                   STANDARD
 A Reformed
 Semi-Monthly
Magazine
    -





                    Hull Protestant Reformed Church
                       (site of PRC Synod 1989)



Vol. 65, No. 77
june I, 1989


 Contents                                                   juneI,                    THE

Meditation  - Rev. lames D. Slopsema
  JESUS: THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE                                 387

EDITORIALLY SPEAKING.. .  -  Prof. David). Engelsma                       389     ISS N 0362-4692
                                                                                 Semi-monthly, except monthly during lone, ]uly,
Editorial  - Prof. David  /. Engelsma                                            and August. Published by the Reformed Free Pub-
                                                                                 lishing Association, Inc. Second Class Postage Paid
   ON SYNOD AND SYNODS                                                    389    at Grand Rapids, Mich.
                                                                                 EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
LETTERS                                                                   391    Editor-in-chief: Prof. David J. Engelsma
                                                                                 Managing Editor: Prof. Robert D. Decker
                                                                                 Editors' Assistant: Mr. Don Doezema
Contribution  - Prof.  Homer C. Hoeksema                                         DEPARTMENT EDITORS
  CAUTION, GO SLOWLY                                                             Rev. Ronald Cammenga, Prof. Robert Decker, Rev.
                                                                                 Arie denHartog,  Rev. Russell Dykstra, Rev. Barry
  (AS TO CHANGING CLASSICAL BOUNDARIES)                                   392    Critters, Rev. Cornelius Hanko, Prof. Herman
                                                                                 Hanko, Rev. Ronald Hanko, Rev. John Heys, Rev.
Walking in the Light  - Prof. Herman C. Hanko                                    Jason Kortering. Rev. George Lubbers, Rev. James
                                                                                 Slopsema, Rev. Charles Terpstra, Rev. Cise
   LYING (1)                                                              395    VanBaren, Mr. Benjamin Wigger.
                                                                                 EDITORIAL OFFICE
Church and State  - Mr. lames Lanting                                            The Standard Bearer
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  TO LABOR UNIONS                                                         397    CHURCH NEWS EDITOR
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Bible Study Guide  - Rev.  lason  L. Kortering                                   Hudsonville,  Michigan 49426
  I AND II SAMUEL  - THE BEGINNINGS OF THE KINGDOM                        400    EDITORIAL POLICY
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  AUGUSTINE AND THE PELAGIAN HERESY (2)                                   402    Question Box Department are welcome. Contribu-
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BOOK REVIEWS                                                              404    must be siened. Coov deadlines are the first and
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NEWS FROM OUR CHURCHES  - Mr. Benjamin Wigger                             406    editorial office.
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386 I The Standard Bearer I June I,1989


                                        Jesus: The Way, the
Meditation
Rev. james Slopema                      Truth, and the Life

   Jesus saith unto him, I am           know the way to the Father? He         sonally is the way to the Father.
the way, the truth, and the life:       is the way. And this is further ex-      Jesus is the way to the Father,
no man cometh unto the                  plained in that Jesus is also the      first, in that He makes the way to
Father but by me.                       truth and the life.                    the Father. When Jesus says that
                        -John  14:6     * * * * * * * * *  *                   no man comes to the Father but
                                           Jesus proclaims that He is the      by Him, the implication is that
                                                                               the way to the Father is closed.
  Jesus and His disciples have          way.                                   The way to the Father is closed
finished the last Passover supper         The question may arise: Jesus        because of our sin. Sin makes it
and are on the way to                   is the way to what? to whom?           impossible to enter into Father's
Gethsemane where Jesus knows              The answer lies in what Jesus        house of many mansions. Sin
He will be arrested.                    has just said. He informed His         alienates God from man, barring
  Jesus informs His disciples that      disciples that He was about to         man from Gods loving care and
very shortly now He will depart         depart from them and go to His         fellowship. Jesus is the way in
from them. But they must not be         Father's house of many man-            that He makes a way to the
troubled, for He is going to His        sions.                                 Father and His fellowship. Jesus
Father's house of many mansions           Father's house of many man-          does this through His death and
to prepare a place for them. And        sions is one of the most beautiful     resurrection, to which Jesus was
if He prepares a place for them,        terms the Bible uses to describe       at this time approaching and
He will come again and receive          heaven. It views heaven as Gods        through which He would over-
them unto Himself, that where           home. In this heavenly home            come the power of sin.
He is there they may be also.           God lives and dwells with His            Jesus is the way, secondly, in
  Jesus reminds His disciples of        dear children, whom He has eter-       that He personally takes us to-the
the fact that they know where           nally chosen unto Himself and          Father. Jesus doesn't merely
He is going and they know the           subsequently redeemed in the           open up a way to the Father and
way.                                    blood of Jesus Christ. In this         then leave us to follow that way
  Thomas, speaking for the              heavenly home there are many           the best we can. Then none of us
disciples, informs Jesus that they      mansions or dwelling places: one       would ever come to the Father. If
really don't know where Jesus is        for each of God's dear children.       we will attain the Father's house
going. Nor do they know the             In this heavenly home the              of many mansions, Jesus must
way.                                    children of God find complete joy      carry us there along the way He
  Jesus responds by telling His         and bliss under the care of their      has made. This Jesus does
disciples that He is the way, the       heavenly Father.                       through the power of His death
truth and the life. No man comes          On that background Jesus pro-        and resurrection. And in this
to the Father but by Him.               claims that He is the way. No          manner Jesus is the way.
  The disciples don't know              man comes to the Father but by           But notice, that Jesus is the
where Jesus is going? He is going       Him. Quite obviously, when Jesus       way. To that Jesus adds, "No
to the Father. The disciples don't      speaks of Himself as the way, He
                                        means that He is the way to the        man comes to the Father, but by
                                        Father and to the Father's house       me."
                                                                                 There are not many ways to
Rev. Slopsema is pastor of the Prot-    of many mansions.                      the Father. We must not imagine
estant Reformed Church of Walker,         Notice, Jesus says, "I am the        that we are confronted with a
Michigan.                               way." He means that He per-

                                                                                  June  1, 1989  I The Standard Bearer I387


number of options. We can come                His glorious virtues as the Savior       also proclaims this truth through
to the Father by way of our own               of His people.                           the preaching. And through the
works and merits. And then                       Being the revelation of God           preaching of the truth we are
there are the works and merits of             Jesus is the truth.                      called irresistibly out of the dark-
other saints who have gone on                    But finally, Jesus is the truth in    ness of unbelief into the light of
before us. And then there is the              that He is the source of all truth       life and salvation.
way that Jesus makes through                  in us. We have just seen that              And so it is that Jesus as the
His death and resurrection.                   Jesus is truth in that He reveals        truth and the life brings us to
   No! There is only one way to               to us the truth and realities of         God the Father. No, we are not
the Father, and that is Jesus. The            God objectively. But Jesus is the        brought to the Father's house of
way to the Father is closed                   truth also in that He enters into        many mansions immediately.
because of sin. Jesus must take               the hearts and lives of His people       That awaits the end of our earth-
you to the Father in the power of             and irresistibly moves them to           ly pilgrimage. Nonetheless, we
His death and resurrection or you             embrace the truth. And by                are brought to the Father in a
do not reach the Father.                      leading us to embrace the truth,         very real way also in this life.
*  * * * * * * *  * *                         we are led to embrace God                For we are brought into the bliss
   Jesus adds by way of explana-              Himself.                                 of His fellowship and friendship.
tion that He is also the truth and              Jesus is also the life.                And we then look forward to the
the life.                                       Also here Jesus is the life in         day when we will be able to
   Jesus is the truth. Jesus is the           that He is God. God is triune.           enter into His house of many
truth, first, because He is God.              And there is to be found among           mansions to enjoy perfectly what
Truth is that which is real. Truth            the three persons of the Godhead         we have now only in part.
is reality. The one great reality of          a most blessed fellowship and            *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
all life is God. He is the one reali-         friendship. This is the essence of         Many seek (so they say) to
ty with Whom we must deal                     life. God is therefore a living          come to the Father.
every day. God is truth.                      God. And Jesus is the life exactly         However, many seek to come
  And Jesus is truth exactly                  because He is the Son of God,            to the Father another way than
because He is God, the eternal                Who eternally partakes of the life       the way of Jesus. Some will ap-
Son of God, co-equal and co-                  of the triune God.                       proach the Father by the way of
eternal with the Father and the                 But Jesus is the life also as the      their own good works. Others
Spirit.                                       Mediator of God. Through His             will approach the Father by the
   But Jesus is the truth, second-            death on the cross Jesus earned          way of the good works of others
ly, in that He is the revelation of           for Himself and His people a             who have passed on to glory
God. God reveals Himself to man               most glorious heavenly life. This        before them. Many, for example,
that man may know Him as the                  life consists of a most blessed          would come to the Father by
great reality of life. And when               fellowship and friendship with           way of what the virgin Mary has
God reveals Himself, He reveals               the living God. Those who                done.
the truth about Himself.                      possess this life are taken up into        `These all shall fail. For no man
   God reveals Himself in the                 the very life of God Himself. This       comes to the Father but by Jesus.
highest sense of .Jesus. Jesus em-            life Jesus received through His          He is the way, the truth, and the
phasizes this to His disciples                own resurrection on the third            life. Apart from Jesus the way to
when He says, "He that hath                   day. Also from this point of view        the Father is closed.
seen me hath seen the Father."                Jesus is the life.                         We see then our calling.
Jesus made known the Father                     But finally, Jesus is the life in        When Jesus as the truth calls
through the prophets and                      that He is the source of life in us.     you by the Word to the truth,
apostles. He also revealed the                The life that Jesus received at His      believe and embrace the truth as
Father through His teaching and               own resurrection He shares with
                                              all His people. Sharing in this life     it is in Him alone.
preaching while here on the                                                              And, clinging to Jesus in faith,
earth in our flesh. But perhaps               the people of God are caught up          live the new life which is to be
most significantly Jesus revealed             in the very life of God, enjoying        found only in Him. In Jesus'
the Father through His own per-               His fellowship and friendship.           power serve the Father in love.
son and work as it centered in                  Jesus accomplishes this great          Then you will find a wonderful
His suffering and death on the                work of salvation as the truth. As       life of friendship and fellowship
cross. Through Jesus' atoning                 the truth Jesus has not only             with the Father, in this life and in
sacrifice God was revealed in all             revealed the truth to us objec-          a life yet to come. q
                                              tively in the Scriptures, but He

388  / The Standard Bearer  I June  I,1989


Editorially  speaking.   .  .

  In this issue, we take note of      his analysis of this overture, and          In Book III of his book, On the
the meeting of the Synod of the       offers his advice.                        Trinity, Augustine declares that
Protestant Reformed Churches            Our hope is that this informa-          he prefers the labor of reading to
the second week of June. The          tion concerning the activities of         the labor of writing and that he
editorial reviews the agenda of       our broadest ecclesiastical               joyfully "would give my pen a
Synod. One of the items on the        assembly enables the members of           holiday." These are the heartfelt
agenda, the overture of South-        the PRC (and others who have              sentiments of the entire staff of
east, Grand Rapids that Synod         these churches on their hearts) to        The SB about the first of June
restructure the denomination in       pray for the Synod more knowl-            each year. Therefore, the
three classes, would significantly    edgeably and encourages the               magazine is published only once
affect denominational life in the     saints of the PRC to continue to          a month in June, July, and
PRC. In response to our request,      participate actively in the life of       August. We give our pens (and
Professor H.C. Hoeksema gives         the denomination.                 -DJE    word processors) a holiday. Now
                                                                                to the labor of reading!           -DJE 0





Editorial                             On Synod and Synods

  The Synod of the Protestant Re-     gravely ill with cancer. Synod            fall of 1989. One will be a third-
formed Churches will meet this        will receive his request for              year seminarian; the other will
year in Hull, Iowa at the invita-     emeritation.                              begin his first year. Several col-
tion of the Hull church. Synod          The membership of the PRC               lege students who plan to attend
will convene on Tuesday, June         are interested in the agenda of           seminary after graduation will be
13. The Rev. Gise Van Baren,          their synods, as they ought to be.        taking certain pre-seminary
president of the synod of 1988,       With the cooperation of the Rev.          courses from our professors. The
will preach at the special worship    Meindert Joostens, stated clerk of        T.S.C. is making proposals to
service of the Hull congregation      synod, who made available to me           synod that affect our present pre-
the evening before the convening      the materials for synod prior to          seminary department. One is that
of synod. We intend to print this     their publication for the con-            a bachelor's degree from an ac-
sermon in the August 1 issue of       sistories, here follows a survey of       credited college or university be
The Standard Bearer with a            some of the more significant mat-         required for admission to the
report of the doings and deci-        ters that must be dealt with by           seminary. Another is that,
sions of synod. Missing from          synod, 1989.                              although some pre-seminary
synod in his capacity as advisor        The Theological School Com-             courses will still be offered,
as he has been only very rarely       mittee reports that the churches          reference in the seminary catalog
over the past thirty years will be    can anticipate two full-time              to a pre-seminary program or
Professor H. C. Hoeksema, who is      students in the seminary in the           division be deleted. A ground for

                                                                                    June  1,1989  I The Standard Bearer  / 389


the latter proposal is that synod             M.C. proposes that synod ap-            creasing load of the clerical work
highlight the primary work of the             prove working in Jamaica in the         of the committee.
seminary, namely, providing                   future with a minimum of two              The Committee for Contact
seminary training for future                  men in the field. One of these          with Other Churches informs
ministers.                                    will be a minister who will be          synod that the Norristown, Penn-
   A recommendation of the Con-               called to replace Missionary            sylvania church has released her
tact Committee concerning the                 Wilbur Bruinsma, who has ac-            pastor, the Rev. Ken Hanko, to
training of men for the ministry              cepted a call to a pastorate in the     work for six to nine months
in the Evangelical Presbyterian               States and who will be leaving          among the Covenant Reformed
Church of Australia bears on the              the field this summer. The M.C.         Fellowship in Larne, Northern
work of our seminary:                         recommends that the second man          Ireland. The Rev. Hanko and his
. . . that the synod of 1989 be ad-           be a layman until a second mis-         family plan to leave for Northern
vised to instruct the T.S.C.  to offer its    sionary (minister) can be ob-           Ireland sometime in July, 1989,
services to the students of the EPC;          tained. As the M.C. notes in its        the Lord willing. Norristown is
that the T.S.C. be instructed in con-         report, this recommendation re-         willing to pay the salary of their
junction with the faculty to make ar-         quires that synod take into con-        minister while he is loaned to the
rangements with the EPC to provide
special instruction for them in their         sideration previous decisions that      Larne group.
own distinctives . . . .                      the second worker on the                  The Contact Committee brings
   In addition to a report of some            Jamaica field be a minister. The        to synod with its approval the re-
investigation of Ghana as a possi-            M.C. advises that future work in        quest of the Evangelical
ble field of labor, the Foreign               Jamaica, while continuing with          Presbyterian Church of Burnie,
Mission Committee (made up of                 the present churches, turn to the       Tasmania that the PRC supply :
ministers and,elders in the north-            larger cities on the island.            her with a preacher after `the
west Iowa and southwest Min-                    The M.C. is asking synod that         return of Professor H. C.
nesota area) is bringing an over-             it be authorized to make Braden-        Hoeksema to the United States.
ture to synod to change the con-              ton, Florida a denominational           The request includes the commit-
stitutions of both the domestic               mission field and to appoint. a         ment of the Burnie church to
and the foreign mission commit-               church to call a missionary to          underwrite the expenses con-
tees so that the areas of mission             work in Bradenton full-time. A          nected with such ministerial sup-
work are divided along geo-                   member of the M.C. is presenting        ply. The Contact Committee also
graphical lines. The overture                 a minority report to synod, op-         presents synod with a detailed
recommends distinguishing mis-                posing the M.C.`s recommenda-           schedule of the program for the
sions as church extension work,               tion concerning Bradenton.              conference with sister churches
domestic missions, and foreign                  A sizable group in Alameda,           that is to be held in Grand Rapids
missions. Church extension work               Zalifornia is requesting of the         in 1990.
would be the work of a con-                   PRC that a missionary-pastor be           Classis East is forwarding to
gregation in its own area.                    .oaned  them for two years and          synod an overture from South-
Domestic missions is defined as               :hat an affiliate relationship be       east church that requests synod
work in "the native continent."               established  with the PRC..At the       "to approve a reorganization of
Foreign missions becomes work                 :ime of this writing, the recom-        classical boundaries to a three-
done in a foreign country. The                nendation of the M.C. to synod          classis church structure." This
effect of the overture would be to            s not available.                        would result in a Classis Grand
give the F.M.C. more to do. The                 The M.C. is making two pro-           Rapids, a Classis Central, and a
present constitution limits the               )osals regarding personnel. It is       Classis West. The grounds are
F.M.C. to work that "gathers into             isking synod to create the posi-        that there are enough congrega-
His church those who in their                 :ion of "missionary-at-large" and       tions to make this feasible; that
generations have not belonged to              :o call a minister to this position.    such a structure gives better
the covenant." The overture                   This missionary "will serve the         balance to synod; that it allows
speaks of "a more equal distribu-             :ause of denominational home            for broader representation at
tion of labor." It has the approval           nissions in North America apart         synod; that it lessens the work of
also of the (domestic) Mission                `rom a specific field. This mis-        the annual church visitation; and
Committee.                                    ;ionary will be in addition to          that it would save money in
  The Mission Committee has                   Ither missionaries who are called       travelling on church work. Classis
several weighty recommenda-                   o specific fields." It is also re-      East approved the concept, but
tions. Regarding Jamaica, the                 questing a "permanent secretary"        disapproved the form of the ac-
                                              If the M.C. on account of the in-       tual restructuring suggested by

390  I The Standard Bearer I June  1,1989


Southeast. We have asked Pro-         ing"; and "Holy Ghost" is to be         will declare in the always moving
fessor H. C. Hoeksema to com-         changed to "Holy Spirit."               ceremony at the beginning of
ment on this overture. His              Those in charge of these              synod, "of all the marks by
analysis appears elsewhere in this    statistics report the happy news        which the true church
issue.                                that the denomination continues         distinguishes itself from all
  Synod will consider several         to grow numerically. We are fifty-      human societies, the confession
overtures. South Holland asks         seven families larger today than        of the truth must be mentioned
synod to discontinue the practice     we were a year ago. Our total           in the first place." And the PRC,
of reading the entire synodical       membership is 1,323 families.           in the mercy of God, can declare
agenda aloud at synod. Lynden           Synod is important to every           in all good conscience before
requests that the form of ordina-     member of the PRC. By defini-           God, that they are united in the
tion of elders and deacons be         tion, its business consists of "ec-     truth. The delegates to synod will
changed to eliding the words,         clesiastical matters," i.e., matters    declare from the heart that they
"And, ye poor, be poor in spirit,     that belong to the life and labor       believe all the articles and ex-
and deport yourselves respect-        of Christ's church in the world.        pressions of doctrine of the
fully towards your benefactors,"      Synod's decisions are binding           Reformed creeds to be the true
through the quotation from Ephe-      upon all the churches in the            expression of their faith. The
sians 4. Lynden also wants the        denomination. What especially           confessions are the three forms
first question of the form for        commends the synod to our               of our unity. In this unity the
public confession of faith            prayers is that it expresses the        synod will do the work of the
changed by the insertion of the       unity of the church. Synod is not       churches for the glory of God
name of Jesus Christ, so that the     the church. The local congrega-         and for the churches' good. In
question ends, ". . . true and        tion is the church. But as the          this unity is strength for pro-
complete doctrine of salvation in     assembly of elders delegated by         moting the cause of the Re-
Jesus Christ." A member is over-      all the congregations of the PRC,       formed faith at home and abroad.
turing synod to recommend to all      through the classes, synod mani-          May the Lord Jesus, the head
the churches to make two              fests the precious unity of the         of the church, give wisdom to
changes in the form in which we       church of Christ. Our unity is not      the delegates and advisors and
confess the Apostles Creed:           merely organizational. It is not        bless the synod of the PRC, 1989.
"quick" is to be changed to "liv-     spurious. For as the delegates                                            -DJE 0





Letters

  Thank you for your fine con-        other words he/she is not free to       willing to live with the believing
tribution to the Reformed witness     divorce or to remarry.                  partner then the believer must
with The Standard Bearer. I ap-         It is true that the word used in      not divorce his/her spouse. Then
preciate the diversity that there     I Corinthians 7:15 (dou/oG) is the      verse 15 begins with the word
.is even within the Reformed          stronger word indicating bondage        "but." In other words, "In con-
faith. Because of the diversity we    or slavery. It comes from the           trast" to this situation where the
often take exception to that          same root word for slave                partner should not divorce his
which we read. I believe that the     (doulos). But that does not ex-         mate, now when the believer has
answer to "May the Deserted           clude the idea that a deserted          been deserted, divorce is a
Believer Remarry?" (April 15,         believer is set free from the           possibility, in order that he/she
1989) missed the mark. The            bonds or bondage of marriage. In        may not be under bondage.
thrust of the article was that        fact the immediate context dic-           This also happens to be the
although the deserted believer        tates such a view. In the verses        viewpoint of John Calvin in his
may not be in bondage to the          just prior, Paul counsels his           commentary of I Corinthians.
one who deserted him/her, he is       readers that, in a marriage situa-      Speaking of this verse he says,
still bound to such a person. In      tion, if an unbelieving partner is      "This is the second department of

                                                                                  June 1, 1989 I The Standard Bearer  I391


his statement, in which he sets at                  The words, "is not under bond-       she will . . . ." The deserting
liberty a believing husband, who                  age," do not describe, and can-        mate is not dead. Therefore, the
is prepared to dwell with an                      not describe, the marriage-bond,       believer is still bound to her hus-
unbelieving wife, but is rejected                 as though the apostle wrote that       band. She is not at liberty to
by her . . ." No doubt the authors                the deserted believer is no longer     remarry.
of the Westminster Confession of                  married. Marriage is not "bond-           The interpretation that finds a
Faith were influenced by John                     age" (slavery). Marriage is a          ground for divorce in the text is
Calvin's statement.                               "bond" (connection). What the          contradicted by Matthew 5:32:
   So although there may be                       words, "is not under bondage,"         "whosoever shall put away his
some room for diversity of inter-                 do refer to, I explained in the        wife, saving for the cause of for-
pretations on this passage, con-                 April 15, 1989 issue of The SB,         nication, causeth her to commit
sidering the context and the solid                and will not repeat here.              adultery . . . ." There is one
exegesis of the past it seems like-                 That Paul is not giving the          ground, and one only, for Biblical
ly that Paul is setting at liberty               deserted believer a right to            divorce: fornication.
(as Calvin says) the believing                   divorce. his or her mate is also           Scripture's clear teaching that
partner. This would mean that                    evident from the fact that no ac-       marriage is a life-long, unbreak-
the believer is free to remarry or               tion on the part of the believer is     able bond compels us, regretfully,
else he would not have been tru-                 either stated or alluded to. The        to differ with Calvin on the mat-
ly set at liberty.                               believer takes no action what-          ter of the right of remarriage
       (Rev.) Roger Gelwicks                     ever. He merely "lets the               while the original mate yet Iives.
       Ft. Wayne, IN                             unbeliever depart."                        The scandalous prevalence of
                                                    The interpretation that finds a      divorce and remarriage in Prot-
Response                                         ground for remarriage in I Corin-       estant churches in our day -
   I Corinthians 7:15 reads: "But                thians 7:15 is contradicted by          destructive of covenant homes
if the unbelieving depart, let him               verse 39 of the same chapter,           and children, shameful before a
depart. A brother or a sister is                 "The wife is bound by the law as        watching world, and dishonoring
not under bondage in such cases:                 long as her husband liveth; but if      to God - is additional motivation
but God hath called us to peace."                her husband be dead, she is at          to maintain the Biblical norm,
                                                 liberty to be married to whom           without compromise.          -DJE Cl



                                                 Caution, Go Slowly
 Contribution                                    (As To Changing
Prof. Homer Hoeksema                             Classical Boundaries)


   Is it time to grow up.as a                       I am also inclined to agree,         gathering, by providing represen-
denomination?                                    though also with some reserva-          tatives from two uninvolved
   The Consistory of Southeast                   tions, as I hope to make plain.         classes to contribute to the
Church, Grand Rapids, thinks so.                    Coming to our 1989 Synod is          discussion and decision of con-
And so, too, does Classis East,                  an overture from Southeast to re-       troversial matters decided in the
though apparently with some                      organize our churches into a            other classis. 3. A three-classis
reservations.                                    3-classis structure. For this over-     structure would allow a broader
                                                 ture the following .grounds  are of-    representation at Synod. a. This
                                                 fered: "1. There are enough con-        brings more men from different
                                                 gregations in the denomination          geographical areas closer to the
Prof. Hoeksema is professor of                   to make such a structure feasable       common work of the denomina-
Dogmatics and Old Testament in the               (sic). 2. Such a structure gives a      tion. b. Such broader representa-
Protestant Reformed Seminary.                    better balance to a synodical           tion could provide the advantage

392  I The Standard  Bearer  1  June  1, 1989


of increasing denominational con-       A Bit of. History                      loggerheads on this issue. A three
sciousness in the common labors           This is not the first time that      (or more) classis system would
of the denomination. 4. Church          the matter of a realignment of         also be helpful in such a situa-
visitation would be much less           the classes has come up in the         tion.
strenuous, involving much less          history of our churches.               Some Evaluation And
travel for the church visitors.           Southeast's overture makes           Stiggestions
(There were two sub-points add-         reference to an overture in 1958          In my opinion the overture
ed here, which I have omitted to        and a decision in 1959 in which        (with the decisions of Classis East)-
save space. HCH) 5. Such a struc-       an earlier proposal to have three      deserves some careful attention.
ture would probably result in cost      classes was rejected.                  It must be fleshed out and
savings for travel, with most of          Before that time, of course, the     revamped somewhat. But I
the savings seen in the `Central        classical boundaries were actually     believe synod should do this, and
Classis."' This part of the over-       shifted in the period following        then refer it to the two classes
ture was approved in principle by       the schism of 1953. From 1940,         and to the churches for consider-
Classis East.                           when we first had a synod, to          ation and comment, so that a
   The second part of the over-         1953 the boundary between              final decision can be made at the
ture is a proposal for the new          Classis East and Classis West was      Synod of 1990, D.V.
classical constituency. Rather          the Mississippi River. Through           However, I have a few sugges-
than quote the whole outline, let       the schism, however, Classis           tions for consideration.
me explain that it proposes to          West was numerically devastated.         In the first place, the question
create a Classis Central by taking      Immediately after the schism           is not so much whether there are
Kalamazoo, Michigan, Wyckoff,           Classis West was left with the         "enough congregations" to make
New Jersey, and Norristown,             churches of Doon, Edgerton,            a change feasible. If it is a matter
Pennsylvania away from Classis          Hull, Lynden, and Redlands. At         of mere numbers, it is easy to see
East, and by taking Houston,            the time of the Synod of 1954 it       that with 27 congregations we
Texas, Randolph, Wisconsin,             was impossible to send a full          can easily have three classes of
Pella, Iowa, South Holland, Il-         ministerial delegation: for there      nine churches each. But the ques-
linois, Peace (Lynwood, Illinois),      were only three ministers in the       tion is whether those 27 con-
the future Northwest Chicago            entire classis - the Rev. H. H.        gregations are of such a
(This is written prior to any word      Kuiper (Redlands), the Rev. H.         geographical distribution as to
here in Tasmania about its              Veldman (Edgerton), and myself         make the change feasible. The
organization.) away from Classis        (Doon). Hence, in that period the      plan proposed by Southeast does
West. This proposed alignment           eastern boundary of Classis West       a bit of gerrymandering to make
was not approved by Classis East.       was shifted to the eastern boun-       it appear feasible. And Classis
  The third part of Southeast's         dary of the State of Illinois, so      East has proposed no substitute
overture was a proposal to              that the churches of Oak Lawn,         plan. Any proposal adopted by
change the rules of Synod so that       Randolph, and South Holland            Synod and sent to the churches
from each classis there will be         were added to Classis West to          for consideration will have to in-
three ministers and three elders        make it a viable classis. And          clude a good plan.
instead of the present four.            there the boundary has remained          In the second place, I wish to
Classis East decided not to ex-         ever since, though the constituen-     stress that if a change is made,
press itself re the matter of the       cy of both Classis East and Classis    the Synod must define new geo-
number of delegates to Synod on         West has changed and grown             graphical boundaries  between
the ground that "Synod itself           very much since those dark days.       the classes. The Southeast over-
must change or alter its own              I may also point out in this         ture speaks of "classical boun-
rules." This ground is rather sur-      connection that the Southeast          daries" in its first point. But in
prising to me. After all, the fixing    overture in its second ground          part "B" it seems to forget this
of classical boundaries ,and the        points out only one problem            and to create a Classis Central
constituting of new classes are         which sometimes arises from a          without regard to geographical
also matters for synodical deter-       two-classis system. In the             boundaries but on the basis of
mination (cf. Article VI of our         1951-`53  period we had a situa-       convenient and economical air
corporate by-laws). Besides, what       tion in which we were faced with       travel. Besides, it certainly makes
Classis East cites as a ground          a synodical and denominational         neither geographic nor economic
surely does not preclude an over-       matter, the Declaration of Prin-       sense to send Kalamazoo off to a
ture from an individual, a con-         ciples. And the two classes, East      proposed Classis Central when it
sistory, or a classis.                  and West, were at almost total         is only 50 miles from Grand

                                                                                   June 1, 1989  I The Standard Bearer I393


Rapids. No, Synod must propose               Some Suggestions For                      2. Constituency: Holland, Hud-
new geographical boundaries,                 New Boundaries                         sonville, Faith, Grandville, Hope,
submit these to the churches for               Keeping the preceding com-           Southwest. (6 congregations)
consideration, and then make a               ments in mind, a three-classis ar-     Classis East:
final decision in 1990.                      rangement might be as follows:            1. Boundaries: all of Michigan
  In the third place, it seems to            Classis Rocky Mountain:                east of Byron Center Avenue ex-
me that the Southeast overture                  1. Eastern boundaries: the east     tended; the remaining provinces
pays little attention to the ques-           boundaries of: the Province of         of Canada, the east boundaries of
tion whether a realignment                   Alberta, the States of North           Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee,
would be good for the classes,               Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska,        Georgia.
but gives most of its attention to           Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas.                 2. Constituency: Byron Center,
the benefits for our synods. A                 2. Constituency: Isabel, South       First (Grand Rapids), Southeast,
point is made about easing the               Dakota; Houston, Texas; Love-          Kalamazoo, Norristown (Pennsyl-
work of church visitation. But the           land, Colorado; Edmonton, Alber-       vania), Wyckoff (New Jersey). (6
work of church visitation could              ta; Lacombe, Alberta; Lynden,          congregations)
very well be eased by appointing             Washington; Redlands, California.        The obvious flaw of this plan is
more church visitors in each                 (7 congregations)                      that these two classes would be
classis, something that is certain-          Classis Midwest:                       rather small. But we could be op-
ly allowed by the Church Order.                1. Eastern boundaries: the east      timistic and expect that both will
But would a realignment be bet-              boundaries of: the Province of         grow in numbers of congregations.
ter for the classes? That question           Saskatchewan, the States of              One more suggestion: the ideal
should be considered. There are              Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri,         would be to have a home mis-
probably arguments both for and              Arkansas, Louisiana.                   sionary in every classis. Cl
against on that question. The                  2. Constituency: Randolph,
classes would tend to be smaller             Wisconsin; South Holland, Peace,                   God Gathers
and able to labor more efficient-            Bethel, Illinois; Edgerton, Minne-
ly. Churches of a given area tend            sota; Doon, Hull, Pella, Iowa. (8      God spoke and said to those who
to be similar in character and to            congregations)                           thronged his throne,
have similar problems. Somewhat              Classis East:                          "Who will go forth to give my
less travel might be involved,                  1. Eastern boundary: the              child birth?"
given the right realignment. But             Atlantic Ocean.                        And Life replied, "As a gift from
let synod and the classes and                  2. Constituency: First,                thee alone,
churches consider this question.             Southeast, Southwest, Byron            I will go down and make him on
  In the fourth place, I doubt               Center, Hope, Grand Rapids;              the earth."
very much whether any great                  Grandville, Faith (Jenison), Hud-      God spoke again and said, "My
financial savings would be in-               sonville, Holland, Kalamazoo,            child's lost;
volved in a realignment of what-             Wyckoff (New Jersey), Nor-             Who will find and bring him back
ever description. Neither, how-              ristown (Pennsylvania). (12 con-         to me?"
ever, do I think that the costs              gregations)                            And Grace replied "Since Christ
will be so much greater as to                  Now the obvious flaw in the            has paid the cost
constitute a fundamental con-                above alignment is that Classis        I will save and draw him close to
sideration. Money should not be              East remains unchanged and is            thee."
a deciding factor.                           overwhelmingly larger than the         God spoke and said, "My child's
  Finally, I believe that with a             other two. An alternative might          place is made;
three-classis structure we should            be to divide Classis East, and thus    I want him taken to his mansion
definitely not reduce the size of            have a 4-classis alignment, with         bright.
synodical delegations. With three            six synodical delegates from each      Death, bring him here." And
classes, we could have a synod of            classis. Such an alignment could         Death obeyed,
24 delegates. To reduce this to 18           be as follows:                         And tore the trembling child from
delegates would largely defeat               Classis Western Michigan:                dark to light.
one of the purposes of the over-               1. Boundaries: the east bound-
ture, it seems to me.                        aries of Indiana, Kentucky, Ten-       From time's beginning to its end,
                                             nessee, Georgia; all of Michigan         God makes
                                             west of Byron Center Avenue ex-        His Church, defends, preserves, to
                                             tended north and south; all of the       glory takes.         James Jonker
                                             Province of Ontario.                     (from Beacon Lights, by permission)

394  / The Standard Bearer I June  1,1989


 Walking in
the Light
Prof. Herman Hank0                     Lying (1)

  The problem of lying has               To the list of lies which U.S.       truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15,
always been a subject of discus-       News & World Report mentions           25).
sion and a source of disagree-         could, of course, be added many          But even in the Christian's call-
ment in the church. This is not        more instances of lying. People        ing to speak the truth, problems
because Scripture is not clear on      lie in their income tax returns.       arise. Does not God's Word itself
the fact that lying is wrong; even     Students lie in their applications     approve of lies under certaip cir-
the person who has but a passing       for financial aid. Companies lie in    cumstances? Scripture tells us that
acquaintance with Scripture            their commercials aired over TV        Rahab lied to the police when
knows that the lie is condemned        and radio. Doctors lie to their pa-    they came to her house looking
as being contrary to the will of       tients. Welfare recipients lie to      for the spies (Joshua 2:.3-6), and
God and unacceptable in the life       social agencies. Criminals lie to      Scripture calls her a woman of
of the sanctified child of God.        judges, courts, and probation          faith (Hebrews 11:3 1, James
The problem really arises out of       authorities. Lawyers lie in their      2:25). The midwives lied to the
the fact that Scripture itself         defense of criminals in the courts.    servants of Pharaoh to save the
records instances of lying which       Students cheat on tests, exams,        male children of the Israelites,
are not specifically condemned         and homework. The list could go        but were blessed by God (Exodus
on the pages of Holy Writ; and         on and on. U.S. News & World           1: 17-2 1). The woman of Bahurim
this seems to suggest that, under      Report even suggests the               lied to the servants of Absalom
certain circumstances, lying can       possibility that the prevalence of     when Jonathan and Ahimaaz
be acceptable.                         lying is rooted deeply in the          were hid in the well of their farm
  That lying is a problem of no        changing social fabric of the          as they were carrying a message
little importance is evident from      country. Where once basic              of Hushai to David, a message
the fact that even among un-           honesty was accepted and a             which was instrumental in saving
believers attention is paid to this    man's word could, generally            David's life (II Samuel 17:20).               0
growing characteristic of modern       speaking, be relied on, the shift        These instances of Scripture
life. A couple of years ago, in its    from education in moral values         are often cited to prove the point
February 23; 1987 issue, U.S.          and the breakdown of family life       that, under certain circumstances,
News & World Report devoted a          have resulted in a nation of liars     a lie is not only justifiable, but
feature article of eight pages to      who are willing to lie for reasons     also pleasing in God's sight. And,
this subject under the title, "A       of cowardice, self-advancement,        following this line of reasoning, it
Nation of Liars?" The subtitle         and the desire to defame their         is argued that circumstances must
read: "Government officials            neighbors. The lie has now been        dictate when we tell the truth
dissemble. Scientists falsify          accepted as a normal part of life      and when we are permitted to
research. Workers alter career         and little thought is given to it      lie. For example, in times of war,
credentials to get jobs. What's go-    any longer, except that people         lying is not wrong. When the
ing on here? The answer, a grow-       have become cynical about              Netherlands was occupied by the
ing number of social critics fear,     everything they hear from              Nazis, many Dutch hid Jews and
is an alarming decline in basic        government, big business,              downed allied pilots in their
honesty."                              employers, and their fellow men.       homes and lied to storm troopers
                                         In this respect also the child of    who came to their doors looking
                                       God is called to live the life of      for these escapees. Spies are, in
ProL Hanko is professor of Church      the antithesis and "speak the          the very nature of their work, re-
History and New Testament in the                                              quired to live a lie - just as the
Protestant Reformed Seminary.

                                                                                      June  1,1989  I The Standard Bearer I395


spies did who searched the land               because the drizzle would do his      do. He was a murderer from the
of Canaan prior to the conquest.              crops no good, and, in relation to    beginning, and abode not in the
This same line of reasoning is                these crops, dying for lack of        truth, because there is no truth in
used to justify lying to a desper-            moisture, no rain was falling for     him. When he speaketh a lie he
ately ill patient if the knowledge            the moisture was insufficient to      speaketh of his own; for he is a
of the seriousness of the illness             do his crops any good. In such a      liar, and the father of it" (John
would make the patient worse. It              way circumstances determine           8:44). For this reason our Heidel-
is used to justify lying to the               whether a statement is a lie or       berg Catechism tells us that the
authorities in government if the              the truth.                            ninth commandment enjoins us
goal is the protection of the inno-              In order to sort out these         to "avoid all sorts of lies and
cent. Ministers lie to the govern-            things, there are a few truths in     deceit, as the proper works of the
ment if their churches are being              Scripture which we must briefly       devil" (Q. & A. 112).
used to hide illegal aliens, and              mention.                                The point is that the lie has
this is done in the name of a                   The first of these is that God      now become the normal and on-
higher justice which seeks the                Himself is Truth. That is, He is      ly possible conduct of the sinner.
welfare of the oppressed and                  Truth in Himself. God is Truth in     It is in his very nature to lie. In
downtrodden. Pro-life people lie              Himself because truth is that         fact, he can, apart from grace, do
to government officials when                  which corresponds with reality,       nothing but lie. He denies reality
their campaigns against abortion              and God is Himself not only the       as it exists in creation as Gods
result in the bombing of abortion             highest Reality, but the only         revelation for He denies God
clinics. A higher standard of right           Reality. He is the eternal God        Himself. And he hates the truth
and wrong requires us to lie                  Who alone has existence in            as it is in Christ and revealed in
under certain instances. A noble              Himself and the fountain and          the Scriptures. How clear this is
end justifies a wrong means to at-            source of His existence within        to parents, for example, in the
tain it.                                      His own divine being.                 spiritual instruction of their
   This idea can, of course, be                 Because He created all things       children. It soon becomes evident
carried to various extremes. I                as the revelation of Himself,         to parents that lying comes
remember reading in a book                    created reality reveals this truth    naturally to children. They do
some time ago that the circum-                which is in God. Adam was             not have to be taught to lie.
stances indeed had to dictate                 formed in Gods image so that He       They do not have to be given
whether or not a person was ac-               could know the truth of creation,     special instruction in the art of ly-
tually telling a lie. The author              know it as the truth of God, and      ing. They know how to lie
used two illustrations. One was               speak that truth as God's prophet.    without being told. Almost from
the illustration of a Dutch family            For Adam truth was whatever           the first moment they are able to
which hid a downed airman in a                conformed to the reality of Gods      communicate, they lie. To teach
closet in the house. When the                 revelation of Himself in the crea-    them to tell the truth is the dif-
Gestapo came to inquire whether               tion.                                 ficult thing. Every effort must be
a certain downed airman was in                  The lie originates with Satan.      bent to do this, and yet parents
the home of this family, the                  He came into Paradise to tempt        often feel as if they are running
father answered with a firm No.               Eve and he used the lie to per-       against a stone wall, for to tell
This, according to the author,                suade Eve to disobey God. He          the truth goes contrary to the en-
was the truth because not a                   contradicted God's Word and ac-       tire nature of a child. To teach a
downed airman was hiding in the               cused God of lying when he said       child to tell the truth is like forc-
closet, but a quivering, fear-filled          to Eve, "Ye shall not surely die:     ing a plant to grow towards the
mass of cells. The other illustra-            for God doth know that in the         ground rather than towards the
tion was of a farmer who was                  day ye eat thereof, then your         sun.
watching his fields wither and die            eyes shall be opened, and ye            Christ is the revelation of the
because of a severe drought. A                shall be as gods, knowing good        truth as it is in God. He even
visitor and the farmer were                   and evil" (Genesis 3:4, 5). When      says of Himself: "I am the way,
surveying the fields when rain                Eve accepted this lie of Satan,       the truth, and the life" (John
began to fall, although it was a              she became a party in the lie and     14:6); and John says of Christ
rather light drizzle. When the                chose to stand with Satan in call-    that "We beheld his glory, the
visitor commented on the fact                 ing God a liar. This is why Jesus     glory as of the only begotten of
that it was raining, the farmer               later accused the Pharisees: "Ye      the Father, full of grace and
responded with an emphatic No.                are of your father the devil, and     truth" (John 1:14). As the revela-
The farmer was telling the truth              the lusts of your father ye will      tion of the truth, He is the revela-

396  / The Standard Bearer  I June 1, 1989


tion of God as the God Who               A brief survey of what Scrip-        In chapter 6:16-19  lying is said to
saves His people. Thus, through        ture has to say about lying will       be one of seven sins which the
Him, the sanctified believer is        convince us that lying is always       Lord hates.
given the spiritual power to tell      wrong.                                   God's anger against lying is
the truth. Jesus prays, "And for         Already in the law given by          often expressed in Scripture. In
their sakes I sanctify myself, that    Moses, lying was condemned:            Psalm 5:6, the Psalmist says,
they also might be sanctified          "Ye shall not steal, neither deal      "Thou shalt destroy them that
through the truth" (John 17.19).       falsely, neither lie one to            speak leasing (lies): the Lord will
This surely means that Christ          another" (Leviticus 19: 11). Prov-     abhor the bloody and deceitful
enables His people to know and         erbs speaks often of lying. In         man." God Himself speaks
love the truth as it is in Him and     chapter 12:22 Solomon says, "Ly-       through the Psalmist in 119:63: "I
given to us in Scripture; i.e., to     ing lips are abomination to the        hate and abhor lying: but thy law
know the truth as a body of doc-       Lord: but they that deal truly are     do I love." And the Psalmist
trine which is given to the            his delight." In 24:28 we read:        prays, "Deliver my soul, 0 Lord,
church. But it also means that         "Be not a witness against thy          from lying lips, and from a
that same truth sanctifies, so that    neighbor without cause: and            deceitful tongue" (Psalm 120:2).
God's people are enabled to            deceive not with thy lips." In         Ananias and Sapphira were killed
speak that truth, to speak so that     12:19 the truth and the lie are        because of their lies (Acts 5:3-5).
all they say is in harmony with        contrasted: "A righteous man           And, again, in Proverbs, God
reality.                               hateth lying: but a wicked man is      says: "A false witness shall not be
  Scripture often equates dark-        loathsome, and cometh to               unpunished, and he that speaketh
ness with the lie and light with       shame." And in 12:19: "The lip of      lies shall perish" (19:9).'
the truth. The world lives in the      truth shall be established forever:      From all this it is clear that
darkness of the lie. God's people      but a lying tongue is but for a        Scripture forbids lying without
are the light of the world and are     moment." The relation between          any exception and lying ought to
enabled to shine in this dark          lying and the breaking of the          have no place in the life of God's
world as a light because the light     ninth commandment is clearly           people. Gods fierce anger rests
of the truth shines through them.      set forth in 14:5, 15: "A faithful     upon the liar, for He hates all
The truth which they confess and       witness will not lie: but a false      forms of lying. The truth alone
speak is that great light shining      witness will utter lies. A true        must always be found in the
in a very dark place.                  witness delivereth souls: but a        mouths of God's people. 0
                                       deceitful witness speaketh lies."



                                       Court Affirms
 Church  and                           Conscientious Objection
State
Mr. James Lanting                      to Labor Unions

  The organized labor movement         Union corruption has been high-        domination and place control of
in this country has always been        lighted recently because of the        Teamster assets and elections in
characterized by rebellion,            federal government's suit against      the hands of a court-appointed
violence, greed, and extortion.        the notorious Teamster's union.        trustee.
                                       Using federal racketeering laws,         Federal prosecutors claimed
Mr. Lanting, a member of South         the U.S. attorney general's office     the suit was the culmination of
Holland Protestant Reformed            sought to wrest control of the 1.6     30 years of effort by the govern-
Church, is a practicing attorney.      million-member union from Mafia        ment to break the "devil's pact"

                                                                                  June  1, 1989  I The Standard Bearer  /  397


the Teamster leadership had                    Colstly Convictions. A few          nations no longer embraced
made with the Mafia. Govern-                 denominations, however, in-           "conscientious objections" to
ment documents filed in the case             cluding the Protestant Reformed       labor unions, a necessary require
alleged the Teamsters had been               Churches, have consistently and       ment for this exemption. Thus,
dominated by organized crime                 resolutely insisted that member-      although members of churches
through a "campaign of fear"                 ship in the body of Christ and        who have "historically held" ob-
that included 20 murders, scores             membership in godless labor           jections to labor unions are pro-
of bombings, beatings, bribes, ex-           unions are incompatible. And this     tected, the members of many
tortion, and theft. Twenty-six               conviction has been terribly cost-    evangelical denominations were
reputed mobsters were named as               ly for some. Many fathers of          unfortunately outside the pur-
co-defendants. Government docu-              large families, enjoying jobs with    view of this important law.
ments also noted that five of the            seniority built upon decades of         Exemption under the Civil
Teamsters' recent presidents (in-            diligent work, lost it all when       Rights Act. But what about
cluding James "Jimmy" Hoffa,                 they refused to join and support      these conscientious objectors wh
Roy Williams, and Jackie Presser)            the "brotherhood" after union         do not belong to churches which
were all indicted for federal                takeovers in their shops and fac-     traditionally oppose union mem-
felonies. (Sadly, the government             tories. Countless others were         bership? A recent Supreme Cour
has recent!y settled this suit after         forced to avoid attractive occupa-    ruling has affirmed the right of a
gaining few meaningful conces-               tiona.l preferences because these     worker to withhold union dues,
sions from the union.)                       trades were tightly controlled by     even though her church did not
   A Scandal. Such corruption                unions requiring membership and       share her religious convictions
and violence are not, of course,             allegiance as a condition of ap-      (Intern. Ass'n. of Machinists v.
restricted to the Teamsters; all             prenticeship.                         Boeing Co., 1988).
large labor unions today are in-               It has become increasingly            Thomasine Nichols, an
fected with the same or similar              clear, however, that these hard-      employee of the Boeing Co.`s
evils. It is, therefore, nothing less        ships are no longer necessary, at     "closed shop" in Seattle, refused
than scandalous that most                    least for the present. Recent         on religious grounds to pay dues
evangelical denominations suffer             federal laws and court decisions      to the Machinist & Aerospace
their communicant members to                 have firmly established that an       Workers Union. The union sued
join, pay membership dues, and               empiloyee holding sincere             her and Boeing, arguing that
otherwise support these sordid               religious beliefs opposing union      Nichols should be fired for
and anti-Christian organizations.            membership must be exempted           violating the "closed shop" agree
   This was not always the case.             from joining and paying dues to       ment. Nichols was a member of
Historically, many Reformed and              a labor union.                        Bethel Temple, a Seattle church
Presbyterian denominations con-                Exemption under the NLRA.           which permitted parishioners to
demned and forbad union                      In 1980, Congress enacted Sec-        join and support labor unions.
membership. But today, tragically            tion 19 of the National Labor         She could not, therefore, appeal
enough, almost all evangelical               Relations Act (NLRA). This law        to Section 19 of the NLRA.
churches have capitulated to                 states that no worker may be            Boeing and Nichols, however,
"pew pressure" and tolerate                  forced to join or pay dues to a       asserted protection under anothe
union membership. Curiously,                 labor union if he is a member of      federal law - the "religious ac-
these timorous churches do not               a church "which has historically      commodation" provisions of the
argue that Christian union                   held conscientious objections to      1972 amendment to the Civil
members aren't corporately                   joining or financially supporting     Rights Act which require
responsible for the interminable             labor organizations" (see box).       employers to take reasonable
union corruption and rebellion.              Such a conscientious objector is,     steps to accommodate their
Rather, they weakly suggest that,            however, required to pay the          employees' religious beliefs (see
after all, this is an imperfect and          equivalent of union dues to an        box). Nichols had offered to con-
fallen world where prohibition of            approved charity.                     tribute to a charity a monthly
union membership would result                  The sad irony is, however, that     sum equivalent to union dues am
in unreasonable hardship and                 this very powerful "right to          demanded that Boeing accommo-
essentially preclude or exclude              work" provision in the federal        date her personal religious views
Christians from many union-                  law is useless to many evangel-       that the Bible forbids member-
controlled occupations.                      ical Christians. This is because      ship in and support of labor
                                             when this law was passed in           unions.
                                             1980, their churches and denomi-

398  / The Standard Bearer I June 1, 1989


        The union countered, however,                                                  that nothing less than "wide-          also requires all employers and
that the NLRA requirement that                                                         spread refusal" to pay dues            unions to exempt workers who
the worker belong to a church                                                          would work undue hardship on           sincerely hold personal religious
that traditionally opposed labor                                                       the unions.                            convictions opposing unions.
unions superseded the broader                                                            The Right to Work. One of            Under both laws, the conscien-
"religious accommodation" provi-                                                       the most valuable and important        tious objector must contribute a
sions of the Civil Rights Act. The                                                     rights of a citizen is his right to    sum equal to union dues to an
union also contended that                                                              work. Compulsory union mem-            agreed charity.
employer/union accommodation                                                           bership has robbed many sensi-           It is remarkable that the apos-
of such personal religious convic-                                                     tive Christians of this funda-         tle Paul often took advantage of
tions violates the Establishment                                                       mental right in the past. But it is    the liberties and rights afforded
Clause of the First Amendment.                                                         now abundantly clear that, for         him as a Roman citizen. We con-
Finally, the union argued that                                                         the present anyway, a Christian        temporary evangelical Reformed
non-payment of union dues by                                                           cannot be forced to abandon his        Christians should likewise ag-
religious objectors would work                                                         employment or occupational             gressively assert all the rights
an "undue hardship" on the                                                             preference because of com-             and liberties we still enjoy as
unions.                                                                                pulsory union membership               citizens. One such important free-
       The Supreme Court disagreed.                                                    demands.                               dom deserving our attention is
Affirming Nichols' right to with-                                                        In summary, under Section 19         the right to work free from the
hold her union dues because of                                                         of the NLRA, a worker who has          avaricious impositions of labor
religious convictions, the Court                                                       membership in a church which           unions in this country. q
ruled that membership in a                                                             has "historically held conscien-
church that "historically                                                              tious objection" to labor unions is
opposed' labor unions is not a re-                                                     exempt from union membership               Strength, Fortress,
quirement under the "religious                                                         and dues. But more importantly,
accommodation" provisions of                                                           at least for evangelical Christians                     Refuge
the unrelated Civil Rights Act.                                                        who belong to denominations            Dear Refuge of my weary soul,
The Court also rejected the                                                            who have abandoned their objec-          On thee, when sorrows rise,
union's argument that this con-                                                        tions to unions, the "religious ac-    On thee, when waves of trouble
stituted the establishment of                                                          commodation" provision of the               roll,
religion. Finally, the Court ruled                                                     much broader Civil Rights Act            My fainting hope relies.
                                                                                                                              To thee I tell each rising grief,
                         _:,a .  -?  -;,  !  -7,
 ,:,-.  `:`.~"".`.i,,r`,.'  I*`* . ,' `_ > .`*' ~.%` ' - , `*" .."; -`.' :                                                      For thou alone canst heal;
 .  '  *-  2  ";  ;  .".:s~,`.,`,.~~Fderat-i$w*:lGe~
. `(  ....,-  d                                                                                                               Thy word can bring a sweet relief
1 1                _. j "` . . ,` " : `$*- .`,-: -: ; e$*a: >,"; : ", `- * .'
         `,`:- Tw@ liinr &lated$$e& law&now,                                                                                    For every pain I feel.
. `, .j~~~~rs .f>&+;$F$~`rti. la$p.&~~x
1; 7 .& :~h~~,~~,~~~~~~-~l~~~~;;:~~~~  pi                                                                                     But oh, when gloomy doubts
              ,
" 1 /,                      i'. c .; i - i , a.. :\ )i  `,v..:  ;;.`,._'  **".r.,:r
                      `)1 il ? .I,.;' .`, I'; `,&`,i'."`-  .,l,ir,"s, 8,                                                           prevail,
                   .`_`, .`,`..`.",- -5` . _.,. `.i' ;. .-.`*. (". * ,_" `;.,* _*                                               I fear to call thee mine;
 ,`:`sect&ci9 ,jf,&>~@ss~~ L:`i$Jt:;,,",:                                                                                     The springs of comfort seem to fail,
*/ ,`.  ~iA~y;.~~pl~~~~~,:~h~QS,~..:  i  ".::;":                                                                                And all my hopes decline.
 . .member$f a$~+llieres t.q;es~t$@i:.~,~
 _ :lished:$@ ~tra$pn~J$&i&s.  $$:;;I`. ;f>                                                                                   Yet, gracious God, where shall I
       `teachin$s  of_;+,bona. fide r$li&on,: i                                                                                    flee?
 *  bod~?,`br~~c~~r?rhi~~.~~~~:histpricallyr                                                                                    Thou art my only trust;
`,: .&i$ ,c~~~~l~ntrouso~Jectic>ns~~o~,,  l                                                                                   And still my soul would cleave to
: jo?nin$- or frnari,6ial~~;1~~~~~ ..-i                                                                                            thee,
       labor ,organi&fions~s"h~ll not:be ye+:                                                                                   Though prostrate in the dust.
: .~ quiired.%$$$ b';--f.i~~~~~?ll~.~~~~~~t~                                                                                  Thy mercy-seat is open still,
ii".`&iy.labor organl@tlo$  :as,a:condir. !
 . ;tion ,of~+i@@ymenf; ;excepttha~,:,~~i                                                                                       Here let my soul retreat,
        qlcl%  `Gilp~c&~~p~~; he jig ;:~?;:~~a:, .1                                                                           With humble hope attend thy will,
"- q&red,  *,
                        .~"' .*iapQ~; hums= cqtialto.  ;,;`:                                                                    And wait beneath thy feet.
" .su;eh,.dues aids iiiitiazi~ii-b~~~,itd:`a:' ;"                                                                                                       -Anne Steele
1' : nonrelipl~,~~,..~~nlit6~~:-;;rgan~~~~i~~,                                                                                                    S.B. April 15, 1928
  _ c,harit+e:,fund:Z :' i< ,:!`;Z$9 U;S.C,,~.; .;".
       S,ection:~$69.?,:
       -,_                                :J':, . . I,, =,z: F:? :;_,;1;`:
                    ,  *  :  `, (""  I  ..'  -  ,( ,--`i;: `, s-4               .-
,,1  _  "  ,:  :.                                 1  _, .  i::  "  I  .-

                                                                                                                                  June 1, 1989  I The Standard Bearer  I399


                                                    I and II Samuel -
     Bible Study                                    The Beginnings of the
I    Guide
     Rev. jason Kortering                           Kingdom

        We now turn our attention to                from Samuel through David, ap-            ten tribes from the house of David
     the next book in the section of                proximately 125 years, from               that there were really, "`kings of
     the Old Testament designated as                 1140 B.C. to 1015 B.C. Obviously,        Judah". On the other hand, nothing
     "The Former Prophets." For this                Samuel did not live during this           can be inferred with certainty re-
     reason we do not treat Ruth now,               entire period. Rather, he forms           specting the date of composition,
     but will take that up in connec-               the important link between the            either from the distinction drawn be-
                                                                                              tween Israel and Judah in I Sam.
     tion with the section designated               period of the judges and the              11:8,  17.52,  18:16, II Sam.  3:10,  24:l
     as "The Writings." The Former                  kings. He was the one who                 which evidently existed as early as
     Prophets include Joshua, Judges,               wrestled with the consequences            the time of David, as we may see
     both books of Samuel, and both                 of evil that accompanied the              from II Sam. 2:9, 10, 5:1-5, 19:41,
     of Kings.                                      judges and had to deal with               20:2; or from the formula, "to this
     NAME-AUTHOR-DATE                               Israel's request to have a king,          day" which we find in I Sam. 5:5,
        You may notice that in our                  "like the other nations had." He          6:18,  30:25, II Sam.  4:3,  6:18,  18:18,
     King James Bibles there is in-                 was the one who anointed both             since the duration of the facts to
     serted under the title, "The First             Saul and David to fill that impor-        which it is applied is altogether un-
     Book of Samuel," the words,                    tant office in Israel.                    known; or lastly from such passages
     "otherwise called the First Book                  According to Jewish tradition,         as I Sam. 9:9, II Sam. 13:18, where
                                                                                              explanations are given of expres-
     of the Kings." The reason for this             Samuel was the author of these            sions and customs belonging to the
     insertion is that in the Septuagint            books. That he wrote. some of the         times of Saul and David, as it is
     Bible (O.T. Hebrew translated in-              material is a possibility, but it is      quite possible that they may have
     to Greek), the books of I and II               obvious that he could not have            been altogether changed by the time
     Samuel and I and II Kings are                  written all. A few things enter in-       of Solomon. In general, the contents
     called I, II, III, IV Book of .King-           to consideration on this point.           and style of the books point to the
     doms; and they are called I, II,               Since it spans a period of history        earliest times after the division of the
     III, IV Book of Kings in the Latin             far beyond the average life span          kingdom; since we find no allusions
     Vulgate. The earliest Hebrew                   of any one man, the author must           whatever to the decay of the
     Bibles used Samuel and Kings                   be someone other than Samuel.             kingdoms which afterwards took
     which our King James follows.                  Keil and Delitzsch in their Com-          place.
       The two books under present                  mentary suggest,                            In all likelihood, Samuel and
     consideration, I and II Samuel,                                                          others wrote down important
                                                      With regard to the origin of the
     are called that because of the                                                           facts which became the source
                                                    books of Samuel, all that can be
     prominence that Samuel has in                  maintained with certainty is, that        material for the author to use.
                                                                                              We may draw this conclusion
     the events recorded. The                       they were not written till after the
     historical events mentioned in                 division of the kingdom under             from II Chronicles 29:29: "Now
     these books span a period of time              Solomon's successor. This is evident      the acts of David the king, first
                                                    from the remark in I Sam. 27:6,  that,    and last, behold they are written
                                                    `Ziklag pertaineth unto the kings of      in the book of Samuel the seer,
                                                    Judah unto this day': For although        and in the book of Nathan the
     Rev. Kortering is pastor of the Prot-          Davis' was king over the tribe of         prophet, and in the book of Gad
     estant Reformed Church of Grand-               Juda.h alone for seven years, it was      the seer, with all his reign and
     ville,  Michigan.                              not till after the falling away of the

     400  / The Standard Bearer  I  June  I,1989


his might, and the times that           people to turn from idol gods and      real in the history of their first
went over him, and over Israel,         follow the true God, Jehovah.          king, Saul, and in many subse-
and over all the kingdoms of the        God was recognized as God.             quent ones. What God is doing in
countries."                             However, the opposition per-           this history is meeting Israel on
  As we have emphasized                 sisted. He had to deal with Eli        the level of their understanding.
before, the importance of know-         and his evil sons. He had to deal      He is dealing with them as way-
ing the author and exact circum-        with the influence of the idol         ward children. He says, all right,
stances of writing are not crucial      gods and the presence of the           you want a king, you will have
to us in our accepting the Divine       Philistines. Another indication of     one and you will have to learn
Authorship. If the Holy Spirit          the depravity of the people was        the lessons of life the hard way.
considered it important for us to       when they requested a king, "like      But, there is more. God will turn
know who wrote what, He would           the other nations have." There         this for good. He will give them a
have made that known. The em-           was no doubt but that the nation       greater understanding of the
phasis must not be on man, but          was in complete disarray. There        theocracy in giving them a real
upon God, Who has given us His          was a critical lack of leadership.     king. He will put "His King" upon
Word through human agency.              From a natural point of view,          His holy hill in Zion. Ultimately,
PURPOSE OF THE BOOKS                    Israel could surely use a good         God is teaching Israel and us
OF SAMUEL                               king to guide them in victory          through this history, that Christ,
  We can begin by pointing out          over their enemies and to              the King, is the only hope of
that these books have historical        organize their public life. Why        Israel. The rule of God can be
value, that is, they convey to us       was there confusion and disar-         maintained upon a sinful people
details of a period of history that     ray? Was it because God was            only in Jesus Christ their King.
spans the end of the period of          unable to function as a king? The        To accomplish this, God gave
the judges and includes the life-       answer is obvious: God was             them David and Solomon, the
time.of Samuel, Saul, and David.        faithful, but the people did not       great types of Jesus Christ.
The unity of this historical ac-        want Him to be their king. The         Jehovah still is THE King, He is
count demonstrates that the no-         real issue was the spiritual condi-    the sovereign God, Creator and
tion of higher criticism that there     tion of Israel. They had rejected      Lord over all men, especially
are different authors at different      God and followed after the idol        over His people. He administers
periods of time is wrong. This is       gods of the nations that sur-          His kingdom through His Son,
historical accounting at its best.      rounded them and dwelt among           Jesus Christ. Israel received this
We read these books with in-            them.                                  Son in the person of David and
terest and learn much about the           In dealing with such a request       Solomon. As God, He turns their
characters that are mentioned,          for a king, Samuel shows his real      evil request for good for the sake
the times in which they lived, the      spiritual fervor. He was appalled,     of the gospel.
political and social upheaval in-       he was hurt. Yes, he associated
volved. We learn more about the         his own leadership with Jehovah.
sad spiritual conditions of the         He took it personally, and recog-
time of judges and how this ends        nized that rejection of Jehovah        New Sub
in the moral decadence of the           was rejection of Samuel. God
house of Eli.                           reminded him that Israel's rejec-      scribers! You can
  The purpose of these books,           tion of Jehovah God was the real
however, is not understood on           issue. The people had shown            receive the
this level alone. This is sacred        beyond a shadow of doubt that
writing, its contents are the Holy      they were not worthy of Jehovah
Bible. God is speaking to us in         as their king. When they asked         Standard Bearer
these pages, and we do well to          for another king, "like the other
ask, what is God saying to us?          nations," they expressed it boldly     for  the  first  year
  The critical issue in this history    before God and His prophet.
is the theocracy. This term               The astounding thing is that         for ha/f price,
describes Gods rule over Israel.        God granted their request. True,
He was their king. When God             it was accompanied with warn-
raised up Samuel, Samuel in-            ings that such a king would hurt       $6.00.'
stituted the proper worship of          them, he would take their
Jehovah in the tabernacle at            children and their possessions
Shiloh. Once more he called the         and abuse them. This became

                                                                                   June 1, 1989 I The Standard Bearer I401


THE MAIN DIVISIONS OF                         David; and David is not complete       proper place; in chapters 13-31
THESE BOOKS                                   without Solomon. Hence these           we have an accounting of the
   We entitled this article, The              two books deal with the begin-         history of the kingdom of Israel
Beginnings of the Kingdom. This               nings of the kingdom.                  under the rule of Saul; and in II
applies here, because the two                   We will follow in our outline        Samuel chapters l-24 we have
books of Samuel deal with the                 the three main divisions that          the history of David's rule as
transition from the judges to the             cover these two books. These           king. There are many details of
kings. God will give them a king,             divisions simply follow the lead-      history that we will have to
but it will come in the way of                ing characters involved. In            group together in order to keep
gradual transition. Samuel must               chapters 1-12 we see that in           this outline reasonably brief. q
anoint not only Saul, but also                Samuel the theocracy is given its





Guided Into                                   Augustine and the
All Truth
Rev. Char/es Terpstra                         Pelagian Heresy (2)

   In our last segment we ended               the sword of the Spirit in ser-        entered this career, teaching it in
by considering briefly the heresy             mons, treatises, and personal let-     the cities of Tagaste, Carthage,
of the British monk Pelagius. We              ters - even though at the time         Rome, and Milan. These natural
noted that the heart of his error             he was busily engaged in another       skills and training the Spirit put
was the denial of man's need for              controversy, that against the          to use for the cause of the gospel
the sovereign work of Gods                    Donatists. Augustine sensed at         against the Pelagian heresy.
grace in saving him. According                once the error of Pelagius and its     Augustine was able to grasp the
to Pelagius natural man has                   danger to the church, and knew         error of Pelagius and expose it
God's gift of free-will and that              that it needed immediate atten-        clearly in speech and writing
was a11 he needed. By directing               tion. He was to devote the next        because the Spirit had equipped
his will in the right way the                 twenty years of his life to the at-    him with these natural abilities.
natural man could make himself                tention of this heresy.                Augustine's literary output during
good in the eyes of God and do                THE SPIRIT'S PREPARATION               the Pelagian controversy alone is
the good God required of him.                 OF AUGUSTINE                           astounding  - ten major treatises
He was not a dead sinner who                    It is not difficult to find out      - in addition to countless ser-
depended on an efficacious oper-              why Augustine rose to contend          mons and letters!
ation of God in the heart.                    with this heresy so quickly and          But in the second place, the
   It was on account.of this out-             vigorously. This was due to the        Spirit also prepared Augustine
right attack on God's grace that              fact that the Spirit of truth had      spiritually for his task. We have
Augustine, the great bishop of                prepared him for the defense and       reference to his difficult journey
Hippo, took to holy arms. As                  development of the "theology of        to conversion. The road to
soon as the strange breezes of                grace" in an extraordinary way.        becoming bishop in the church
doctrine from the Pelagian camp               In the first place, the Spirit         was anything but normal and
blew into North Africa, this ar-              prepared Augustine naturally for       smooth for Augustine. Born in
dent servant of the Lord took up              this task. Augustine was a man of      A.D. 354 to a God-fearing
                                              brilliant mind and possessed out-      mother, Monica, but a God-less
                                              standing gifts in logic and speech.    father, Patricius, Augustine was
Rev. Terpstra is pastor of the  Prit-         He was trained in the art of           as a child taught the Christian
estant Reformed Church of South               rhetoric (speaking and writing),       faith and practice by the example
Holland, Illinois.                            and in the early part of his life      and word of his pious mother.

402  / The Standard Bearer  I June  I,1989


But during the period of his for-       critical approach to the Bible. But     basis of the baptism of infants. In
mal education outside the home          after a time he discovered the          contrast to the Pelagians who
Augustine gradually strayed from        folly of their method and instead       said that infants needed baptism
his Christian up-bringing and fell      came to understand that the             only for consecration to God and
deeply into the vain philosophies       Bible had to be handled and re-         not as a washing from sin,
and wicked lifestyle of the world.      ceived as the very Word of God.         Augustine taught that infants
For a time his life was a spiritual     This had the effect of giving him       need this washing precisely
roller-coaster, as he dabbled in        a deep devotion to the Scriptures.      because of original sin. Pointing
Manichaeism, skepticism, Neo-           Even before his conversion              to Romans 5:12, he said that all
Platonism, and immorality, and          Augustine applied himself to a          infants have derived sin and
yet found no joy and peace in           careful study of God's Word. But        death from Adam by natural de-
any of these. Finally, in Milan,        when through his conversion the         scent, not by imitation. Therefore
through the influence of the god-       light of truth fell upon his heart,     they have need of the Savior
ly bishop Ambrose and in answer         he gave himself wholeheartedly          from sin, Jesus Christ. That,
to his mother's prayers,                to the study of the Scriptures.         according to him, is what bap-
Augustine was delivered from his        Hence, by the time the con-             tism implies. Thus he writes:
bondage to sin and shown the            troversy broke out he was well-         Now, seeing that they (i.e., the
light of truth by the Spirit. Conse-    equipped to wield the Sword of          Pelagians  -CJq admit the necessity
quently, he was catechized and          the Spirit. With skillful exposition    of baptizing infants, . . . they cannot
then baptized on Easter Sunday          of the Word he exposed the lie of       avoid the further concession, that in-
in A.D. 387. He then went on to         Pelagius and stated the truth of        fants require the same benefits of the
the city of Hippo, where he was         God.                                    Mediator, in order that, being
ordained presbyter in A.D. 391,         AUGUSTINE'S WORK                        washed by the sacrament.. . ., they
                                                                                might be reconciled to God, and so
and five years later became             AGAINST THE PELAGIANS                   live in Him, be saved;and  delivered,
bishop, in which position he con-         The first point at which              and redeemed, and enlightened. But
tinued until his death in 430.          Augustine -confronted the attack        from what, if not from death, and
  It was in this way that               of Pelagius was on the doctrine         the vices, and guilt, and thraldom,
Augustine was spiritually               of sin. This necessarily had to be      and darkness of sin? And, inasmuch
prepared to confront the Pelagian       the starting point. If Pelagius was     as they do not commit any sin in the
error. From his own life he knew        right that man came into the            tender age of infancy by their actual
well the depths of man's depravi-       world without original sin, but         transgression, original sin only is left,
ty and the wickedness of the            rather spiritually neutral with the     The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers,
human heart. But he had also            power to do the good if he chose        vol. V (all references in this article
tasted the power of God's grace,        to do so, then Augustine would          are from this volume -CJv, p. 30.
and knew that it was this alone         have to concede that the grace of       This truth of original sin
- not his free-will - that had          God was not necessary; man              Augustine also demonstrated
saved his soul from eternal ruin.       could save himself. If, on the          clearly in a later work entitled
When, therefore, Pelagius came          other hand, man was a sinner,           "On the Grace of Christ, and On
out with his novelties, Augustine       born guilty and with a corrupt          Original Sin" (A.D. 418). There
knew Pelagius was wrong                 nature, then clearly man needed         he wrote:
because of the knowledge. of. his       the grace..of God to be saved and       Now, whoever maintains that human
                                                                                nature at any period required not
own sin and his own personal ex-        to do the good.                         the second Adam for its physician,
perience of the saving work of            It was this latter that               because it was not corrupted in the
God's grace.                            Augustine found to be the truth         first Adam, is convicted as an enemy
  There is one thing more that          of Scripture. Repeatedly in his         to the grace of God. . . . How hap-
should be noted concerning the          writings against the Pelagians he       pens it, then, that the human nature,
Spirit's preparation of Augustine       begins by pointing out that their       which first existed, is praised by
for the Pelagian controversy.           fundamental error is a denial of        these men as being so far less
That is that Augustine was led in-      sin and its effect on mankind.          tainted with evil manners? How is it
to an unswerving submission to          Hence, in his very first work           that they overlook the fact that men
and a deep understanding of the         against the Pelagians, "On the          were even then sunk in so many in-
holy Scriptures. This too came          Merits and Forgiveness of Sins,         tolerable sins, that, . . . the whole
about through Augustine's pre-          and On the Baptism of Infants"          world was in God's just judgment
                                                                                destroyed by the flood. . . ? From
conversion experience. When he          (A.D. 412) Augustine set out to         the moment, then, when "by one
fell in with the sect of the            prove the doctrine of original sin.     man sinned entered into the world,
Manichees, he adopted their             He did this by arguing on the           and death by sin, and so death

                                                                                    June  1,1989 I The Standard Bearer I403


passed upon all men, in whom all              begin to become known to him,             to the religion itself in which we are
sinned", the entire mass of our               unless he also takes delight in and       instructed, and to the piety whereby
nature was ruined beyond doubt,               feels love for it, he neither does his    we worship God. . . , "On the Merits
and fell into the possession of its           duty, nor sets about it, nor lives        and Forgiveness of Sins", p. 44.
destroyer, p. 249.                            rightly, p. 85.                           In another treatise Augustine was
   This meant that Pelagius' doc-                Having established the Scrip-          even more forceful:
trine of the power of that natural            tural teaching on the doctrine of         For if natural capacity, by help of
man's free-will was a fabrication.            sin, Augustine set the stage for          free will, is in itself sufficient both for
Augustine showed that, while                  the truth concerning the grace of         discovering how one ought to live,
man had indeed been created                   God which alone restores the sin-         and also for leading a holy life, then
with the gift of free-will such that          ner and enables him to do what            "Christ died in vain". . . . Why also
he could choose to do and did do              is pleasing to God. It was at this        may I not myself exclaim? - nay, I
the good, in the Fall he lost this,           point that Augustine was most             will exclaim, and chide them with a
and consequently all men since                powerfully on the defensive and           Christian's sorrow, - "Christ is
then have been born without                   on the offensive. In treating the         become of no effect unto you, who-
this. Augustine did not deny that                                                       soever of you are justified by nature;
                                              doctrine of God's sovereign grace         ye are fallen from grace . . . . " "On
man acted freely; but he proved               he was above a11 concerned for            Nature and Grace", p. 137.
from Scripture that truth con-                the truth of God and the glory of         God's sovereign grace - that was
cerning the will of men that                  His name. To deny the grace of            the theme defended and de-
Luther later set forth against                God as the Pelagians did was for          veloped by Augustine in this con-
Erasmus, namely, that the will of             Augustine a most grievous of-             troversy. This was his chief con-
the natural man is bound to sin               fense. In one of his treatises he         cern and reason for battling
and sin only; it has no ability to            wrote:                                    Pelagius and his followers. To
will or do the good. Accordingly,             For there are some persons who            him, only that faith which held to
Augustine stated in his work "On              presume so much upon the free             God's grace was the catholic
the Spirit and the Letter" (A.D.              determination of the human wilt, as       Christian faith. Exactly what the
412):                                         to suppose that it need not sin, and      "Doctor of grace" taught con-
A man? free-will, indeed, avails for          that we require no divine assistance      cerning this cardinal truth will
nothing except to sin, if he knows            . . . . Now how hurtful, and how per-     have to wait until our next arti-
not the way of truth; and even after          nicious and contrary to our salvation     cle. Cl
his duty and his proper aim shall             in Christ, and how violently adverse





                                              Book Reviews

THE INCARNATION, by Gordon                    of God. Clark argues that Jesus           human person. To deny either is to
H. Clark; The Trinity Foundation,             cannot be a real man like us              fall into error. (p. 78)
1988; 91 pp. plus appendixes;                 unless He is a human person.                 Clark is quite willing to
$8.95 (Reviewed by the Editor)                Jesus, therefore, is both a divine        criticize both the ecumenical and
   This is a disturbing, and even             person and a human person.                the Presbyterian creeds, which
distressing, book. Gordon H.                  John W. Robbins  accurately ex-           teach that Jesus has two natures
Clark, renowned champion of                   presses Clark's teaching in the           in the unity of the one divine
Presbyterian orthodoxy,                       concluding paragraph (written by          person. The manner of his
challenges the church's tradi-                Robbins  because Clark died               criticism is cavalier. Having
tional and creedal doctrine of the            before completing the book),              charged a "fatal flaw in the
incarnation, that Jesus is one per-           when he states:                           Chalcedonian Symbol," Clark tells
son and that this person is the                 Jesus Christ was and is both God        us that "its bishop-authors did not
divine person of the eternal Son              and man, a divine person and a            explain, and probably did not
                                                                                        themselves know the meanings

404  / The Standard Bearer  I June  I,1989


of `rational soul,' `consubstantial,'    natures of the Savior and its in-       vious to me that a compound
`nature,' `subsistence,' and above       ability to unify the work of            English sentence is not a person.
all `person"' (p. 15). He treats the     redemption.                             Besides, since the word "com-
Westminster divines in similar              As though it clinches his argu-      posite" has as its basic meaning
fashion. Writing about the West-         ment that Christ is also a human        `made up of parts,' Clark's defini-
minster Confession's doctrine of         person, Clark repeatedly raises         tion seems to carry with it a
God's infinity (Clark denies that        the question, "Who suffered and         challenge to the doctrine of the
God is infinite: "the Bible              died in the suffering and death of      simplicity of God (the teaching
definitely says he is not," p. 60),      Jesus?" "On the cross Jesus said,       that God's Being is not made up
Clark remarks that these                 `I thirst.' No trinitarian Person       of parts).
"theologians . . . were not              could have said this because the          Preachers and teachers in
mathematicians and did not               Three Persons are pure incor-           Reformed circles may well be
know what they were talking              poreal spirits . . . Who then, or       reminded that the doctrine of the
about" (p. 58). I am not so sure         what, thirsted'on the cross?" (p.       incarnation, like the related doc-
that the fathers at Chalcedon            73). "Let us then take it for           trine of the trinity, is being re-
were such dummies regarding              granted that God cannot die.            examined today, not only by the
.the person and natures of Christ,       Now, if Christ be one divine per-       liberal left, but also by the con-
or that the divines of West-             son, no person was crucified and        servative right. The point at
minster, mathematicians or not,          died. What then died on the             which the traditional doctrine is
were such ignoramuses concern-           cross?" (p. 69) Clark supposes          being challenged is that of the
ing the infinity of the being of         that Chalcedonian orthodoxy has         full, real humanity of Jesus. This
God. I am even less sure that the        no answer to this question. Clark       challenge calls for vigorous
Spirit of Christ failed to lead the      is mistaken. The answer is, "The        defense of the creedal doctrine of
church into all the truth of the         person of the eternal Son of God        the church, as well as renewed
person and natures of Christ at          suffered and died in the human          study of the Scripture's teaching
Chalcedon, or into the truth of          nature." This is the wonder of          concerning the wonder of the
the infinity of the being of God at      the passion of Jesus Christ. This       Word's becoming flesh. 17
Dordt and Westminster.                   is also the reason why that suffer-
  A formidable logician, Clark           ing is of infinite worth and value,
nevertheless permits himself the         as the Canons of Dordt teach in         REFORMING FUNDAMENTAL-
logical fallacy of "poisoning the        11/3, 4. On the answer of Clark         ISM: FULLER SEMINARY AND
well" at the crucial point in his        and Nestorius, that it was the          THE NEW EVANGELICALISM,
argument. As he is about to state        human person of Jesus that suf-         by George M. Marsden  (William
his conclusion, that Jesus is a          fered, the divine person was not        B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 333
human person, Clark not only             involved, in which case the             pp.; $19.95, hardcover). Re-
wards off the charge of Nestor-          humanity of Jesus could never           viewed by the Editor.
ianism (the heresy that Christ is        have endured the suffering of the         This book is a fascinating
two persons, condemned by the            infinite wrath of God. Also, even       history of Fuller Theological
church at the Council of Ephesus         if the human person of Jesus did        Seminary (in California) and at
in A.D. 431 and rejected in the          manage the suffering, that suffer-      the same time of neo (new) -
orthodox statement of the incar-         ing does not have the worth that        evangelicalism. As historian
nation by the Council of                 is necessary to satisfy the justice     Marsden  puts it, he uses "Fuller
Chalcedon in A.D. 451), but also                                                 as a window through which to
                                         of God.
ascribes any such criticism of his,                                              focus my study of recent
                                           Clark also proposes his own,
Clark's, doctrine to "unfriendly         novel, and very peculiar defini-        evangelicalism and fundamen-
critics": "Some unfriendly critics       tion of the term that is funda-         talism" (p. viii). Marsden  traces
will instantly brand the following       mental to trinitarian and incarna-      the history of Fuller from its
defense of Christ's humanity as          tional doctrine, the term               founding in 1947 by Charles E.
the heresy of Nestorianism" (p.          "person":                               Fuller (evangelist on "The Old
                                                                                 Fashioned Revival Hour"), Harold
75). I am a friendly critic. But         we shall define person as a com-
Clark's doctrine is the boldest,                                                 J. Ockenga, Wilbur Smith, Carl
                                         posite of truths. A bit more exactly
most advanced Nestorianism, suf-             the definition must be a com-       Henry, Harold Lindsell, and
fering, fataIIy, from the weak-          &ite of propositions (p. 54).           others through its struggle in the
                                                                                 1960s over inerrancy (Fuller sur-
nesses because of which the              As three persons, God then is
church rejected Nestorianism  -          three composites of propositions.       rendered inerrancy) to its present
its failure to unite the two             On this definition, it is not ob-       status as a "mega-seminary." The

                                                                                     June 1, 1989  I The Standard Bearer  I405


disclosure of the behind-the-                with some proposed course of ac-            Clinging To Jesus
scenes maneuverings of the main              tion depended upon a favorable
players is interesting enough (the           sign in their lives. One surprising    Close to Thee, my blessed Savior,
reader sometimes has the feeling             aspect of the movement in its            Keep me walking day by day;
that he is guilty of invasion of             early days was the notion of a         Let me feel Thy presence with me,
privacy), but the significant issues         group that included such                 Be my refuge all the way.
played out by Fuller and the new             thoroughly un-calvinistic men as                        -S.B. May 1, 1928
evangelicalism over the past 40'             Billy Graham that they were
years are more interesting still:            representing and carrying on the
the relationship of evangelicals to          cause of the noble champion of              Thy Will Is Mine
modern culture and liberal                   Presbyterianism, J.G. Machen.            Dear Lord I cannot see
theological thought; the relation-           The upshot of the story is that          Where Thou art leading me!
ship of evangelicalism to funda-             the new evangelicalism (and            I cannot tell if thorns or roses
mentalism; the relationship of               Fuller Seminary) is doctrinally,            strew the way;
evangelicalism to historic                   spiritually, and ecclesiastically        My future is concealed;
Presbyterianism as represented               bankrupt. Creedally impoverished         Thou hast not yet revealed
by Machen; the doctrine of Scrip-            to begin with, it has now aban-        Thy will in me, nor do I for the
ture; and even the question of               doned the basic doctrine of the             knowledge pray.
the relationship of a seminary to            inspiration of Holy Scripture; it        What streams I have to cross
the instituted church (Fuller is a           has sold out to the culture of this      Of sorrow, pain or loss
completely independent school).              world, and is swept with every         Are not for me to fear - I shall not
Curious features emerge. One                 wind of doctrine; and there is no           be dismayed;
amusing aspect of the early                  regard for the church institute.         Content if Thou my Guide,
movement was the tactic of the               Given the influence of Fuller and        Art ever near my side,
founders of Fuller to "put out a             of the new evangelicalism, how-        That I may hear Thee whisper:
fleece" as they expressed it,                ever, this work is must read-               "Child, be not afraid."
referring to Gideon's seeking a              ing. 0                                                 -S.B. June 1, 1928
sign from the Lord. Proceeding



                                             News From
Mr. Benjamin Wigger                          Our Churches

                             June 1,1989     Slopsema, and R. Van Overloop.         sma and famiIy to arrive at the
MINISTERIAL CALLS                            From that group of three, Faith        Kent County Airport on July 3.
   Our Peace P.R.C. in Lynwood,              called Rev. J. Slopsema to come        Rev. Bruinsma writes to the
IL formed a new trio: the                    over and help them.                    Holland, MI congregation that
Reverends W. Bekkering, B. Grit-               Rev. C. Haak, pastor of the          they have been shipping back a
ters, and G. Van Baren. From                 Lynden, WA P.R.C. received and         lot of their things with all the
that three-some, Peace extended              subsequently declined the call to      guests who have visited them
a call to Rev. Gritters.                     serve as home missionary to the        recently. The house is looking
   The congregation of our Faith             island of Jamaica. Rev. Haak also      pretty empty. So they definitely
P.R.C. in Jenison, MI also met in            declined the call he had received      are on the homeward stretch.
April to call a pastor from the              from the Hope P.R.C. in Isabel,        Rev. Bruinsma is also scheduled
trio of the Revs. R. Dykstra, J.             SD.                                    to preach a "farewe sermon" in
                                               This also seems like a good          First P.R.C. in Grand Rapids, MI
Mr. Wigger is an elder in the Prot-          place to insert some news about        in the evening service of July 16.
estant Reformed Church of  Hudson-           Rev. Bruinsma and his family.            Rev. Bruinsma and family will
ville, Michigan.                             Current plans are for Rev. Bruin-      be on vacation until about

406 I The Standard Bearer  / June  I,1989


August 1 when, the Lord willing,       Southeast P.R.C. in Grand Rapids,       Final thought lifted from the
he will begin his labors in our        Ml sponsored their annual             Southeast P.R.C. bulletin.
Holland P.R.C.                         Potluck Supper.                                 "It is far easier to write a
CHURCH ACTIVITIES                         On Saturday, April 8, the con-         book of apostates in this age
  On Sunday, April 23, the Faith       gregation of our Trinity P.R.C. in         than a book of martyrs." 0
P.R. Choral Society of our Faith       Houston, TX held a work bee.                                    -John Trapp
Church in Jenison, Ml presented        There was a lot of work to be
their Spring Concert entitled          done around the church and the
"Hymns Triumphant." This was a         bulletin in Trinity called for all    WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
choral suite based on forty-two        the help they could get.                We thank God for our
traditional hymns. These hymns         CONGREGATIONAL                        parents, FRED AND MARION
were presented in unifying             HIGHLIGHTS                            ONDERSMA, as they celebrate
medleys, relating each to a              The theme of this year's Young      their 50th wedding anniversary
thought perfectly expressed in         People's Convention, sponsored        on June 21, 1989. Also, we
"The Lord's Prayer." In addition       by the young people of our Hope       thank God for these years they
to being accompanied by the            Church in Walker, Ml, is "Con-        have had together and for the
traditional organ, the choir was       tentment."                            love and instruction they have
joined by several young people           The Reformed Witness Com-           provided.
who played the Flute, Oboe,            mittee in Iowa sponsored a              You are invited to help us
Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Trumpet,      Spring Lecture, held this year on     celebrate at an open house, the
French Horn, and a Tenor Sax-          April 28 in the Edgerton P.R.C. in    Lord willing, on Saturday, June
ophone. It made for an enjoyable       Edgerton, MN. Rev. De Vries           24, 1989, at Southwest Prot-
evening.                               spoke on "Man's Dominion over         estant Reformed Church from 3
  ln mid-April the congregation       1 this Earth, or, Whatever  Hap-       to 5 P.M.
of our Cirandville P.R.C. in Grand- ~pened to the Cultural Mandate?"           "I  wi.lI sing of the mercies of
ville, Ml voted to go ahead and          A Women's League Meeting            the Lord forever: with my
begin the actual building of their     was held on April 21 in the Hull      mouth will I make known thy
sanctuary. Grandville's building       P.R.C. in Hull, IA. Rev. Moore        faithfulness to all generations."
will be erected in three phases.       spoke on the topic "The Signs of      (Psalm  89:l)
The first phase consists of an         the Times: How it Affects the         Robert and Kaye Moelker
                                                                             Gary and Rose Moelker
auditorium and some classrooms.        Women of the Church."                 Larry and Judy Meulenberg
By the time you read this, the           The Federation Board of our           15 grandchildren
project should be well under           churches' young people spon-             5 great-grandchildren
way.                                   sored a hamburg fry on Saturday,
  The Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Society of      April 27 at Covenant Chr. High        ATTENTION TEACHERS!!!
the First P.R.C. in Grand Rapids,      in Walker, Ml. Softball and             Hope Christian School of
Ml was scheduled to hold a             basketball started at 2:00 P.M.       Redlands, CA is seeking to add
Spring Outing in mid-May. They         with supper at 5:30.                  a teacher to its staff beginning
planned a hayride, followed by a       SCHOOL ACTIVITIES                     the 1989-90 school year.
brat roast and a sing-a-long              The Hope P.R. Christian School     Teaching assignments would be
around the bonfire. When I saw         in Walker, Ml has what they call      either grades K and 1, or  2nd-
that word "brat," I thought of         a Song-of-the-week program. On        4th. Those interested may call
brat as in unruly child. I think       each weekly school note there is      Ed Karsemeyer (Principal), at
they meant brat as in bratwurst,       a psalter number to be learned        school (714-793-1504) or at
a sausage of veal and pork.            for that week. On the last school     home  (714-793-7166) or Mike
  If you live around Grand             note of March, there was a note       Critters (Secretary of School
Rapids, Ml, you are encouraged         that, for the second time, Hope       Board), at (714-793-4439). Appli-
to turn on your radio Sunday           had worked their way through all      cations or resumes should be
mornings at 8:45 on WMAX,              150 Psalms.                           sent to Hope Christian School,
1400 AM and listen to 15 minutes          The Covenant Chr. High Band,       1309 E. Brockton, Redlands, CA
of fine Christian music sponsored      the Central Wisconsin Chr. High       92374.
by our Faith Church Evangelism         Band, and a Junior High massed
Committee.                             band from Adams, Heritage, and        WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
  On Thursday, April 27, the           Hope, performed in concert on           On June 10, 1989, the Lord
Young People's Society of the          April 25 at Covenant.                 willing, MR. AND MRS.
                                                                             THEODORE LOOYENCA will

                                                                                 June 1, 1989 I The Standard Bearer  / 407


  THE
STANDARD                                                                                        SECOND CLASS
 B E A R E R                                                                                    Postage Paid at
                                                                                                Grand Rapids, Michigan

 PO. Box 6064
Grand Rapids, MI 49506



celebrate their 40th wedding an-              throne for evermore." (Psalm    WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
niversary. We, their children and             132:12)                           On June 16, 1989, we cele-
grandchildren, are thankful to                Joe and Mary Brummel            brate the 45th wedding anniver-
our Heavenly Father for the                   Pat Sperry                      sary of our dear parents,
Christian instruction and love                Larry and Kathy Looyenga        CERRIT  AND ELEANORE BOL.
they have given us through                    Bob and Kathy Looyenga          As we look back over the years
these years.                                  Randy and Lindy Looyenga        our family has had together, we
   "If thy children will keep my              Greg and Nancy Feenstra         gratefully acknowledge the
                                              Doug Looyenga
covenant and my testimony that                Mark and Sara Looyenga          work of the Lord through them
I shall teach them, their                     Karen Looyenga                  in our lives. "Let thy work ap-
children shall sit upon thy                     21 grandchildren              pear unto thy servants, and thy
                                                                              glory unto their children."
                                                                              (Psalm  90:16). Truly the beauty
                                                                              of the Lord our God has been
                                                                              upon us all our days and
                                                                              through these faithful servants,
                                                                              we, and now our children have
                                                                              learned His praise.
                                                                              David and Barbara Bol
                                                                                Kristin, Matthew, Kara
                                                                              Mark and Ruthellen Hoeksema
                                                                                Stephen, Michael, Sarah,
                                                                                Philip
                                                                              John  Patrick and Priscilla  Mac Craw
                                                                                Molly, Daniel,  Megan
                                                                              Jonathan and Barbara Bol
                                                                                Nathaniel, Audra, Adam

                                                                              WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
                                                                                On June  26,1989, our be-
                                                                              loved parents and grandparents,
                                                                              MR. AND MRS. ROBERT
                                                                              MOELKER will celebrate their
                                                                              30th wedding anniversary. We
                                                                              rejoice with them and are
                                                                              thankful to Cod for their cove-
                                                                              nant instruction and constant
                                                                              Christian love. We pray that
                                                                              God will continue to bless them
                                                                              and strengthen them  in,the
                                                                              years ahead.
                                                                                "The Lord shall reign forever,
                                                                              even thy God, 0 Zion, unto all
                                                                              generations. Praise ye the Lord."
                                                                              (Psalm 146:lO)
                                                                              Henry and Arlene Westhuis
                                                                                Henry, Katy,  Robby
                                                                              Russ and Amy Zwak
                                                                                Kelly, Kurty




408  / The Standard Bearer  / June  1,1989


