount to losing the battle against this perverse sin by default." So,              and school events, anniversaries, obituaries, and
with some reluctance, but for "the honor of Christ and the glory of                sympathy resolutions will be placed for a $3.00
                                                                                   fee. These should be sent to the Business Office
our God," Prof. Hanko takes up his pen against it; and we do well to               and should be accompanied by the $3.00 fee.
                                                                                   Deadline for announcements is the 1st and the
give this anticipated series our careful attention.                                15th of the month, previous to publication on the
                                                                                   15th or the 1st respectively.
                                                                                   BOUND   VOLUMES
                                                                                   The Business Office will accept standing orders
                                                                                   tar  bound copies of the current volume; such
                                                                                   orders are filled as soon as possible after comple-
                                                                                   tion of a volume. A limited number of past
                                                                                   volumes  mav  be obtained  through  the Business
                                                                                   O f f i c e .
                                                                                   16mm microfilm, 35mm microfilm and 105mm
                                                                                   microfiche, and article copies are available
                                                                                   through University  M`icrofilms  International.



2  I The Standard Bearer


 Meditation
 Rev. lames D. Slopsema                      Imitators of God

    Be ye therefore followers of               The idea is perhaps better cap-      as other Gentiles walk, in the
 God, as dear children;                      tured if we would translate "fol-      vanity of their mind" (Eph. 4:17).
   And walk in love, as Christ               lowers" as "imitators" or even           Is it any different in the church
also hath loved us, and hath                 "mimics." The saints in Ephesus        today?
given himself for us an offer-               were charged to be imitators or          The example of the world is
ing and a sacrifice to God for               mimics of God. And so too are          everywhere. It's presented to us
a sweet-smelling savour.                     we called to imitate God in our        on television, on radio, in books
                                             whole life, as dear children.          and magazines, through the
                  -Ephesians  5:1& 2         *  x * * * * * * *  *                  advertising media. Almost every-
                                                                                    where we turn we see the exam-
   The church of Ephesus has                   To imitate is to follow the ex-      ple of the world.
already been exhorted to put off             ample of others, It is to do as you      And all too often we imitate
the old man of sin with all its evil         see others doing. It is to make an     what we see of the world. We
lusts and to put on the new man,             attempt to be like others.             are inclined to imitate the world
which after God is created in                  It is our very nature to imitate.    in our dress, our speech, our
righteousness and holiness.                  None of us really wants to be dif-     singing, our dancing, our enter-
   This means that they must not             ferent from others. To be dif-         tainment, our whole life-style.
lie but speak the truth to one               ferent most often means not to         But, more to the point of this
another in love.                             be accepted. Consequently we           passage, we are also inclined to
   They must not steal but work              tend to imitate what others do.        imitate the world in the way we
with their hands the thing that is           Besides, we learn from the ex-         deal with others. Certainly lying,
good so that they have to give to            amples of others. By imitating         cheating, stealing, gossip, back-
the poor.,                                   certain individuals we can often       biting, bitterness, and malice ex-
   They must not let corrupt com-            avoid certain pitfalls in life or      ist also in the church today. And
munication proceed from their                find success.                          it exists because the church im-
mouth but speak that which is                  The trouble is that, all too         itates the world in its dealings
good and edifying.                           often, we imitate the wrong            with the neighbor.
   They must not be bitter and               thing.                                   Over against this we are called
malicious but kind, tender-                    In the previous chapter we           to be imitators of God, as dear
hearted, forgiving.                          learn that certain sins prevailed      children.
   And now this is all summar-               among the members of the                 The Word of God addresses us
ized in that they must be fol-               church of Ephesus. Mention is          here as dear children of God.
lowers of God, as dear children,             made of the sins of lying, of un-        We are God's children, of
walking in love, as Christ has               righteous anger which was              course, only through the work of
also loved . . . .                           allowed to burn endlessly, of
                                             laziness and stealing, of gossip       Jesus Christ. In Christ God has
                                             and backbiting, ot bitterness and      adopted us to be His sons and
                                             malice.                                daughters. In Christ God has
                                               In this the saints were im-          even worked a spiritual rebirth in
                                             itating the pagan Gentiles in          us so that we are born of God.
                                                                                    This alone qualifies us as God's
Rev. Slopsema is pastor of the Protestant    Ephesus. Hence, Paul felt com-         children. Those not adopted in
Reformed Church of Walker, Michigan.         pelled to warn them, "walk not

                                                                                                         The Standard Bearer / 3


Christ and born again in Christ         desires toward him must be that           But the striking thing is that
are not the children of God but         of love. Our words to and about         Christ gave Himself to the
are the children of the devil.          him must be words of love. And          sacrifice of the cross! How bitter
   It's rather significant that we      so too must our action toward           and horrible was the cross. At
are addressed here as God's             him be actions of love. This in-        the cross'Jesus was required to
children. For it is the very nature     cludes the neighbor in our home,        suffer all the agonies of hell for
of children to imitate their            the neighbor in the church, and         our sins. The mere anticipation of
parents. Children naturally             even the neighbor outside the           this suffering caused Him great
behave as their parents behave.         household of faith.                     agony in the garden of
This is sometimes cute and amus-          When we walk in love toward           Gethsemane. But, nonetheless,
ing. At other times it is rather        the neighbor, we are imitators of       Jesus gave Himself to the
frightening, especially for the         God, as His children. This is evi-      sacrifice of the cross. He was not
parent who knows his own sins           dent especially from the fact that      dragged to the cross. He wasn't
and weaknesses. But imitate his         we are called dear children of          compelled against His will by the
parents every child does. This is       God. The word "dear" means              hand of God. No, He gave Him-
the way God has made children,          "beloved" or simply "loved." God        self willingly to the agonies of
that they may learn from their          loves us as His children. He has        the cross. For He loved us and
parents.                                loved us from all eternity and has      knew that this alone could ac-
  We too are children. We are           shown this love to us in countless      complish our salvation.
children of God in Jesus Christ. It     ways. Now we are imitators of             This is the love we are to im-
is our very nature therefore to         God, when we show to our                itate and mimic in dealing with
imitate our heavenly Father. This       neighbor the same love God has          our neighbor.
is the inevitable fruit of our adop-    shown to us, His dear children.           That means that in love we are
tion and new birth in Jesus               The specific example we are           to seek the welfare and salvation
Christ.                                 given is that of Christ, who has        of our neighbor. This is what
  We are called here to live in         loved us and has given Himself          Christ in love did for us as He
harmony with that reality.              for us an offering and a sacrifice      gave Himself an offering and
  Be ye imitators of God, as dear,      to God for a sweet-smelling             sacrifice for us. He sought and
children.                               savour.                                 accomplished our salvation. So
*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *              Certainly by following the ex-        are we also to show love to the
  We imitate God when we walk           ample of Christ's love to us we         neighbor by seeking his salvation
in love.                                become imitators of God. For            and eternal welfare.
  Your walk is the whole of your        Christ is the Son of God come in-         And how do we in love seek
life. It includes what you say and      to our flesh as God's Mediator, as      the salvation of our neighbor?
what you do. It also includes           God's visible representative `on          Not by lying but by speaking
your inner thoughts and desires         earth. It is through Christ, there-     truth with our neighbor.
that lie behind your speech and         fore, that God reveals to us His          Not by being filled with an
actions. Your walk even includes        love for us. Christ's love for us is    unrighteous anger toward him
the deepest motive of your heart.       God's love. Hence, by loving our        that burns and burns, but by let-
To walk in love therefore means         neighbor as Christ has loved us         ting not the sun go down upon
that your whole life is one of          we become imitators of God.             our anger.
love and is controlled by the             Now Christ loved us by giving           Not by stealing from him but
principle of love.                      Himself for us an offering and a        by working with our hands the
  Now, there are two whom we            sacrifice to God for a sweet-           thing which is good so that we
are to love. We must love the           smelling savour.                        can not only provide for our own
Lord our God. And we must love            This sacrifice Christ offered for     needs but also have to give to
our neighbor as ourselves. This,        us was the sacrifice of Himself on      him that needeth.
according to Jesus, is the great        the cross. He offered Himself on          Not with corrupt communica-
commandment of the law.                 the cross for us exactly in order       tion of gossip and backbiting but
  We are concerned here with            that He might pay for our sins          by speech that is edifying.
                                        and accomplish our salvation.             Not by bitterness and malice
the latter - love for the               For that reason this sacrifice is
neighbor. We are to walk in love                                                toward him but by kindness,
with respect to our neighbor. Our       also a sweet smell to God, who          tenderheartedness and a spirit of
motive in dealing with him must         has eternally loved us and sought       forgiveness.
be one of love. Our thoughts and        our salvation.                            In short, we seek in love the
                                                                                welfare of the neighbor by


4  / The Standard Bearer


behaving toward him according          money, of time and effort,             we show ourselves to be the dear
to the second table of the law.        perhaps even of our life.              children of God. And God's name
  But we also imitate God when           For the sake of .our salvation       is glorified through us as His
we are willing to sacrifice for his    Christ offered the supreme sacri-      great love to us is reflected in
welfare. The welfare of our            fice: His own soul and life. This      our very lives.  0
neighbor often requires great          love we are to imitate in our
sacrifice on our part: sacrifice of    dealings with our neighbor. Then





Editorial Co/mm A New Editor

  Beginning with its first issue in    orado) Protestant Reformed               May God bless and strengthen
October of 1924 through the            Church and ordained a minister         Prof. Engelsma as he assumes the
September 15, 1988 issue The           of the Word and Sacraments by          difficult task of writing the
Standard Bearer has been edited        that church in September of            editorial column of  The Standard
by men bearing the name                1963. A little more than ten           Bearer.
"Hoeksema." The first editor, the      years later Rev. Engelsma ac-            Assisting the editor and the
late Rev. Herman Hoeksema,             cepted the call to serve the Prot-     managing editor, Professor
served from 1924 until 1964            estant Reformed Church of South        Robert Decker, will be Mr.
when he was succeeded by his           Holland, Illinois. Rev. Engelsma       Donald Doezema. As editorial
son, Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema.          served South Holland from 1974         assistant Mr. Doezema will be
These men, by God's grace, gave        to 1988. He accepted the appoint-      proof-reading copy, scheduling
able leadership to our paper and       ment of the Synod of the Protes-       articles, and preparing the con-
wrote literally hundreds of pages,     tant Reformed Churches (June,          tents of the magazine for the
always faithfully bearing the          1988) to the chair of Dogmatics        typesetters. Mr. Doezema is not
standard of the Reformed faith.        in the Protestant Reformed             new to this work, having assisted
Prof. Hoeksema retired as editor       Seminary. Currently Prof.              the former editor from 1975 to
at the end of the sixty-fourth         Engelsma is working towards a          1986. Mr. Doezema, a son of
volume. We wish him God's              Master of Theology degree at           First Protestant Reformed Church
richest blessings in his future        Calvin Theological Seminary.           in Grand Rapids which he cur-
labors on behalf of The Standard         Prof. Engelsma brings good ex-       rently serves in the office of
Bearer and our Protestant Re-          perience and expertise in writing      Elder, received the A.B. degree
formed Churches, and we thank          to The Standard Bearer. He is the      from Calvin College in 1962. Six
him for all his diligent work as       author of several books published      years later he earned a M.A.
editor for the past twenty-four        by the Reformed Free Publishing        degree from the University of
years.                                 Association and numerous               Michigan. A veteran teacher, Mr.
  Our new editor is the Rev.           pamphlets on a wide variety of         Doezema taught at both Adams
David J. Engelsma. Rev.                subjects. Some of these have en-       Street Christian School and Cove-
Engelsma is a son of our Hope          joyed wide acceptance in the Re-       nant Christian High School from
Protestant Reformed Church in          formed church world. Through           1959 to 1987. For a number of
Walker, Michigan. He received          his writing, preaching, and lectur-    those years he was principal at
the A.B. degree from Calvin Col-       ing, Engelsma has made a signifi-      these schools. From 1987 to pres-
lege in 1960 and graduated from        cant contribution to the cause of      ent Mr. Doezema has been busy
the Protestant Reformed                the Protestant Reformed                writing materials for the Protes-
Seminary in 1963. Rev. Engelsma        Churches and to the cause of the       tant Reformed Sunday School
was called by the Loveland (Col-       Reformed faith in our day.             Association. Somehow from 1973

                                                                                                The Standard Bearer  /  5


to 1976 Mr. Doezema found time        mittee of the Federation of Prot-        the Protestant Reformed
to audit many of the courses          estant Reformed School Societies,        Teachers' Institute. All of this ex-
taught in our Seminary. Thus he       From 1972 to 1977 he served as           perience should serve Mr.
has a solid background in Re-         executive secretary of the Board         Doezema well in his work for
formed Theology. Mr. Doezema          of that Federation. Mr. Doezema          The Standard Bearer. We wish
is a member of the Teacher            is editor of Perspectiues,  an           him God's blessing in this impor-
Educational Development Com-          educational journal published by         tant work. Cl                      RDD





Editorial


 A Word o'f Thanks to HCH . . . .     Editorial Staff of The Standard          tions put to him. The conversa-
                                      Bearer," namely, "the mainte-            tion follows.
   For the past 24 years, editor-     nance, development, and pro-               `DJE: When and under what
ials in The Standard Bearer have      mulgation of our distinctively           circumstances did you become
appeared over the initials, HCH'      Protestant Reformed principles           Editor-in-Chief of  The SB?
- the initials of Professor Homer     by means of the printed word."             HCH: De facto, in September
C. Hoeksema. With this issue            This, he has done while carry-         of 1964, because of my father's
comes a change. Having in-            ing out his other duties as Pro-         second stroke in August. I did all
formed the Staff last year that he    fessor of Theology in our                the editorial work from this time
would not accept a new appoint-       Seminary; and he has done the            on. I was,elected editor in June
ment as Editor-in-Chief in 1988,      work of The Standard Bearer              of 1965.
Professor Hoeksema now steps          without any financial remunera-`           DJE: Had you been writing for
down as editor of the magazine.       tion. For him, as for our other          The SB previously?
   We take this opportunity, on       contributors, writing for this             HCH: I started writing in the
behalf both of the Staff and of'      magazine has always been a               1950s while in Doon, Iowa. My
the readers, to express our           labor of love.                           rubric was "In His Fear."' Later, I
thanks to him for nearly a              We are indebted to him. Glad-          switched to "Voice of Our
quarter-century's work as editor.     ly we pay the debt with our              Fathers." At the time of my ap-
Perhaps only those who write          thanks, as publicly expressed on         pointment as editor, .I was writing
can appreciate the demands put        the cover of this issue. 0        DJE    a commentary on the Belgic Con-
upon him in that position. But all                                             fession. I never finished this
can recognize that for a third of           . . . and an Interview             series. I may still pick it up.
the history of the Protestant Re-                                                DJE; Looking back over your
formed Churches, .he has given          Soon after the last meeting of         writing, what editorials do .you
direction to these churches and       the Staff of The Standard Bearer         remember as of special interest
played a leading role in sounding     over which he presided, in June          to yourself, or of special signifi-
forth their witness to others, by     of this year, Professor Hoeksema         cance?
his editorial writing. And all can    consented to an interview, in his          HCH: The editorials I wrote in
recognize that he has faithfully      comfortable office, with the new-        connection with the Dekker Case.
labored to carry out the purpose      ly elected Editor-in-Chief. Pipe in      (In the 1960s Harold Dekker,
of The Standard Bearer, as laid       hand, HCH responded to ques-             professor of missions at Calvin
down in the "Constitution of the                                               Seminary, wrote a series of ar-

6  / The Standard Bearer


titles propounding the universal         DJE: What to your mind is the          DJE: What effect is The SB
atonement of Christ - DJE.)            purpose of The SB?                     having?
They were of special interest            HCH: To develop everything             HCH: It has been the occasion
because the issues involved            along the line of sovereign, par-      for requests for mission work by
(God's redemptive love of all          ticular grace in every aspect and      our churches, although this hap-
men, and Christ's atonement for        area of life. You can find this        pened more in our early days
all) were so clearly related to the    stated in an early editorial,          than is the case today. The SB
fundamental issues of 1924, when       perhaps by Henry Danhof (a co-         was distributed widely in those
our Protestant Reformed                founder of The SB - DJE). The          days. Recently, the contact that
Churches had their origin. No          SB has been true to this,              led to our Norristown, PA mis-
one on either side in the Christian    although there have been some          sion came through my book,
Reformed Church could write or         significant changes in the format.     Voice of Our Fathers, which is
speak on the subject without           Once, Herman Hoeksema was              the substance of my articles in
reference to 1924. An interesting      made virtually a "dictator" of         The SB.  We still get responses
sidelight at that time was the fact    The SB, determining every article      from all over the world. CR men
that Prof. Dekker and I met each       of every issue of the magazine.        do read and pay attention to the
other during recess at one of the      He himself did not want this, but      writing in The SB, although I
synod meetings dealing with his        his colleagues insisted on it.         think this is true more of the
case, and he said, "Homer, 1             DJE: The criticism is                liberals than of the conservatives.
know you and I don't agree on          sometimes raised that The SB             DJE: What purpose can you
these issues. But I want to tell       gives too much attention to the        envision The SB serving in the
you that of all who have written       Christian Reformed Church and          future?
on this case, you have treated it      its faults - what about this?            HCH: The purpose should be
the most thoroughly and the              HCH: I don't think that this is a    the same as it always has been -
most fairly."                          legitimate criticism. It is proper     maintaining antithetically the Re-
  DJE: What have been the joys         to maintain a negative, critical       formed line in every area, within
of serving as Editor-in-Chief of       approach, as long as there is          the sphere of the PRC and with
The SB?                                positive development at the same       regard to those without. I am
  HCH: The joys have been con-         time. The truth must be                troubled that I perceive that our
nected with the opportunity to         presented antithetically, in The       people do not read enough, that
teach and to maintain the truth,       SB as well as in preaching. My         they do not read The SB enough.
to guard against error, and to let     early series on Protestant Re-           DJE: The SB is a free paper in
our testimony go forth. This last      formed Christian education and         the sense that it is not church-
has been substantial, I believe. It    my series on the Canons of Dordt       controlled - is this preferable to
is my conviction that we have          did this, as did your own series       its being an official church-paper
continued in our true Protestant       some time ago on Karl Barth's          of the PRC?
Reformed tradition. As regards         doctrine of Scripture.                   HCH: It is, and should be, a
the Christian Reformed Church,           DJE: What did you think of           free paper. A denominationally
their present development is           Kuyvenhoven's featuring the PRC        controlled paper must hew to the
related to their doctrine of com-      in The Banner a while back, and        denominational line. If need be, a
mon grace. Elsewhere, too, the         of having your picture on the          free paper can criticize the
"offer-theology" popular in Re-        cover of the magazine?                 denominational line. This, after
formed circles, e.g., in the Or-         HCH: I was somewhat amused           all, was the origin of The SB. The
thodox Presbyterian Church and         by it. I will say that Kuyven-         Banner closed its columns to Her-
in the writings of a man like Er-      hoven's treatment of us was fair       man Hoeksema when he was
roll Hulse (a representative of the    and accurate. This was not true        criticizing the doctrine of com-
"Calvinistic Baptists" - DJE), is      of all that was said about us in       mon grace.
related to common grace.               that issue; but it was true of his       DJE: The SB, then, functions in
  DJE: What have been the dis-         article. My picture was "an acci-      the PRC in a way similar to the
appointments?                          dent." Kuyvenhoven happened to         free press in the United States?
  HCH: Of course, there have           wander into the Seminary. He             HCH: Right.
been the problems that men have        saw the painting (of Luther,             DJE: What problems beset the
not met their deadlines and the        Calvin, and Herman Hoeksema            magazine?
like, but my main grief is that        -DJE) on the wall and suggested          HCH: It is not read enough by
people have not listened to us.        the picture that then appeared on      our people. It is not even in all
We are a "lone voice."                 the cover of The Banner.               our homes. Elders used to inquire

                                                                                               The Standard Bearer  / 7


about subscription to The SB on               DJE: Maybe, we should do a               HCH: I hope to see my work
family visitation. The R.F.P.A.             little feature on Henry when he         on the Old Testament published
has been deal,ing with this prob-           retires.                                in book form; I am working on
lem. It recognizes that the fault             HCH: This would be in order.          the new edition of the history of
may not be all on one side.                   DJE: Why did you decide to            the PRC; I would like to publish a
Questionnaires were sent out,               resign?                                 commentary on Isaiah in the
asking what departments are                   HCH: There were two main              style of Behold He Cometh; my
read. Some changes were made.               reasons. First, I wanted to see an      colleagues have urged me to
One lack is that not enough ef-             orderly transition to the editor        work on the doctrine of Scripture
fort is put forth to increase our           who would succeed me. The               as a supplement to "Introduction
subscriptions. The present                  transition in my own case was           to Dogmatics."
number of subscribers is 1,800 or           traumatic. A second reason was            DJE: Are you willing to do any
1,900. We should aim at 3,000.              that I might have time for writing      writing for The SB?
Then the magazine would be self-            of a more permanent nature than           HCH: I would like to take a
supporting. Henry Vander Wal,               editorials. The stress of coming        regular department, after I return
by the way, has been an ex-                 up with editorials makes it very        from Tasmania.
cellent Business Manager and has            difficult to find time for other          DJE: What advice do you have
done a lot to promote the                   writing.                                for your successor?
magazine.                                     DJE: What writing do you                HCH: Hew to the line, and be
                                            have in mind?                           on time! 1                        DJE





 Walking in
 the Light                                  Homosexuality (1)
Prof. Herman C. Hanko



   A couple of years ago when                 More disturbing was the fact          world, but also between one seg-
this country first became alarmed           that the ecclesiastical press,          ment of the church and another.
at the rapid spread of AIDS, Rev,           almost in unison, also joined in          It is to the basic question of
Jerry Falwell expressed the opin-           this clamor of condemnation and         homosexuality that we shall ad-
ion that this dreaded disease               painted Falwell as a religious          dress ourselves in this and in
was the judgment of God on the              bigot who had no sympathy for           subsequent articles. It is with
sin of homosexuality. The howl              homosexuals and who made the            some hesitation that we write on
that arose from the media                   Biblical God of love and compas-        this subject.-The sin of homo-
reverberated from one end of the            sion some kind of monster and           sexuality is so repulsive, so evil,
country to the other. If it was             tyrant. Falwell found himself in a      so utterly degrading that one is
within their power, the media               whirlpool of controversy.               reluctant even to speak of it. Paul
leaders would undoubtedly have                But was he wrong? The rela-           reminds the Ephesian Christians
tarred and feathered him and rid-           tionship between the AIDS               (5:12) that there are things done
den him out of the country on an            epidemic and the sin of homo-           in secret among the ungodly con-
iron rail.                                  sexuality brings sharply before us      cerning which it is a shame even
                                            the crucial issue of the morality       to speak. But silence on such a
                                            of this terrible sin. It does so not    question in today's world is im-
                                            in an abstract way, but in a very       possible for the Christian. It
                                            practical manner which under-           would be tantamount to losing
Prof. Hanko is professor of Church          scores the deep chasm not only          the battle against this perverse
History and New Testament in the Protes-
tant Reformed Seminary.                     between the church and the              sin by default. It would be

8  I The Standard Bearer


retreating from the battlefield to      (In other instances, where les-        line denomination in the land.
permit Satan full sway. It is a         bians are united in such a rela-       Homosexuals have even been or-
shame indeed to speak of these          tionship, one of the women             dained to offices in the church,
things. It is a shame that we have      agrees to have a child either by       including the ministry of the
to speak of these things. But for       artificial insemination or by in       Word of God. The church smiles
the honor of Christ and the glory       vitro fertilization of her ova.)       benignly, speaks piously of its
of our God this is a shame which        Various anti-discrimination laws       great love and mercy to the
shall have to be borne.                 are passed by state legislative        under-privileged and hated, and
* * * * * * * * * *                     bodies which prohibit schools          hypocritically prates about its
  The sin of homosexuality has          from firing or refusing to hire        loyalty to Christ. But this same
dramatically increased in our           homosexuals; which- force proper-      church turns with savage anger
day, especially in America and          ty owners to rent to known             against anyone who dares to call
Europe. While the sin goes back         homosexuals; which prevent             homosexuality a sin which comes
to many ancient cultures in the         employers from firing homo-            under the fierce anger of God.
countries surrounding Israel and.       sexuals. Wooly-headed liberals,        * * * *  * * * * * *
in ancient Greece and Rome, it          who hate the law of God and ,are         The Scriptures are clear on the
has reappeared in today's world         determined to eradicate from this      sin of homosexuality, and the
with a vengeance.                       country any reference to religion,     question arises how it is possible
  But there, are important dif-         push for accepting homosexuals         for the church which condones
ferences. Throughout the history        into every aspect of public life       this sin to get around these clear
of the world the sin of homo-           with rights equal to any law-          Scriptural passages.
sexuality has always, even in           abiding citizen. Political parties       It might be well to take a. brief
heathen lands, been considered a        and candidates, intent on win-         look at this matter. It is very
sin, or at least a serious aberra-      ning elections at any cost, openly     striking that those in the. church
tion from commonly accepted             cultivate the friendship and sup-      who condone homosexuality in
norms of sexual behavior. While         port of homosexuals and cater to       one way or another and attempt
fairly common in some cultures,         their clamor for equal rights          to explain away Scripture's clear
the general opinion among the           under the law. Populist coalitions,    teachings on these matters make
heathen was one of disapproval.         formed to help power-hungry            use of very current views of
It was, after all, a sin against        candidates grab the reins of           Hermeneutics (the, science of the
nature.                                 government, are formed of              interpretation of Scripture). This
  Today this is no longer the           people who are pro-abortion, pro-      is not the proper place to enter
case, In 1957 The Wolfenden             homosexuality, pro-pornography,        into detail on these matters, but
Report was issued in England. It        but anti-religion. Gay groups          one ought to be aware of the
was based on a 1954 meeting of          march openly and use the power         point that the fundamental issues
physicians and Anglican clergy          of sit-ins, pressure groups,           are, after all, issues of Scripture
and it recommended that homo-           threats, demonstrations, and il-       and its interpretation. The sup-
sexual behavior between con:            l.egal riots to gain their ends.       porters of views condoning
senting adults in private no            Hardly a day goes by in which          homosexuality appeal to literary-
longer be considered a crime.           references to some such ugly           historical criticism of Scripture, to
This report was adopted by the          groups are absent from the news-       the fact that the Scriptures are
English Parliament and it opened        papers. In such a climate we           time-and culture-conditioned, and
the floodgates of a tidal wave of       have been called to live.              to the inevitable conclusion that
imm,orality which has continued           Worse, the church has joined         Scripture speaks in a foreign con-
to grow until it threatens to inun-     in this clamor for "gay-rights:"       text and to ancient problems
date the land.                          Methodist, Presbyterian, Episco-       which have no relevance today.
  Homosexuality is not con-             palian, and even Reformed have,          Here is how it all works out.
sidered a crime anymore in our          in greater or lesser measure,          The sin of the men of Sodom
land. It is not even considered a       caved in to the pressures of           who clamored at the door of
sin. It is said to be a sexual          homosexuals and approved of a          Lot's house to have wicked sex-
preference, an alternate life-style,    sin clearly and unequivocally          ual relations with the angels who
a completely acceptable way of          condemned by the Word of God.          visited him on the eve of
living. In some states marriages        One can find churches composed         Sodom's destruction (Genesis
are performed between homo-             of homosexuals in some cities.         19:1-l l), and the similar sin of
sexuals, and such couples are           One can find known homosexual          the inhabitants of Ramah-Gibeah
given the right to adopt children.      members in almost every main-          in Benjamin who wanted to have

                                                                                                 The Standard Bearer  /  9


homosexual relations with the              plained in the same manner.              we must recognize the whole
Levite from Bethlehem-Judah                  It is well to remember that the        problem for what it is: a single
(Judges  19:22-28), are interpreted        basic issue is once again the issue      instance of the great battle of the
to refer to sins against ancient           of Scripture. So it is with the          ages between faith and unbelief.
customs concerning hospitality.            creation-evolution debate; so it is      And that issue is, finally, the
The passages in Leviticus (18:22,          with the whole question of               whole issue of salvation vs. ever-
20:13) which require the death             women in office; so it is with at-       lasting destruction.
penalty for homosexuals are said           tempts to defend homosexuality.             Scripture is clear on the mat-
to refer to a warning to Israel not        Scripture is the issue. And let          ter. The sin of homosexuality
to engage in the temple prostitu-          there be no misunderstanding             (among other sins) made Sodom
tion of the Canaanites when they           about this question: Because             ripe for destruction and brought
finally arrived in the land. The           Scripture is the issue, the issue is     God's fierce wrath upon that city.
strong passage in Romans 1: 18-32          the spiritual issue of faith vs.         The inhabitants of Ramah-
(a passage to which we shall               unbelief. If by faith we believe         Gibeah (and the citizens of the
have to give closer attention              God's Word and bow before it,            tribe of Benjamin who supported
later) is said to speak not of             there is no question about it that       them) were destroyed because of
homosexuality at all, or, if it            homosexuality is condemned in            this sin so that the whole tribe
does, to refer only to pedastry            the sharpest possible manner. To         almost ceased to exist. God says
(homosexuality with young boys)            reject the Bible's teachings on          in His law that those guilty of this
or to unloving relationships be-           this issue (as well as on others)        sin are worthy of death. Paul tells
tween members of the same sex.             and to attempt to explain away           us that the sin of homosexuality
The implication is that as long as         by devious hermeneutical tricks          is a particular judgment of God
a homosexual relationship is a             this great sin is to be guilty of the    against the sin of idolatry: God
loving and caring relation, it is          sin of unbelief. We must not per-        gives ouer idolaters to the sin of
good in the sight of God. Other            mit ourselves to get bogged              homosexuality. And the
warnings in Scripture, such as             down in nice theological or ex-          references in the New Testament
those found in I Corinthians 6:9,          egetical discussions about fine          to this sin make clear that those
10 and I Timothy 1: 10, are ex-            points of Scriptural interpretation;     who are guilty of it cannot enter
                                                                                    the kingdom of God. Cl





 The Day of                                `articular Grace
Shadows                                    -oreshadowed
Rev. john A. Heys



                                             Very clearly both Adam and             that time. That promise was not
                                           Eve, after their fall into sin, were     to all women, or to all of Eve's
                                           the objects of God's mercy. That         children and grandchildren. Next
                                           mother promise which God                 time we purpose to consider the
                                           spoke, and which we began to             awesome fact that Cain, Eve's
                                           treat last time, speaks of an enmi-      first child, was the seed of the
                                           ty that was going to be realized         serpent. But both Adam and Eve
                                           between Satan and the woman.             were given this promise, and pic-
                                           That woman was Eve, for there            tured here by God as those who
Rev. Heys is a ministe; emeritus in the    was no other woman existing at
Protestant Reformed Churches.

IO  / The Standard  Bearer


would have enmity against Satan          And today, no one can deny,         loved a little." If we may change
and love for Him.                      God does not give every man a         the powerful word hate to mean
  In fact, there are many ex-          "chance" to be saved. The gospel      love less, who can deny us the
amples in Scripture, as well as in     is preached far and wide today;       right to change that word love
the mission activity of our            and God's grace is not shown          into a small hatred? And what
churches and sister churches, of       merely to the Jewish race alone.      about Jesus' own words? In Mat-
cases where those whose fathers        Pentecost has tremendous impor-       thew 22:14 He said, "For many
and mothers were undeniably the        tance to us, who are not of the       are called, but few are chosen."
seed of the serpent, were in           seed of Abraham in the physical       That harmonizes with this
God's grace made to be seed of         sense. But the first promise God      mother promise of putting enmity
the woman. This is possible            spoke reveals that He does not        between the seed of the serpent
because it does not depend upon        intend to "offer" salvation to all    and the seed of the woman. In
man to bring forth this seed of        who hear the preaching. He Who        Ephesians 2:10, likewise we are
the woman, of which God speaks         does not lie and can choose the       told: "For we are His workman-
in that promise. It all depends        right words to express Himself,       ship, created in Christ Jesus unto
upon His sovereign grace and           began the preaching of the            good works, which God hath
almighty power. Even as He             gospel by declaring that HE           before ordained that we should
changed Adam and Eve into seed         WOULD PUT ENMITY in the               walk in them."
of the woman, He can change            hearts of some against Satan and        Here we read that we are HIS
anyone whom He eternally chose         all his words, and love towards       workmanship, so that no work -
in Christ, Who is The Seed of the      Himself. He is not going to ask       and that includes "accepting the
Woman and Who crushed the              men to accept the new life. He is     offer"or "heeding the invitation"
head of the serpent.                   going to'give it to them in a par-    - is ours before salvation is
  It is to be noted and accepted       ticular grace. He presented no of-    begun in us. We are saved before
that here already in the garden        fer to Adam and Eve. He did not       we can believe, and must be
of Eden, the day man fell into         wait to see what they would do.       born again; or otherwise we will
sin, the truth is presented to us      He told them in a very emphatic       not want to be saved. We also
that there is no common grace          way what He was going to do,          read that we are created in Christ
but a very, very particular grace.     and that it would be a very par-      Jesus, which means that of
Even though Adam and Eve,              ticular work! He says, "I will"       ourselves we did not even exist
who were the whole human race          not, "I would like to, if you will    spiritually with the desire to be
in that day, were assured of           tell me that you want it."            in Christ. We are created unto,
God's saving grace, the awesome          Do we not read concerning           not because we performed the
truth is there that all the descen-    one of Jesus' disciples, "The Son     good work of delighting in salva-
dants of Adam and Eve will be          of man goeth as it was deter-         tion. And God ordained salvation
divided into two classes, from a       mined: but woe unto that man by       for us and its good works before
spiritual point of view. All men       whom He is betrayed?" Does God        the foundation of the world. His
were not in that mother promise        have a temporary grace that           grace is particular, and by no
assured that God would "offer"         Judas enjoyed and then lost? And      means or in any way common.
them salvation and invite them         what about that word of the God       Yes, in a sense we can and must
to come and enjoy His grace.           of all truth and knowledge? He        say that God offers salvation. In
That day thousands of angels           "determined" not only that Christ     the literal sense of the word He
already had fallen; and absolutely     would die, but also how every         does, for that word then means
no promise of salvation was            element in the transaction would      simply to present before some-
given to even one of them. God's       take place. Is that not also the      one. It was presented before Esau
grace is not common. It is true        truth in Romans 9:13: "Jacob          through his parents; but it was
that some of these fallen angels       have I loved, but Esau have I         not presented as an invitation, so
were not yet in hell, and that         hated." And is He gracious to         that God had to wait and see
Satan is not there yet, either. But    one whom He hates? Let us not         whether he wanted it. According
that is not due to God's grace.        dare to corrupt the words that        to Romans 9:6-16, it was all eter-
Life, and in a sense freedom, to       come out of God's mouth, and          nally predetermined by God. He
them is because of God's               say that the idea is: "Jacob have     did not in grace invite Esau. He
sovereign, eternal counsel,            I loved, but Esau have I loved        has mercy on whom He will
wherein they have certain work         less." If you may do that, I may      have mercy; and He, before the
to do and cannot do, if they are       present it this way: "Jacob have I    children were born, willed to
in the lake of fire.                   hated a little, but Esau have I       have mercy only on Jacob.

                                                                                               The Standard Bearer  / II


   But let us return to this              In His particular grace God did      and they had nothing of spiritual
shadow of God's grace in the            two things. He gave them a new         good to give to their children.
garden of Eden. Before Adam             spiritual life, which made possible    The murder of Abel by Cain
and Eve were born again, God            for them, faith in the promise He      reveals how particular God's
came in a particular grace and          was going to give. This is clearly     grace is, and that He must give
spoke of a very, very limited           evident in the fact that we do not     faith to man unconditionally.
grace to which He would call the        read one word from the mouths          Fallen man cannot ask for it, for
seed of the woman, and leave            of Adam and Eve, and are not           he cannot want it. Very particu-
what He calls seed of the serpent       told of one deed that even slight-     larly God will give it to those
in its spiritual death. Before they     ly revealed remorse and sorrow         whom He chose in Christ. There
wanted salvation, God's grace           over their sin, before God speaks      are those to whom He does not
had already moved Him to give           His promise. And He speaks not         intend to give it. These He will
them that desire. His grace gives,      a conditional promise but a very       leave as seed of the serpent.
and does not merely suggest or          unconditional promise. He tells        Take hold of it again. HE will put
propose salvation, if the spiritual-    us what HE will do, not might          that enmity; and HE will decide
ly dead man will only show that         do, if we act first, and repent and    who is going to receive it. Let us
he wants it.                            ask for salvation. The simple fact     not listen to Satan, as Adam and
   Yes, men want salvation from         is, that if that is the way He         Eve did. The denial of total, that
punishment. Spiritually dead men        saves us, we will never, no never      is, one hundred percent depravi-
can do that. The question is,           be saved; Dead men do not ask          ty, is doing as Adam and Eve
however, whether they want to           to be taken out of their coffins       did, when they took Satan's word
be saved from sin and want to           and graves. Spiritually dead men       and cast away God's word.
love God. Those who have not            never do and never can feel              God's grace gives, and does
yet received the beginning of           sorry for their sins and ask to be     not sell salvation. If man has to
salvation, so that they still hate      given love to God. Once again,         fulfill the condition, and take a
God, can never, when they hear          they will want relief from punish-     step before God will begin salva-
Him speak, make themselves              ment, but not from Satan's power       tion in him, then God sells salva-
spiritually alive and want that         over them. To fulfill a condition      tion; and then also He - perish
kind of salvation. And Adam and         is to manifest that you already        the thought! - runs the risk of
Eve did not show the slightest          have that love of God in your          having His Son's work fail to
trace of such a desire to love God      heart. To want relief from             realize all that He would like to
again, and hate the devil, before       punishment means, if that is all       have it cause to happen. A com-
God came, not with an offer in          you have, to want to keep your         mon grace, the giving of the
the sense of an invitation, but         hatred toward God even while           benefits of Christ's work to every
with a promise that He would            you escape from His holy wrath.        one who hears the preaching, if
work this in them.                      No, God's grace gives man              they will only do what He has
   Nowhere in Scripture do we           hatred, or to use God's word to        not given them the power to do,
find a more powerful manifesta-         the devil, enmity, in the hearts of    would not be grace. Grace
tion that salvation is all God's        His people against the devil and       presents a free gift, not one ob-
work, including the installing of       all deviltry. And THAT God here        tained by a work man performs.
the desire for it, than right there     declares is going to be very par-      God's particular grace is an un-
in the garden where man fell into       ticular. There are those to whom       conditional grace.
sin. Here His particular grace is       He does not intend to give it.           Yes, we must believe, and, as
foreshadowed. There is no               These will be left under Satan's       we read in John 3:16, God loved
pleading and coaxing to try to          power, and they will hate those        the seed of the woman - and
get Adam and Eve to hate sin            who have received .this love of        not everybody in the world -
and once again love God. It did         God into their hearts. And He          and gave His Son, so that those
not depend upon what man was            declares- that HE will put that en-    who believe in Him will not
going to do. The almighty God           mity; which means that we do           perish, but have everlasting life.
spoke and revealed what He was          not have it by our natural birth.      But Ephesians 2:8 is God's word
going to do. He does not come           We are conceived and born in           through Paul that salvation is a
with an invitation, but with a          ;in. We are totally depraved in        gift; and faith is part of that gift.
promise. Before Adam and Eve            the sense that we have not the         What is more, through Paul, God
were even aware of a forgiving          smallest trace of love to God in       begins this chapter in Ephesians
grace, God revealed it in this          ls, as descendants of Adam and         with the truth that before God
mother promise.                         Eve. They lost all love to God;        gave faith to these seed of the


12  I The Standard Bearer


 woman, to whom Paul wrote,                     therefore a particular grace is             swords to keep the way of the
 they were dead in trespasses and               taught throughout Scripture,                tree of life. That we also ought to
 sins; stating further in verse 5               beginning right here in Genesis 3,          appreciate. That also should
 that by grace they are saved.                  the day man fell into sin.                  bring words of thanksgiving to
 Plainly, grace- makes the seed of                There is a second work God                God and enrich in us the truth of
 the woman spiritually alive so                 wrought that day in His grace;              His particular grace which was
 that they can believe. Faith -                 but that will have to be treated            foreshadowed in that day, and to-
which some incorrectly like to                  next time. He, yes, in His grace,           day is manifested far more clear-
call the accepting of the invita-               drove man out of paradise and               ly. 0
tion - is a particular gift; and                placed cherubim with flaming
                                           -                                           -





                                           Distinctive Traits of
                                           True Godliness:
  In His Fear
 Rev. Arie den/-h-tog                      Brotherly love

   Love for'the brethren is a                   all things have fervent charity                Though the Word of God often
great mark of godliness. Our                    among yourselves: for charity               exhorts us in the matter of
Lord said that His disciples would              shall cover a multitude of sins" (I         brotherly love, there are always
be known in the world by the                    Peter 4:s). The apostle John                those in the church who do not
love which they had for one                     speaks often of brotherly love.             take heed to all these exhorta-
another. "By this shall all men                 "He that loveth his brother                 tions. They are so spiritually
know that ye are my disciples, if               abideth in light, and there is              blind that they do not see the in-
ye have love one to another"                    none occasion of stumbling in               consistency and hypocrisy of this.
(John 13:35). There are few ex-                 him. But he that hateth his                 Their words and deeds are born
hortations that appear more often               brother is in darkness, and                 out of hatred and gender strife
in the Scriptures than the com-                 walketh in darkness, and                    and division in the church. When
mand to love our brethren. Paul                 knoweth not whither he goeth                they are admonished they will
says in Colossians, "And above                  because that darkness has                   make all kinds of excuses. They
all these things put on charity                 blinded his eyes" (I John 2:lO              will seek to justify themselves.
which is the bond of perfectness"               and 11). Again he says, "Beloved,           They will pretend that they still
(Colossians 3:14). Peter exhorts,               let us love one another: for love           do love, when in fact hatred
"Seeing ye have purified your                   is of God and every one that                dwells in their hearts and is
souls in obeying the truth                      loveth is born of God, and                  revealed in their dealings with
through the Spirit unto unfeigned               knoweth God. He that loveth not             their fellow saints. This is a very
love of the brethren, see that ye               knoweth not God; for God is                 grievous thing which ought not
love one another with a pure                    love" (I John 4:7 and 8). We all            be the case in the church of
heart fervently" (I Peter 1:22).                know the famous passage on love             Jesus Christ. This must be
And again he says, "And above                   that is found in I Corinthians 13.          preached against in the church as
                                                There the inspired apostle Paul             strongly as false doctrine is
                                                states emphatically that all our            preached against. The church of
                                                religion, no matter how great we            Jesus Christ must be character-
Rev. denHartog is pastor of the Protes-
tant Reformed Church of Randolph,               may imagine it to be, is utterly            ized by love. When there is
Wisconsin.                                      vain without love.                          hatred and confusion the name of

                                                                                                             The Standard Bearer  I13


the Lord is greatly dishonored,        own with such a great love that       evil. If we love our brother we
the Spirit of God is grieved, and      He gave His own beloved Son for       will admonish him in his sin. Ad-
the world is given occasion to         their salvation in the way of the     monishing a brother requires a
blaspheme.                             awful death of the cross. How         very great love. Such admonition
   Love is of God, for God is love.    precious the saints of God are in     is not the same as harsh and
He that knoweth God must walk          His sight. Surely they ought also     crueLjudgment of the brother. To
in love. We expect that there is       to be precious in our sight. God      admonish in love is a very great
no love in the world because the       loved us when we were wholly          matter. He that converteth the
world lies in wickedness. Not all      unloveable. He loved us while we      sinner from the error of his way
the humanistic affection of the        were yet His enemies. We are to       shall save a soul from death and
world ineasures up to the love         love one another with the same        hide a multitude of sins (see
which God requires in His holy         love. This is impossible for us by    James 5). In brotherly love we
law. Ungodly men from the time         nature. Our old sinful nature is      must labor to build each other up
of Cain have filled the world with     characterized by hatred, pride,       in the grace and faith of the Lord
hatred, strife, murder, bloodshed,     and enmity. As long as we are in      Jesus Christ.
and war. Marital strife and            this life we have only a small          Brotherly love operates also in
broken homes, crime and revolu-        beginning of the new obedience        the sphere of the truth of God. It
tion in the world, the thousands       also in respect to the love we        is the truth of God that unites
and thousands of abortions that        have towards our brethren. It is      true saints of God together.
are performed each year in our         still very imperfect. We must         Because of that truth they have
land, all these testify of the         constantly strive to put away all     all things in common. God has
dreadful hatred of the world. But      hatred and enmity and walk in         given His wonderful truth to His
God has redeemed His people            love with our brethren.               saints. We have the calling with
from this world of hatred and            But what does all of this mean      our brethren in the church to
murder. He has sent forth His          practically? Love for the brethren    strive together for the truth of
Spirit into the hearts of His          must of course be more than a         God, to grow in that truth, con-
people and shed forth His own          beautiful doctrine for us. It must    fess that truth, defend and pro-
love into their hearts. As born        be practiced and walked in. Paul      mote that truth to the glory of
again Christians we must walk in       defines love as a bond of perfect-    God. That is possible only in the
love. The love of Christ towards       ness. Love is and must be the         sphere of brotherly love. Sad to
us and in us must constrain us         bond that unites the saints           say, sometimes it is seen in the
also to love one another.              together and causes them to           church that brethren strive
   Brotherly love is an entirely       delight in one another's              against one another rather than
unique and wonderful love. It im-      fellowship and friendship. Above      with one another for the truth of
plies the great truth that all the     all, a Christian may not live         God.
saints of God are brethren. We         alone as a recluse. That is con-        Brotherly love involves work-
are all brethren in the household      trary to the Lord's command-          ing for the highest good and
and family of God. This is a           ment. Our love for the brethren       welfare of our brethren. In love
wonderful thing, a great and           is exercised and revealed in the      we must not all seek our own but
amazing work of the grace and          midst of the communion of the         also the things of others. Love is
Spirit of God. We have all been        saints. Brotherly love is more        action and work done for our
redeemed by the precious blood         than a warm feeling inside while      brethren. Brotherly love requires
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We $1        we are sitting in our houses.         self-sacrifice and self-denial. If we
have the same Spirit of Christ           Love for the brethren operates      love our brethren we will spend
Jesus dwelling in our hearts. We       in the sphere of perfection. There    much of our own time and
are all fashioned after the image      can be no true love in darkness.      energy and resources for the
of our heavenly Father. We have        True love is a holy affection. It     good of our brethren. It is good
one Lord, one faith, one baptism,      delights in holiness and perfec-      sometimes to consider how much
one God and Father who is              tion. Brethren who walk in love       we really do for our brethren.
above us all and in us all.            together delight in perfection and    Our evil world is characterized
   If we love God we will also         strive for perfection. They exhort    by horrible self-centeredness.
love His saints. God commands          and admonish one another ac-          Because of our sinful nature we
us to love them because they are       cording to the perfection of God      as Christians can sometimes also
His. Love for the brethren has         revealed in His Word. Love is not     be very selfish. This is a great
God as its source and also God as      the worldly tolerance. Love does      evil from which we must repent.
its ultimate object. God loves His     not condone or wink at sin and        How much of our time and

14  / The Standard Bearer


     energy and money is really spent              our brother is in need or in                 sorrow this has brought to many
     on ourselves. How little often is             distress. This world is full of              a dear saint of God. Scripture
     given freely for others.                      misery and wretchedness. The                 tells us always to speak the truth
        Brotherly love means that we               saints of God cannot escape the              in love. It exhorts us to be
     bear with one another's weak-                 misery of the suffering of this              careful about the words that we
     nesses and sins and forgive one               world, of sickness, disease, and             speak that they may always
     another constantly. It means that             death. The saints of God are                 minister grace to the hearers and
     we are not easily offended by the             often lonely and forsaken,                   be to the use of edifying. To love
     sinful words and deeds of our                 especially because the world                 our brethren is to use our mouth
     brother. How needful this is. We              hates them. Jesus said that He               to exhort and encourage and
     are all such great sinners. We sin            will judge all men whether they              comfort our fellow saints with the
     against each other repeatedly.                have given food to their hungry              truth of God.
     Unless we are conscious of our                brethren, taken them in when                    How much more could be said
     own great sinfulness we can                   they were strangers, clothed                 on this very important subject.
     never continue in brotherly love.             them when they were naked, and               Let us all be careful to dwell in
     Unless we are by the grace of                 visited them when they were sick             love with our brethren in the
     God ready to forgive until seven-             and in prison. Have we done                  Lord. God is glorified by this. His
     ty times seven, brotherly love                these things?                               virtues are most gloriously dis-
     will soon cease with us. Humility                If we truly love our brethren             played in the earth when the
     is an absolutely necessary cor-               we will always be careful what              saints dwell together in love. May
     ollary to brotherly love. Where               we say to them and about them.              it be said of the members of our
     there is pride there can be no                How often love is violated by                churches, "Behold, how they love
     true brotherly love.                          words of hatred and strife and of            each other!" q
        Brotherly love is revealed in              harsh judgment. What grief and
     its most beautiful character when





                                                   Reconstructionists and
     All Around Us
     Rev. Gise j. VanBaren                         Charismatics

                                                      Reconstructionism is a view              church to bring the church, as a whole,
                                                   which might be called "Presby-              back to using the Bible as a rule of life -
                                                   terian or Reformed Post-millen-             all aspects of life."
                                                   nialism." R.J. Rushdoony is con-               This Old Testament-centered society
                                                                                               would have several hallmarks, including:
                                                   sidered the "father of Reconstruc-             *Restitution: Instead of jailing
                                                   tionism" while Gary North is                criminals, Reconstructionists would have
                                                   recognized as one of its leading            them pay back the cost of their crime:
                                                   proponents. The Dallas  Times               through labor. Chilton says this relates to
                                                   Herald, December 23, 1987, in an            the biblical idea of indentured,servitude,
                                                                                               and it should last no more than six
                                                   article on this movement, gives a           years.
                                                   brief summary of the views set                 l Welfare and Social Services: In the
                                                   forth:                                      Reconstructionist view, the state should
     Rev. VanBaren  is pastor of the Protestant                                                exist only to protect and defend citizens.
     Reformed Church of Hudsonville,                 Chilton says Reconstructionism is "`an
                                                   attempt by a segment of the Christian       Taxes would be replaced by tithing, and
I    Michigan.

                                                                                                                        The Standard Bearer  / 15


churches would provide social, educa-             consistency manifest in this unho-              So what's wrong with this emphasis?
tional and legal services.                        ly alliance:                                 Nothing, per se, unless it becomes the oc-
   *Capital Punishment: The Bible ad-                                                          casion for neglecting other vital parts of
vocates the death penalty for murder,               A fundamental plank in Christian Re-       God's law. And that is my fear, brethren.
rape, sodomy, homosexuality, Sabbath              constructionism is that the Old Testament    I believe reconstructionists have adopted
breaking, witchcraft, blasphemy and in-           Jewish civil law provides a "blueprint"      a selective use of the law. In other words,
corrigibility in children. Reconstruction-        for us to "reconstruct" society. Deuter-     many theonomists exalt popular second-
ists say the death penalty should be im-          onomy 18:20 reads, "But the prophet          table issues, bring injustice to first-table
posed only on unrepentant offenders and           who presumes to speaks a word in             matters which contain man's preeminent
that "`incorrigible children" refers not to       My name, which I have not commanded          duties toward God. . . .
disobedient 5year-olds but to teenagers           him to speak; or who speaks in the name         The writer continues by point-
who repeatedly commit serious crimes.             of other gods, that prophet shall die."      ing out thBt the reconstructionists
   Chilton and Rushdoony say they do              The civil penalty was death - putting it
not expect to see a society based on              in the same category as murder, bestiali-    are ignoring the first table of the
Reconstructionist principles during their         ty, kidnapping, and homosexuality - as       law, and, specifically, the first
lifetimes, conceding it will take genera-         heinous offenses in the sight of God. Yet    and second commandments
tions for their brand of Christianity to          modern claimants to fraudulent revela-       thereof. While proclaiming the
take hold.                                        tion are warmly greeted as allies in a       necessity of obeying all of the
   This movement, which pur-                      movement which seeks to have modern
                                                  society reflect that law! Either modern      law of God, the reconstructionists
ports to be Calvinistic and Re-                   charismatic claims are false, which          are seeking common ground with
formed in character, is now seek-                 would merit their death by the Law's         papist and charismatic:
ing closer ties with charismatics.                standard; or at least some of them are         . . .
This is nothing short of astound-                 true, which would totally obliterate sola               Today, we have a new breed of
                                                                                               Reformer. There are theonomists who
ing, and the inconsistency of it                  Scriptura; or the leaders of Christian
                                                  Reconstructionism are doubleminded and       seem bent on patronizing Papists and
all has been pointed out by a                     hypocritical by welcoming them into the      Charismatics (the modern Anabaptists),
number of writers in recent ar-                   Reconstructionist fold. I challenge any      while pursuing an agenda of social and
ticles. The Christian News,                       Reconstructionist to present me with any     political reconstruction.
January 4, 1988, states:                          other suitable alternative.                     The question of common ground is
                                                                                               bound to arise. For example, pro-life
   Joseph C. Morecraft III writes in the             Another article written by                Protestants often find themselves together
December,  1987 Counsel of  Chalcedon             Kevin Reed appears in The Pres-              with Roman Catholics in opposition to
concerning the "Christian Reconstruction          byterian,  the excellent little              abortion. So a dilemma is created. What
Dialogue" held this past October 14-I 7 in        magazine published by Mr. Tony               principles should govern our dealings
Dallas which brought together 100                 Horne in Bristol, England. He                with Roman Catholics who share our op-
leaders of the Christian Reconstruction                                                        position to abortion, homosexuality, etc.?
movement.                                         claims that this Reconstructionist             . . . This lawlessness does not stop with
   Charismatics were in high profile at           Movement which insists on obe-               a tolerance of false religion, It also in-
this gathering. Speakers included such in-        dience within the realm of                   cludes laxity toward corruption of wor-
dividuals as Bob Mumford and Earl                 government of all of the Old                 ship: second commandment issues. . . .
Paulk, as well as Dennis. Peacocke,               Testament laws, nevertheless has               . . . But the time has come to raise
whom Morecraft calls "one of the most                                                          these uncomfortable issues, for the sake
important charismatics in America, "              revealed a certain antinomian                of the church and the sake of the move-
Morecraft then adds:                              streak. He writes:                           ment. The reconstructionist movement in-
   "Two distinct but overlapping groups             For several years, this writer has been    cludes many trends which are both an:
comprised the attenders of the dialogue           troubled by an antinomian streak in the      tinomian and unconfessional. We call
- charismatics and Calvinists. About              theonomic movement, While many an-           upon the leaders of the movement to ad-
two-thirds of those present were                  tagonists have falsely branded the move-     dress these issues: how do you integrate
charismatics, and one-third non-                  ment as "legalistic," I am convinced that    the first commandment into your recon-
charismatic Calvinists . , . . This was the       there is actually a more serious problem     structionist appeals to heretics? How does
first time these two groups have come             in the other direction.                      purity of worship fit within your agenda
together on common principles for                   "What, you can't be serious?" some         of reform? How should the fourth com-
fellowship and dialogue . . . . God is mix-       may respond. `How can you accuse             mandment be upheld in the contem-
ing the LIGHT of the Reformed Faith               reconstructionists of an antinomian          porary situation?
with the HEAT of the Charismatic Move-            tendency, when their expressed purposes        We will be listening for answers to
ment . . . . One leading charismatic              continually support the law of God?"         these questions. Yet, until these issues are
stated what many are experiencing and               . . These theonomic positions share a      addressed, in conformity with the whole
willing to confess, that `God is blending         common characteristic. They are all          counsel of God's Word, the reconstruc-
Presbyterian theology with charismatic            directed against practices in contem-        tion& movement remains seriously
zeal into a force that cannot be stopped. '       porary culture which are popularly de-       flawed.
I pray God that it is so, and I believe it is.    nounced by the larger "evangelical" com-       Meanwhile, contemporary readers
I particularly pray that Calvinists and           munity as a whole. As such, they gain        would do well to remain wary of a move-
charismatics will influence each other in         much attention. Further, these concerns      ment which is like the "double-minded
their doctrine of worship. "                      are rooted in the second table of the law    man, unstable in all his ways" (James
   The article continues by point-                - the last six commandments which deal       1.8). 0
ing out the fundamental error of                  orincipally with man's duty toward other
this activity - and the gross in-                 men,

16  / The Standard Bearer


                                            Annual Secretary's
I
     Mr. jim VanOverloop                    Report

                       September, 1988        Regarding our mailing equip-        whom 59 have become
       The close of volume year #64         ment, two years ago we reported       subscribers.
     marks an end and a beginning.          that new addressing equipment           The Board also decided to ter-
     Volume #64 is the last volume          had been purchased. Last year in      minate the 10 issues for $2.00
     with Prof. H.C. Hoeksema as            the annual report we mentioned        promotion. In its place we ini-
     editor. He has served in that          the problems we were having           tiated a year subscription at half
     position, formally, for 24 years.      trying to return the equipment        price for all new subscribers.
     He took over a year earlier when       because it wasn't working as it         At our February meeting it
     his father, Rev. Herman                should. In spite of our best ef-      was decided to raise the subscrip-
     Hoeksema, had a stroke, so he          forts, we were unable to              tion price $1.50, from $10.50 to
     has been at the helm for 25            negotiate a return with Richard-      $12.00. The old price was in ef-
     years. A recognition banquet was       son Business Machines Co. We          fect for the past six years.
     held at the time'of Synod-in Prof.     are now attempting to sell the          The Board thanks the board
     H.C. Hoeksema's honor, with the        equipment. The method we now          members who are retiring this
     Theological School Committee,          employ to mail the Standard           year. They are John Cleveland,
     the delegates at Synod, the Re-        Bearer is the use of the personal     Pete Faber, and Jim Van
     formed Free Publishing Associa-        computer of our new business          Overloop.
     tion Board, and the other two          manager. This computer prints           The Board also thanks Don
     Professors attending. We take          labels; and a label affixer, which    Doezema and Henry Vander Wal
     this opportunity publicly to thank     we have purchased, applies the        for their labors in the office of
     him once more for his tireless,        labels to the Standard Bearer. We     business manager. The transition
     dedicated, faithful labors over all    have finally reached the auto-        is going very smoothly. We also
     these years. We thank God for          mated age.                            thank John Veldman for helping
     His grace and give Him the               This past year we ran a             with the mailing.
     praise, honor, and glory.              promotion directed toward non-          The Board asks that you con-
       Prof. Hoeksema is replaced by        subscribing Protestant Reformed       tinue to remember us in our
     Rev. Engelsma as editor-in-chief,      families. The Board mailed pro-       labors as your Board. Remember
     and Prof. Decker and managing          motional material to 387 ad-          the cause of the Standard Bearer
     editor.                                dresses offering to send the          in the coming year. We thank
       The Board wishes to thank all        Standard Bearer free for several      God for His many blessings.
     those who have written articles        months to those who responded              Yours in His Service,
     in the Standard Bearer. This task      to our offer. Twelve responded               Jim Van Overloop 0
     is often overlooked, and often         immediately with requests to
     unappreciated. The Board wishes        subscribe. Twenty-four said
     to call their contributions to your    they'd prefer not to subscribe for
     attention and publicly thank           various valid reasons. Seventy-
     them for their labors on our           two accepted the offer and were
     behalf.                                sent free issues. After a few
                                            months a letter was sent to those
                                            72 asking them to subscribe, of

                                                                                                   The Standard Bearer  /  17


                                              Ministers Without
 Decency and                                  Regular Seminary
 Order                                        Training
Rev. Ronald L. Cammenga



  "`Persons who have not pursued the             The result of this situation was               Use was again made of Article
regular course of study in preparation for    that many men were admitted to                  8 at the timeof the ,Afscheiding,
the ministry of the Word, and have            the ministry who were unsuited                  or Secession of 1834, when there
therefore not been declared eligible ac-
cording to Article 4, shall not be admit-     for the work. For this reason the               was a serious shortage of
ted to the ministry unless there is           particular Synods of South                      ministers. This was also the case
assurance of their exceptional gifts,         Holland and Gelderland peti-                    in the period immediately follow-
godliness, humility, modesty, common          tioned the Synod of Dordt                       ing the Doleantie, 1886, the
sense and discretion, as also gifts of        (1618-`19) to establish some rules              reform movement led by Dr.
public address. When such persons pre-
sent themselves for the ministry, the         that would make it much more                    Abraham Kuyper.
classis (if the particular synod approve)     difficult for the unschooled to be              ARTICLE 8 - AN EXCEPTION
shall first examine them, and further deal    admitted to the ministry. The                     It must be emphasized that Ar-
with them as it shall deem edifying, ac-      original decision drafted by Dordt              ticle 8 provides for an exception.
cording to the general regulations of the     was:                                            Even while it deals with this ex-
churches."  Church Order, Article 8.
BACKGROUND TO ARTICLi  8                        School-teachers, artizans, and others         ception, Article 8 maintains the
   Article 8 has had limited use in           who have not pursued courses in                 necessity of ministers being for-
                                              languages, arts, and theology in the
the history of the Reformed                                                                   mally trained and prepared.
                                              schools, shall not be admitted to the
churches, and has been appealed               ministry of the Word, unless we have cer-         The article states: "Persons . . .
to primarily in emergency cases.              tain knowledge respecting their excep-          shall not be admitted to the
In the beginning of the Reformed              tional gifts: piety, humility, modesty,         ministry UNLESS . . . ." Clearly
churches in the Netherlands, it               superior natural capacity, prudence, and        Article 8 establishes the excep-
                                              eloquence. As often as such persons seek
was necessary that men be ad-                                                                 tion to the rule. The rule is that
                                              admittance to the office, the classis in the
mitted to the ministry who did                                                                those desiring admittance into
                                              event the synod approves, shall examine
not have very extensive formal                them. In case of successful issue, they         the office of the ministry com-
training. At first there were no              shall for a set length of time train them-      plete a course of formal training.
institutions of higher learning in            selves in the making and delivering of          This is in harmony with the posi-
                                              sermons. Thereupon the classis shall deal
the Netherlands where young                                                                   tion expressed by the Church
                                              with them as can best redound to the
men could be trained for the                                                                  Order in Article 19, that the
                                              edification of the churches.
ministry. Before the founding of                 For a short time after the                   churches are to exert themselves
the University of Leyden in 1575,             Synod of Dordt this article was                 that there may be students to be
Reformed theological training                 utilized. This was due to the                   trained for the ministry of the
was available only in Geneva or               great number of vacant congre-                  Word.
in Heidelberg.                                gations after the expulsion of the                Reformed churches have
                                              Arminians. Besides this, the                    historically insisted on a trained
                                              University of Leyden had become                 ministry. The mystics and Ana-
                                              suspect because of the influence                baptists took a radical position on
                                                                                              the issue of a trained ministry.
Rev. Cammenga is pastor of the Protes-        of the Arminians.                               They taught that all intellectual
tant Reformed Church of Loveland, Col-
orado.                                                                                        training for the ministry was un-

18 I The Standard Bearer


necessary and even detrimental             REGULAR course, that is, a com-            examina, the applicant is given
to the influence of the Holy               plete seminary education, to be            the right to speak a word of
Spirit. One need not have any              admitted to the ministry. That             edification in the churches of the
particular preparation for the        Article 8 does not dispense with                Classis. (See Church Order, Arti-
ministry, but could depend in-        all training for the ministry is                cle 20.) This will be a period of
stead simply on the leading of        plain from the original article as              probation. The length of this
the Holy Spirit. Today too there           drafted by the Synod of Dordt.             period is to be determined by the
are groups that disparage formal           That article calls for tutelage            Classis. During this time the ap-
training for the ministry.                 under another pastor or group of           plicant may receive instruction
  For various reasons the Re-              pastors. It also calls for a ". . . set    from designated ministers of the
formed did not go along with this          length of time (to) train                  Classis or from the seminary.
view. Appeal was made to II                themselves in the making and                 At the end of this probationary
Timothy 2:2: "And the things that          delivering of sermons."                    period the Classis, once more
thou hast heard of me among                  The Synod of the Christian Re-           with the advice of the delegates
many witnesses, the same com-              formed Church of 1947 adopted              ad examina, shall make a judg-
mit thou to faithful men, who              the following declaration regard-          ment of the fitness of the appli-
shall be able to teach others              ing admittance to the ministry by          cant to be declared a candidate
also." For over 3 years Jesus              way of Article 8:                          for the ministry. The Classis shall
prepared His disciples for their             Synod reminds the churches that Arti-    conduct an examination of the
apostolic calling. The Book of        cle 8 of the Church Order was adopted in        applicant which is roughly
Acts indicates that several young     a time when there was a dire need for           equivalent to the praeparatoir
men accompanied the apostle           ministers of the Word. This article should
                                      function only in case of great need. This       (synodical)  exam. If this exam is
Paul on his missionary journeys,      article should never be used as a means         successfully sustained, the appli-
notably Timothy, who were             to ordain all layworkers who may desire         cant may be declared a candidate
prepared by him for the ministry.     such, and whose prestige would be in-           for the ministry, eligible for a call
Reference is made in the Old .        ,creased by such action. The churches are       from one of the churches.
Testament to the schools of the       reminded that the regular door to the
                                      ministry is a thorough academic training.         Finally, the candidate shall be
prophets.                             This must be maintained in theory and           examined for ordination. Once a
  From the beginning of the Ref-      oractice.
                                      I                                               call has been received and ac-
ormation there was an insistence      EXAMINATION OF THOSE                            cepted, the candidate shall sus-
upon a trained ministry. Soon         ADMITTED ACCORDING TO                           tain the peremptoir (classical) ex-
after the Reformation was             ARTICLE 8                                       am. It is understood that the ex-
established in Geneva, Calvin                There are three phases to the            aminations will ordinarily omit
founded the Academy of Geneva         ,examination of those admitted                  knowledge of the original
where ministers of the gospel         according to Article 8: licensure               languages.,
were trained to serve Reformed             to exhort, candidacy, and ordina-          THE EXCEPTIONAL GIFTS
churches throughout Europe.                tion.                                      MENTIONED IN ARTICLE 8
Soon theological schools were                First, examination must be                 Article 8 maintains that excep-
established in other lands where      ,conducted with a view to licen-                tions to the general rule of
the Reformed faith was brought,            sure to exhort. If anyone desires          regular seminary training may be
including Germany, England,           1to be admitted to the ministry ac-             made in cases of persons with ex-
Scotland, the Netherlands, and        tcording to Article 8, he should                ceptional gifts. The idea is not
eventually America.                   1make application to his con-                   that these persons alone possess
  It is important to note that        `jistory.  If the consistory is con-            these gifts, and are therefore
although Article 8 provides for       vinced that the applicant                       qualified to serve in the ministry.
an exception, it does not do          possesses the necessary excep-                  The fact is that all who serve in
away with preparation for the         tional gifts, it should present his             the ministry, also those who have
ministry altogether. .The article     request, along with its recom-                  pursued the regular course of
allows for one who has not            mendatian, to the Classis. The                  study at the seminary, must
followed the REGULAR course of        Classis, in the presence of the                 possess these gifts. But the idea is
study to be admitted to the           delegates ad examina, should ex-                that these persons possess these.
ministry. It is assumed that all      amine the applicant to determine                gifts in an exceptional way and
who are admitted to the ministry      the presence of the gifts men-                  to an exceptional degree.
follow some course of prepara-        tioned in Article 8. If the applica-              First, there must be godliness.
tion. But it is possible for those    tion is approved, both by the                   Godliness is just fear of the
who have not pursued the              Classis and by the delegates ad                 reverence for God. Humility and

                                                                                                      The Standard Bearer / 19


modesty are two aspects of godli-        Second, he must be a man of            from error, right from wrong.
ness, the two outstanding mani-        common sense. This is also a               Finally, he must be a man with
festations of godliness. There is      poor translation. The original           gifts of public address. The
not room in the ministry, or in        term emphasizes intellectual abili-      original refers to "eloquence."
any of the other offices for that      ty, a ready grasp of things. This        But this is not just polished
matter, for pride and self-seeking.    is an important quality necessary        speaking style or salesmanship. It
Modesty is really an inaccurate        in one who is to expound and             is the ability to express one's
translation of a word that em-         teach the Scriptures.                    thoughts verbally, the ability to
phasizes the idea of a holy life, a      He is also to be a man of              communicate ideas in an orderly
life ordered according to the will     discretion or discernment. This          and clear way to the edification
of Goa.                                refers to good judgment. It is the       of one's hearers. 0
                                       ability especially to discern truth





                                       Book Reviews

THE INSPIRATION AND                    author deals. These questions are        faith of the church and is, there-
AUTHORIW OF  SCRIPTURE,                all dealt with from the viewpoint        fore, a doctrine which the devil is
by Rene Pache, Moody Press,            of faith, faith in the testimony of      unusually intent on destroying.
1987. 349 pages, paper. (Re-           Scripture itself. The result is an       And such an answer would cer-
viewed by Prof. H. Hanko.)             excellent book which is a strong         tainly be correct. But the same
   Since this book first appeared      defense of Scripture and a power-        thing could be said of the truth
in the English in 1969, it has         ful weapon in the arsenal of             concerning the trinity and the
gone through twelve different          believers against the attacks of         divinity of our Lord. Yet the bat-
printings, abundant proof of its       those who, more or less, want to         tle for these truths was fought
popularity and worth.                  make the Bible a human book. It          over a millennium ago, and,
   The book was translated from        is easy to read, not technical nor       apart from the extremes of
the French. The author taught in       given to the difficult terminology       modernism, the church has not
Lausanne University and was ac-        of higher criticism, faithful to         been unduly troubled by these
tive for many years in the             God's own Word.                          heresies.
evangelical movement in France.          One aspect of the book is,               There is, I suggest, another fac-
   The book deals with all aspects     however, exceedingly trouble-            tor that plays a role in this ques-
of the inspiration and authority       some. This has to do with a ques-        tion. This has to do with the
of Scripture: revelation, inspira-     tion which arises in the current         question of the so-called human
tion, plenary and verbal inspira-      debate over the question of Scrip-       factor in Scripture. While often-
tion, inerrancy and infallibility,     ture's infallibility. The question is    times the idea of a "human fac-
apparent contradictions in Scrip-      this: Why is it that the church          tor" was intended merely to em-
ture, the canon of Scripture,          has repeatedly to fight the battle       phasize that God used men to
transmission of the text of Scrip-     in defense of the Scripture? Why         write His Word, nevertheless, this
ture - these are only some of          does the question of Scripture's         idea of a human factor has often
the subjects with which the            absolute trustworthiness have to         been exalted to the point where
                                       be repeatedly faced? One could           the divine factor and God's
                                       conceivably answer this question         authorship is minimized and even
                                       by pointing out that the doctrine        ignored. I suggest further that the
                                       of Scripture is fundamental to the       reason for this is a basic commit-

20  I The Standard Bearer


 ment to an Arminian theology           place. This is why in funda-             proach to revelation and salva-
which is found so commonly in           mentalist and evangelical circles        tion. We quote only the following
fundamentalistic circles, an Ar-        the "battle for the Bible" has to        paragraph to demonstrate this:
minian theology which also em-          be fought repeatedly. To put it             Can a heathen who has received only
phasizes a significant and finally      positively, the truth concerning         the revelations of nature and of con-
determinative "human element"           the Scriptures can only be main-         science come to salvation? `Paul expressly
in the work of salvation.               tained on the basis of the truth of      declares that everyone will be judged ac-
                                                                                 cording to the light which he has re-
   What needs to be said to             sovereign grace, i.e., that salva-       ceived: "As many as have sinned without
understand this properly is the         tion is the work of God alone            the law shall also perish without the law:'
fact that the preparation of Scrip-     without any contributing element         and as many as have sinned under the
ture as the infallibly inspired         from man.                                law shall be judged by the law" (Rom.
record of the revelation of God in         Then, of course, it will also be      212). We have seen that the revelations
                                                                                 of nature and of conscience are sufficient
Jesus Christ belongs to the work        maintained that Scripture is the         to produce, on the part of the heathen,
of salvation. It is an integral and     work of God alone, that there is         both worship and repentance and the Full
inseparable part of that work.          no more a human element in the,          responsibility For both. However, God,
This is true not only because the       preparation of Scripture than            who is just and omniscient, knows
Scriptures record for us the work       there is in the salvation of lost        perfectly whether a sincere yet ignorant
                                                                                 man, given a chance to accept salvation,
of God in Christ as accomplishing       souls. Does this mean that Scrip-        would take it or not. Christ died for the
salvation - although this is cer-       ture was written by dictation?           sins of the whole world, those committed
tainly part of it. Nor is this true     that the mechanical theory of            before His coming as well as those in
only because the whole of Scrip-        Scripture's inspiration is the cor-      times and places not yet reached by the
ture finds its principle of unity in    rect one? that the Bible                 gospel (ct: Rom. 3:25). The Lord, then,
the fact that it reveals to us                                                   will know how to treat every sinner ac-
                                        miraculously "dropped out of the         cording to His love and His righteousness
Christ in all its parts - although      sky?" Of course not; and only a          (P.  18).
this also is true. But God              fool would charge the church                 It is that kind of Arminianism
prepared the Scriptures for the         with believing such nonsense. In-        which will eventually also affect
church, gave the Scriptures to the      spiration surely means that God          one's doctrine of Scripture. Allow
church, and entrusted the church        made use of men in preparing             for this human factor in the work
with the Scriptures  because the        the Bible - just as He saves men         of salvation and soon the human
Scriptures are an integral part of      and fits them for His service. In-       factor also in Scripture will open
that work of salvation which God        spiration means that God makes           the door to every form of higher
performs through Christ to bring        use of men with all their own            criticism. Let the church learn
His church to glory.                    unique characteristics, abilities,       once and for all that the only
  All this means, therefore, that       and gifts; that God made use of          way to defend Scripture's ab-
one's view of Scripture must be         them in the time in which they           solute trustworthiness and integri-
the same as one's view of salva-        lived, in the relationships of life      ty is on the basis of sovereign
tion if either doctrine is to be        in which they were brought up,           and particular grace in salva-
preserved in all its purity.            educated and did their work; that        tion. !
Characteristic of today's church        God made use of them through
world is a blatant and God-             the calling entrusted to them in         GOD'S HAMMER, THE BIBLE
dishonoring Arminianism which           God's church. But, as Gordon             AND ITS CRITICS, by Gordon
exalts the "human factor" in the        Clark points out in his book,            H. Clark. The Trinity Foundation,
work of salvation, ascribes to          God's Hammer, this was all ac-           1987, 225 pp., $6.95 (paper). (Re-
man powers which he does not            cording to sovereign predestina-         viewed by Prof. H. Hanko.)
possess, and makes salvation            tion, a predestination which                This book is without doubt the
dependent in some measure upon          determined everything concern-           best book I have read on the
man's will. If this is one's            ing an individual man sovereign-         question of the doctrine of Scrip-
theology of salvation, it stands to     ly. The result was that "holy men        ture's inspiration and infallibility.
reason that this erroneous view         of God spake as they were                There are several reasons why,
will soon carry over into one's         moved by the Holy Spirit." And           without hesitation, I say this.
doctrine of Scripture. The human        the Scriptures are Gods work                 1) The book takes an un-
factor will also be exalted in the      and His alone.                           qualified and unambiguous stand
doctrine of inspiration, and the          This book does not do justice          for the absolute infallibility of
result will be that this human fac-     to all this. And this strikes us as a    Scripture and for its complete in-
tor will be so emphasized that          fatal flaw. The book is                  tegrity and reliability. Clark has
the divine factor takes second          thoroughly Arminian in its ap-           no time for those who, in one

                                                                                                     The Standard Bearer / 21


way or another, want to com-            liberty which the "secondary           are formidable and he subjects
promise this great truth, so im-        authors" possessed as they wrote       the critics' attacks against the Bi-
portant for the faith of the child      the Scriptures - a liberty to          ble to searching analysis and
of God.                                 write things in their own way,         scathing criticism.
  2) The book is written in the         which resulted in a great deal of        We urge our readers to get this
straight-forward language of one        personal views and cultural con-       book. And while you are order-
who knows and sees that this            ditioning creeping into the Bible.     ing it, it would be worth your
truth is not complicated or dif-        Clark speaks correctly of organic      while to obtain a booklet of the
ficult to understand, but that it is    inspiration. He points out that,       publications of Trinity Founda-
a truth which every child of God        while from a certain viewpoint,        tion and to ask for their Trinity
can know and comprehend.                Scripture was dictated because it      Review. The latter is a brief
Clark wants none of the jargon of       was verbally inspired, neverthe-       paper which usually carries an
modern day defenders of redac-          less, inspiration is more than dic-    article or two of exceptional
tion criticism and their intermin-      tation because of the truth of         worth. An issue from last sum-
able arguments which no one             predestination and providence.         mer carried an excellent analysis
can follow unless he has some           That is, all those whom God used       of the free offer of the gospel.
degree in modern Hermeneutics.          to write the Scriptures were           The address is: The Trinity Foun-
The writing is clear, to the point,     determined by God from eternity        dation, P.O. Box 169, Jefferson,
and straight from the shoulder.         to fill that role and were pre-        Maryland 21755. 0
This immediately gives it the ring      pared by God's sovereign prov-
of truth. When discussions of           idence for that work. Thus all
Scripture's inerrancy and authori-      the circumstances of their lives                WANDERING HOME
ty are so complicated that only         were determined and sovereignly
advanced students with degrees          controlled. How good it was to         We are wandering home, as time
can understand them, one cannot         hear this emphasis which is so           glideth by,
help but suspect that they carry        sorely needed.                         And weaveth its garland of years,
less than the truth. The truth is         We have often discussed in           To a beautiful home, and better by
always simple and clear. Things         Seminary (among the faculty and          far
get complicated and sticky when         with the students) that an over-       Than the one in this valley of tears.
heresy is brought in.                   emphasis on the human factor in        We are wandering home by the
  3) Clark makes the emphatic           Scripture is really an Arminian-         same old way
point'in chapter 1 that this truth      ism which also introduces a            Our fathers before us have trod,
concerning Scripture cannot be          human factor in the work of            The shadow of death and the city
believed apart from grace               salvation. The analogy between           beyond:
because of sin which is present in      Scripture and salvation is correct     The glorious city of God.
every man. I appreciated this em-       because Scripture belongs to the       We are wandering home o'er a
phasis immensely, for it is so          work of salvation in Jesus Christ.       stormy plain
seldom heard in our day, and it         Clark, by insisting on predestina-     Replete with temptation and sin,
puts the battle between those           tion and providence, makes such        To a beautiful fold, where wardens
who hold to and those who deny          an Arminian conception of Scrip-         await
infallibility where the battle          ture impossible.                       To welcome each wanderer in.'
belongs: in the arena of faith vs.        The book is a collection of
unbelief.                               essays on this subject which           We are wandering home, yes
  4) But most of all, I appreci-        Clark wrote over the years. For          wandering home,
                                                                               But soon we shall wander no more;
ated this book because it is the        this reason there is some duplica-     And, oh, may we meet each other
only book I have ever read on           tion in the book, and some of the
the question of the doctrine of         essays are rather philosophical,         at last,
                                                                               At home on "the heavenly shore."
Scripture which has a correct           especially when Clark is analyz-
view of organic inspiration. In at      ing and criticizing the views of       Wandering home, wandering
least two places Clark deals with       the critics. But Clark holds that        home,
this question. It is so important       the truth of revelation is rational    Soon we shall wander no more;
because critics of Scripture have       and that the whole body of the         And, oh, may we meet each other
often set organic inspiration over      truth is an organic whole every          at last,
against the idea of dictation and,      part of which stands in logical        At home on the heavenly shore.
therefore, interpreted organic in-      connection with every other part.
spiration as referring to a certain     Clark's powers of logical analysis


22  / The Standard Bearer


                                                                                  ma1 plans to construct a church
News From Our Churches                                                            building for an approximate cost
                                                                                  of $2,100.00.
                                                                                     Rev. DeWolf left in 1940, and
                                                                                  was followed shortly by Can-
                      October 1, 1988       meetings in various members'          didate J. Heys, who served in
HISTORY OF HOPE CHURCH,                     homes.                                Hope for thirteen years.
G.R.:                                         In 19 17 a decision was made           In 1953 Hope weathered
  Seventy-eight years ago the               to proceed with building a            another split in their congrega-
area west of Grand Rapids,                  church at an estimated cost of        tion. This time the issue was the
Michigan was a farming com-                 $2,300.00.                            whole idea of conditional
munity quite isolated by the                  A prayer of thanksgiving arose      theology and how it related to
Grand River bending its way                 from the congregation when Can-       the covenant. From a total
from south to north. Reformed               didate G.M. Ophoff became their       membership of 40 families, 15
people living there had to travel           first pastor in January 1922.         left.
some miles north or take a ferry              The year 1924 saw the unity of         After Rev. Heys left, Candidate
west across the river to satisfy            the Hope C.R.C. shattered. True       H. Hanko accepted the call and
their desire and need for spiritual         to his calling, Rev. Ophoff fought    became Hope's fourth pastor.
nourishment on the Lord's Day.              openly for the cause of the truth.    During the years Rev. Hanko was
These conditions prompted the               He expressed his disagreement         there, the congregation ex-
church fathers of the Hope P.R.C.           with the demands of the Three         perienced a steady growth.
in Walker, Michigan to meet on              Points. Consequently he and his       Catechism attendance in 1955
Sunday, January 25, 1916 at the             consistory were forced out of the     showed 40; in 1963, when Rev.
home of Mr. R. Newhouse and re-             Christian Reformed Church. He,        Hanko left, it showed 110 in at-
quest by unanimous decision that            along with his consistory and         tendance.
a mission station of the Christian          congregation that remained, took         Rev. Hanko was followed in
Reformed Church be established              an active part in the early forma-    1963 by Rev. H. Veldman.
at "Riverbend."                             tion of the Protestant Reformed          The numerical growth in Hope
  Only six months later, on June            Churches.                             meant that the present facilities
6, 1916, the Hope Christian                   After seven years Rev. Ophoff       were no longer adequate. With a
Reformed Church was a reality.              left, and another seven years         view to building once more the
  They were financially poor                passed before God sent Candidate      congregation purchased three
and, lacking the means to build a           H. DeWolf in 1936 to become           lots about a block away from the
house of worship, held all                  their second pastor.                  old church. May 16, 1965 the
                                              In 1930, having lost their first
Mr. Wigger is an elder in the Protesiant                                          first worship service was held in
                                            church in 1925, they made for-
Reformed Church of Hudsonville,                                                   the new sanctuary.
Michigan.                                                                            Rev. Veldman left in 1966 and
                                                                                  was succeeded by Rev. J. Korter-
                                                                                  ing. Rev. Kortering was followed
                                                                                  in 1972 by Candidate R. Van
                                                                                  Over-loop. The latter was in turn
                                                                                  followed by Rev. R. Flikkema in
                                                                                  1981; and Rev. J. Slopsema
                                                                                  became Hope's current pastor in
                                                                                  1986.
                                                                                     Hope presently has a total of
                                                                                  94 families and a total member-
                                                                                  ship of around 400.
                                                                                     Next month will mark the 28th
                                                                                  anniversary of the,"Hope
                                                                                  Heralds," an all male singing
                                                                                  group from Hope who are
                                                                                  dedicated to the heralding of
                                                                                  Gods praise in song.
                                                                                     Two sister churches have had
                                                                                  their beginnings in Hope Church.
Hope Protestant Reformed Church (Grand Rapids)

                                                                                                   The Standard Bearer / 23


 7HE
STANDARD                                                                                        SECOND CLASS
                                                                                                Postage Paid at
l!WRER                                                                                          Grand Rapids, Michigan
f?O. Box 6064
Grand Rapids, MI 49506



Faith, with 20 families, organized    sponsored a Children's Singspira-      WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
in 1973; and Grandville, with 26      tion at 2:00 P.M. The songs sung         On October 16, 1988, the
families, in 1984.                    were chosen especially with the        Lord willing, our beloved
  There are only a couple of          children in mind. There were           parents, MR. AND MRS. COR-
farmers left in Hope. There are       also a couple of special numbers       DON  TERPSTRA will celebrate
some home-builders and factory        by several children in Hudson-         their 35th Wedding Anniversary.
workers. There are five teachers,     ville's congregation. A very large     As we give humble thanks to
a number of office workers, some      group turned out for this first-of-    our God for His goodness to our
self-employed, and some retirees.     a-kind event held in our               covenant family through their
And there are a lot of children,      churches. Maybe more will              Godly instruction and example,
five of whom are handicapped.         follow.                                we also pray that His blessing
   Hope `continues to experience        In response to interest shown,       may continue with them in the
the blessing of God in their          the consistory of the Grandville       year to come.
church life, and they feel blessed    P.R.C. in Grandville, Michigan           "Great is the Lord and greatly
to have been given the oppor-         has decided to encourage young         to be praised; and His greatness
tunity to witness for so many         couples in their church to orga-       is unsearchable. One generation
years.                                nize a Mr. and Mrs. Society.           shall praise Thy works to
MINISTERIAL CALLS:                      Final thought, from Across the       another and shall declare Thy
   Rev. Carl Haak has declined        Aisle of First P.R.C. in Grand         mighty acts." (Psalm  145:3, 4)
the call from the First P.R.C. in     Rapids, Michigan: "God gave us         David and Suzanne  L,ooyenga
Holland, Michigan.                    two ears and one mouth. That             Lisabeth, Brendan, Brianna,
   Rev. Wayne Bekkering has           ought to tell us something." 0           Caitlin and  Meghan'  1                ,..  -1
                                                                             Thomas and Luanne  %$ipper  .&-
declined the call to serve as mis-                                             Jason,                          . ;`@gj :.., 17 .:.
                                                                                          Dirk, Nico!e, %yw 2'. :        -~-~`r~~~~~~.
sionary in Jamaica, and he has                                                 Andrew   and  &&~)I  *T'*.                 :"..,
received the call to serve in the                                            Charles and  &rna Terpstra
Hope P.R.C. in Isabel, South                                                   Corey, Amber, Kimberly,
                                      WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
Dakota.                                                                        Thad and Kyle
                                        On October 8, 1988, the Lord         Todd and Valerie Terpstra
   Prof. Robert Decker has re-        willing, our parents and grand-        Jeffrey and Kathy Terpstra
ceived the call to Faith P.R.C. in    parents, MR. AND MRS. PETER
Jenison, Michigan. He was                                                    RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
                                      KNOTT, will celebrate their
chosen from a trio that included                                               The Council of Faith Protes-
                                      40th Wedding Anniversary.
the Revs. Ronald Van Overloop                                                tant Reformed Church extends
                                        We are thankful to our
and Barry Gritters.                                                          its Christian sympathy to its
                                      Heavenly Father for the years of
   On August 28 Rev. David                                                   fellow officebearer Elder
                                      covenant instruction, love, and
Engelsma was scheduled to                                                    William Huber and his family in
                                      care they have given us. We
preach his farewell sermon in                                                the recent passing of his
                                      also thank God for these years
South Holland, Illinois. A divine                                            mother, MRS. IRENE HUBER on
                                      they have had together and for
worship service was then                                                     September 6, 1988.
                                      His many blessings on them.
 scheduled for August 31st in the                                              May they find their comfort
                                         "Happy is he that hath the
 South Holland P.R.C., at which                                              in the Word of God, knowing
                                      God of Jacob for his help,
 time Rev. Engelsma was to be in-                                            that her confession was: "I
                                      whose hope is in the Lord his
 stalled as Professor of Theology                                            belong to my faithful Savior
                                      God." (Psalm  146:5)
 in our Seminary.                                                            Jesus Christ who with his blood
                                      Andy and Mary Brummel
MISCELLANEOUS:                                                               satisfied for all my sins."
                                        Shelley, Kristi, Julie, Mike
   On Sunday, August 28, the                                                 (Heidelberg Catechism Lord's
                                      Don and  jackie Offringa
 Sunday School of the Hudsonville       Dennis, Melonie,  Wendi              Day  11
 P.R.C. in Hudsonville, Michigan      Bob and Kathy Knott                    Clare Prince, Vice President
                                        Jennifer, Katie, Aaron               Gary Kaptein, Clerk


24 / The Standard Bearer


