A Reformed




                    ~We'all-kk,nt t&l&in many things that
                    Will be- useful foi" bui life. But the
                   greatest  things  `in.  @fethat  we  must
                   `-l&rn ke thee truths.of God, the truths
                   `ov His: glory ..ati.d Mrtues, `We learn
                   `th&e' things first `of "ali S through the
                   study. -.of God's -4kkdLnd through
                   :  attention.  to  the  preaching  of  that
                    Word. fn connecti& with'the knowl-
                   -~,$dge ,of God's Word. :+~e also' learn
                    through..the` exp&iences of our life,
                    ppeciklly in the d&$3 &perienc,e$o-1:


                   See "The Christian and Sickness"-p. 104

Vol. 69, No. 5
December 1,1992


              ,-
c*/+/@-~~                                                                 ,+                        `(                       ;.                                                                                              .Tt7'E;                                         .:
                                                                                                                                            December 1; 1992                                                          ST,IW#,D!!`.                                                 .'
Meditation - Rev. James D. Slopsema                                                                                                                                                                                               BEARER
     The Perpetual Debt of Love . . . . . . . . . ..I................................................. 99
Editorials - Prof. David J. Engelsma                                                                                                                                                                                ISSN 0362-4692
      Reaping Your Carnal Things -.
                                                                                         . . . . . . . . . . ..**..*..........................*............. 101
     The Death of Confessional Calvinism                                                                                                                                                                            Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July, and August.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Published by the Reformed Free Publishing Association, Inc.,
      In Scottish Presbyterianism (6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..**....................... loi                                                                                         4949 lvanrest Ave., Grandvilla, MI 49416. Second Class
Letters ~~~~I................,,,,..,..,......,.....................~.,...,.......,...*,*.*..,...,,.......*., 104                                                                                                    Postage Paid et Grandville, Michigan.
In His Fear - Rev. Arie denHartoQ                                                                                                                                                                                   Portmaster: Send address changes to the Standard Bearer,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                    P.O. Box 603, Grsndville. MI 49466-0603.
     The Christian and Sickness (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..*.......................*........... 104
The Strength of Youth - Rev. Steven R. Key                                                                                                                                                                          EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Editor: Prof. David J. Engelsma
      Proper Christian Self-Esteem . . . . . . . . . . . ..*.......................*.................. 107                                                                                                          Secretary: Prof. Robert D. Decker
A Cloud of Witnesses' - Prof. Herman C. Hanko                                                                                                                                                                       Managing Editor: Mr. Don Doezema
     Hugh Latimer: Reformer and Martyr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109                                                                                DEPARTMENT  EDITORS
                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Rev. Ronald Cammenga, Prof. Robert Decker, Rev. Aris
Decency and Order 2 Rev, Ronald L. Cammenga                                                                                                                                                                         denHartog, Rev. Barry Gritters, Mr. Fred Hanko, Prof. Herman
     The Office of the President . . . ..*...*....................*.............................                                                                                                             111    Hanko, Rev. John Heys, Rev. Steven Key, Rev. Kenneth
                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Koole,  Rev. Jason Kortering, Rev. Dale Kuiper,  Mr. James
Special Article - Mr. Jon J. ljuisken                                                                                                                                                                               Lanting,Rev.  George Lubbers, Mrs. MaryBeth Lubbers, Rev.
      History of the PRC: Learning to Live with Caricature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113                                                                                                                    JamesSlopsema,  Rev.CherlesTarpstra,  Rev.GiseVanSs.ren,
Book                                                                                                                                                                                                                Rev. RonaldVanOverloop, Mr. Benjamin Wigger, Rev. Sernard
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theology is anabaptistic, scholastic, and hyper-Calvinistic. In fact, they're not                                                                                                                                   mustbeneatlywrittenortypewr'kten,andmustbesigned.  Copy
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has been thus characterized from the beginning of its history. "Caricature of the                                                                                                                                   Permission is hereby granted for the reprinting ofarticles In our
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  The Perpetual Debt of Love

      Owe no man anything, bz$ to love           teed to speak of the debt each of us              Except to love one another.
one another: for he that loveth another          owes to our neighbor. The main point              The perspective here is that, in
hathfulfilled  the law.                          is twofold. First, each of us has a debt    addition to other debts we may have,
      For this, Thou shalt not commit            of love.he owes to his neighbor. Sec-       each of us has a debt of love to the
adultey, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt         ond, this debt is a perpetual debt that     neighbor. We. owe the neighbor our
not deal, Thou shalt not bear false wit-         can never be paid up, so that each          love. This includes our spouse, par-
ness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be      must see it his obligation always to        ents, children, brothers, sisters, fel-
any other commandment; it is briefly             love the neighbor.                          low students,. fellow church  mem-
2omprehended  in this saying, namely,                 This is all set forth in the exhor-    bers, fellow workers, anyone who in
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.         tation, "Owe no man anything, but to        God's providence crosses our path.
     `Love worketh no ill to his neighbor:       love one another." .                        Sometimea the neighbor is very diffi-
therefore lotie js the fulfilling of the law.             *  +  *  *  *  *  *                cult to love. Often the neighbor is
                           Romans 13:8-10.            Owe no man anything.                   inconsiderate of us, takes the. other
                                                      This has been taken by some to         side of an issue against us, has per-
      In verses l-7 of this chapter the          mean that we may never borrow               sonality traits that annoy us. The
church is exhorted to be in subjection           money,`thereby  incurring a financial       neighbor may be a scoundrel. He
to the civil authorities.                        debt.' Rather'we  must.pay cash for         may.evenbe  our enemy, who hates us
      This exhortation is rooted in the          everything so that we owe no man            and seeks our hurt. Nevertheless, we
fact that civil government has been              anything.  "                                owe him our love.
ordained by God. Rulers are the                       Such, however, can hardly be                 And this debt of love is a per-
servants of God, given their authority           the meaning of this exhortation. For        petual debt.
by God to punish the evil doer and               instead of forbiddingtheloaning (and             A financial debt or even a social
protect those that do good. Hence,               thus borrowing) of money, the Old           debt is something that can be paid up
we must be subject to rulers for God's           Testament law regulated it, forbid-         so that you no longer owe. That is not
sake. Those who resist government                ding usury (Ex. 22:25). Jesus even          true of the debt of love. This is a debt
resist the ordinance of God td their             charged, "Give to him that asketh           in which we keep on owing and ow-
eternal damnation.  `...                         thee, and from him that would bor-          ing. So long as we live and the neigh-
     This sectionis concluded inverse            row of thee tumnot thou away" (Matt.        bor is our neighbor, we owe him our
7 with the idea of obligation and debt:          5:42). Certainly we would not have          love. Never may we conclude that we
"Render to. all their dues." "Dueti              this kind of instruction from our Lord      have loved the neighbor enough so
refers to that `which is owed. The               were it wrong in the eyes of God to         that we no longer owe him any more.
perspective here is that we owe some-            have a financial debt.                      Neither may we say that the debt of
thing to the civil authorities. We owe                Tocometoaproperunderstand-             love is terminated because of what
themcustom, tribute, fear, and honor.            ing of this passage we must bear in         the neighbor may have done to make
Hence, we are charged, "Render to all            mind that in the original we read, "Do      himself undeserving of our love. The
their dues: tribute to whom tribute is           not keep owing any man anything."           debt of love we owe the neighbor is a
due; custom to whom custom; fear to              One who keeps owing is a person             perpetual one.
whom fear; honor to whom honor."                 who never gets around to paying up               Keep owing no man anything,
     Continuing this idea of debt and            his debts. He has little concern to pay     except to love one another.
obligation, the holy Scriptures pro-             his debts in the time agreed upon. He               *  *  +  *  *  *  .*
                                                 is constantly delinquent so that he              This perpetual debt of love is
                                                 keeps on owing and owing long after         rooted in God's law.
Rev. Slopsema is pastor of Hope P?$es-           he should have paid up. This is for-             For he that loveth another hath
tant Reformed Church in Walker,                  bidden by the Word of God, "Do not          fulfilled the law.
Michigan.                                        keep owing any man anything."                    To fulfill the law is to perform

                                                                                                December 1,1992 I Standard Bearer / 99


the duties God has laid upon us in the      we find in the law, there is implied a             For that reason we must focus
law. Now if we fulfill the law by           positive good we must show to the             our-attention on.God's love to us.
loving another, the implication must        neighbor.                                         God has loved us with a love
be that the law requires that we love             Can there be any doubt, then,           that reaches all-`the-way  back into
one another.                                that the summary of the second table          eternity. God loved us not because
      This truth is verified in what        of the law.is to love the neighbor as         we first loved Him. God's love was
follows: For this, Thou shalt not com-      self so that love is the fulfilling of the    first. In fact, God loved us when we
mit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou     l    a     w     ?                            were unlovable. He loved us even
shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear              Because this is the nature of the       while we were sinners, full of hatred
false witness, Thou shalt not covet;        law, we have a perpetual debt of love         for Him, enemies of His, cause.
and if there be any other command-          to the neighbor.                                   In love He seeks not our hurt but
ment, it is briefly comprehended in              We owe the neighbor our love             our good and salvation. Godlovedus
this saying, namely, Thou shalt love        because God's law requires us to love         enough to sacrifice His only Son for
thy neighbor as thyself.                    the neighbor.                                 the sake of our salvation and eternal
     Notice that our attention is called         Whatever God requires of us in           welfare.. How great is the love of God!
here to the second table of the law.        His law we are obligated to do. The                Those who have tasted of this
The law of the ten commandments             summary of what God requires in the           saving love in Jesus Christ are filled
was written by the finger of God on         second table of the law is to love the        with gratitude. It is impossible to
two tables of stone. The first table        neighbor. Hence, we owe the neigh-            know the love of God and not be
spells out what duties we owe God;          bor our love. Were it not for Gods            overwhelmed with thankfulness.
the second table, our duties to the         law, we would owe no man anything.                 And the grateful Christian seeks
neighbor. Our attention is drawn to         But God requires that we love. Hence,         above all to do the will of God.
this second table of the law.               we owe one another our love.                       Before such a soul God stands
                                                  And this debt of love is a per-         with His law and says, "Love your
                                            petual-debt because God in His law            neighbor as yoiikself:  Love your neigh-
          God in His law                    requires us to love the neighbor at all       bor by seeking his good. Love your
           requires us to                   times, so long ai we live, without            neighbor in the power of the cross
love the neighbor at all times,             exception.                                    and thus reflect my love to the glory
                                                 Every day anew we are con-               of my name."
        so long as we live,                 fronted by God in His law with the                 Let us who have tasted the love
       without exception.                   calling to .love the neighbor and to          of God in Christ Jesus so show our
                                            show that love by doing good to him.          gratitude by honoring our perpetual
                                            That will continue so long as we live.        debt of love to the neighbor. Q
                                                                                                          ,,.. d * .: .  ^
     The assertion is made that what        Never will there come a time when
God requires in this second table of        we can say that we have loved the
His law is briefly comprehended or          neighbor enough and owe him no
summarized in the saying, Thou shalt        more of our love. Never will there
love thy neighbor as thyself.               come a time when we can say that the            Thre i$ still time
     If there is any doubt of this, we      obligation of love is finished because
are reminded that "love worketh no          the neighbor has made himself un-                                OTU-
ill (evil) to his neighbor."                worthy of our love. For every day                           f
     There are many evil things that        God stands before us with His law
one can do to his neighbor. He can                                                            chrism%
                                            calling us to love. And so we owe the
commit adultery with his neighbor.          neighbor our love and we will keep
He can kill his neighbor, steal from his    on owing and, owing so long as we
neighbor, bear false witness against        l i v e .
his neighbor....                                 Owe no man anything, but to                    Sutkrip tion
     Love does not do these things to       love one another.
the neighbor. Instead of working the                  $  *  *  *  *  *  *
hurt of the neighbor, love does that             Let our motive in meeting this                        t o   t h e
which is good to the neighbor.              debt of love be gratitude.
     But that is exactly what God's              How important motivation is. If           Stundurd Bearers
law requires.' It forbids that we hurt      loving the neighbor is merely a matter
the neighbor by committing adultery         of obligation for us, we will never be                     a-$fpl+%for
with him, killing him, stealing from        able to fulfill this spiritual debt. The
him, bearing false witness against him.     neighbor is far too difficult to love                       s:::&ys!
And for every negative prohibition          merely as a matter of obligation.

1OOlStandardBearer  f December 1,1992


     From the Council of the Protes-            port this worthy cause.  We as a             liberally for the support of Rev.
tant Reformed Church of South Hol-              Council have witnessed the com-              Spriensma and his family.
land, Illinois, appointed by Classis            munion of saints in the churches                      It is a joy to see this expression of
West to oversee the financial support          through this, and we know Rev.                the communion of the saints.
of Rev. Audred Spriensma while he               Spriensma and his family have expe-                   It is encouraging to observe that
waited for a call, comes word that no           rienced this as well.                        our people faithfully carry out the
more contributions to this fund are                If you may have just taken a col-
                                                lection for this fund, or if you have        decisions of the major assemblies, in
needed.                                         one scheduled and wish to give your          this case the decisions of Classis West
     I have received the following              members the opportunity to contrib-          with the concurrence of the synodical
letter from South Holland:                      ute to it, we leave it to your discretion    deputies.
                                                whether to go ahead with this and                     It is also heartwarming to notice
  Greetings in the name of the sover-           send your offering in to our trea-           the esteem that our people have for
  eign Head and King of the Church,             surer. We will have a surplus of             the office of the ministry of the gospel
  Jesus Christ!                                 monies in this fund and will be mak-
     Thislettercomes  to you toinform                                                        among them. By their ready, gener-
                                                ing a decision in the near future with
  you that contributions for the special       regard to the use of these monies.            ous support of this minister who was
  "Classical Minister-Support Fund"             This will have to.be approved by the         temporarily without a pastorate, our
for Rev. Audred Spriensma and his               nextmeetingofClas&WestinMarch  .,-           people demonstrate their agreement
  family are no longer needed.                ' .of 1993.                                    with. the apostle, that it-is no great
     As you know, Rev.  S$iensma.                   Again we thank you for your as-          thing that those who sow to. them
  has accepted  the call to our Grandville      sistance in this matter.                     @ritual things reap their carnal things
  congregation and will begin his la-                              In Christ's service,      (I Cor. 9:ll).
  bors  there on November  20, at which                            The Council of the  '              -God'will  bless it!
  time Grandville churchwill take over                 South Holland Protestant Re-                    Rev. Spriensma has now been
  his financial support. As of this date                                 formed Church
  we have sufficient funds to support                           George Vroom, Clerk          installed as pastor of -the Protestant
  him and his family through Novem-                                                          Reformed Church in Grandville,
  ber.                                              OurProtestantReformedpeople,             Michigan. May the King of the church
     We wi&to  take this opportunity          as well as friends outside the                 bless his workin  Grandville and give
  to thankyouforthecontributionyou            Churches, I understand, have obvi-             him a long and fruitful ministry in the
  may have made to this special need                                                         Protestant Reformed Churches.  0
  and for yourwillingness  to help sup-~      ously responded to the need, giving             .'                                   .--DpE
           The. Death of Co~nf&&mal~ -
                     C a l v i: n i s m   .in  Scott&h
                                 Presbyterianism
                                                             (6)
     The recent  book,  Behoed  Your          mon grace. Three of the sixteen chap-          saving will of God and the atonement
God (BYG), by Scottish Presbyterian           ters are devoted to common grace               of the cross.
theologian Donald Macleod is a pas-           explicitly. A fourth consists of the                     Macleod's defense of common
sionate plea for the doctrine of com-         application of common grace to the             grace involves the denial of the Re-

                                                                                                    December 1,1992 I Standard Bearer I 101


formed doctrine of total depravity.         filed in every part of his being, al-          Catechism,  Answer 83). To conceive
For common grace keeps the unre-            though remaining also somewhat                 of aII men as standing together on ti
generated from being completely de-         good in every part of his being be-            flat, undifferentiated moral plateau
filed by sin.                               cause of common grace.                         is to exclude from theology altogether
      The Rresbyterian  theologian de-           The refutation of the argument            the doctrine ofjudicialabandonment.
fends his denial of total depravity in      of Professor Macleod is also simple.           AII men are depraved. But not alI,
                                                                                           men are "hardened" or "given over'
three ways. First, he redefines "total"     There is a third alternative: All              to a reprobate mind." Not every
to mean merely `in every part.' Fallen      unregenerated sinners are  completely          prison is an Auschwitz or every city
men are depraved "in every part,"           defiled by sin in every part of their          a Sodom. Many men are capable of
but they are not completely depraved        being, although there are degrees of           natural affection, fidelity and even of.
in every part. Second, he misrepre-         wickedness among them and although             heroic self-sacrifice. The doctrine of -.
sents the Westminster Confession of         there is development of wickedness             common grace recognizes this and
Faith to make it teach both that "total     both in the individual and in society.         insists that such qualities are gifts
depravity" is merely depravity `in               Because this distinctionbetween           from "the Father of lights" (James
every part' and that unregenerated          total and absolute depravity is wide-          1:17) (BYG, pp. 128,129).
sinners are capable of performing           spread among those who propound
good works.                                 common grace and because it is com-          "Absolute Depravity"
      We have examined these at-            monly used by them to falsify the            an Absolute Fiction
tempts to vindicate the denial of total     theology of the PRC (which is not so                 The opening statement in the
depravity as orthodox Presby-                                                            lengthy paragraph quoted above is
                                            important) and to corrupt the Re-
terianism in previous editorials.                                                        true: The distinction between "total
                                            formed doctrine of total depravity           depravity" and "absolute depravity"
                                            (which is very important), we may            is the invention of the theologians
"Absolute Depravity" and                    profitably allow Professor Macleod
"Total Depravity"                                                                        who have advocated common grace.
                                            to carry on at length:
      A third way in which Professor                                                     They invented it in order to discredit
Macleod tries to establish the denial         Theologians who . . . advocated the        Hoeksema's teaching of total deprav-
of total depravity effected by his doc-       doctrine of common grace . . . distin-     ity and in order to promote their own
trine of common grace is the inven-           guished between total depravity            denial of total depravity in the doc-
tion of a distinction between "total          ("wholly  defiled in aII the faculties     trine of common grace.
depravity" and"absolute depravity."           and parts of soul and body,"                       The distinction did not originate
According to Macleod, the doctrine            Westminster Confession, VI.1J.I) and       with Herman Hoeksema. He did not
                                              absolute depravity. Hoeksema is
of "total depravity" is the teaching                                                     accept "absolute depravity" as the
                                             well  aware of the distinction (Z&z-
that unregenerated sinners are de-                                                       description of his doctrine of the de-
                                             formed Dogmatics,  p. 252) but de-
filed in every part of their being, al-                                                  pravity of the natural man. He posi-
                                             nies that it can give any help to the
though they also remain somewhat             exponents of the idea of common             tivelyrejected the notion of "absolute
good in every part of their being by         grace. It is difficult to follow  him in    depravity," that is, as Macleod de-
virtue of common grace. The doc-             this. Absolute depravity means such         scribes it, "such a degree of hostility
trine of "absolute depravity," on the        a degree of hostility to God as admits      to God as admits of no progression or
other hand, is the teaching that every       of no progression or variation. This        variation."
unregenerated sinner is as developed         is not the way the Bible portrays
                                             man. Human beings are not devils.
and hardened in evil as he can possi-        Nor is any man so advanced in evil
bly be.                                                                                      . . .
                                             that he could not possibly become                        no one has ever tauiht
     The former, of course, is the           worse. Nor again does human soci-                   "absolute depravity."
teaching of Professor Macleod. He            ety present a uniform level of degra-                    "`IA&solute depravity"
would like the reader to think that          dation and depravity. It would be                            is a fiction.
this is also the teaching of the Presby-     absurd to minimize, let alone deny,
terianconfessions. Thelatter-abso-           the difference between Hitler and
lute depravity  - is allegedly the           Gandhi, Pharaoh and George Wash-                   The PRC today repudiate the
strange, foolish teaching of Herman          ington, Judas Iscariot and Pilate's
                                             wife. It would be equally absurd to         distinctionbetween"totaldepravity"
Hoeksema and of the Protestant Re-           maintain that Romans I:lB-32  gives         and "absolute depravity." It is not
formed Churches.                             an accurate description of human            biblical. It is not confessional. It isnot
     The argument of Professor               society in every age and every place.       part of the Reformed and Presbyte-
Macleodis simple. Since these are the        The theology of the Reformationwas          rian tradition. It is not even useful for
two alternatives and since "absolute         well aware that lsome  sins in them-        understanding the real issue at stake
depravity" is obviously false, it must       selves, and by reason of several ag-        in the controversy over the spiritual
be Presbyterian to hold that the             gravations, are more heinous in the         condition of fallen man. The great
unregenerated sinner is merely de-           sight of God than others" (Shorter

102 ISfandard  Bearer I December 1,1992


conflict for the Reformed faith in his-     love and the adultery are sin, and         outside of Christ is not that of the sick
tory has not been between II total de-      nothing but sin. But the adultery is       man who gradually dies. But it is that
pravity" and "absolute depravity."          worse sin, and the punishment of the       of the dead man who gradually de-
In fact, no one has ever taught "abso-      adulterer will be more severe.             cays and stinks more and more.
lute depravity.N "Absolute deprav-               The Westminster Shorter Cat-               As for Professor Macleod's ob-
ity" is a fiction. It exists only in the    echism says that "some sins . . . are      jection that the doctrine of total, that
minds of the advocates of common            more heinous in the sight of God than      is, complete, depravity makes devils
grace.                                      others" (Q. 83). It does not say, or       out of men, the answer is at hand. I
                                            imply, that some deeds of the unre-        suppose that evenProfessor Macleod
The Real Distinction: Total or              generate are good in the sight of God.     would acknowledge that unregener-
Partial Depravity                                Degrees of wickedness among           atedmenandwomeninhellareatlast
        There is one important distinc-     unregenerated persons are to be ex-        completely depraved. No longer is
tion to be made as regards the spiri-       plained in terms of greater and lesser     there an operation of common grace
tual condition of unregenerated man.        knowledge; the circumstances of their      within them causing them to be some-
This is the distinction between "total      lives; their own more or less intense      what good in every faculty and part,
depravity" and "partial depravity."         development of their sinfulness; and       filling themwith"laudable qualities,"
"Total depravity" is the doctrine of        the degree to which God hardens            and enabling them to perform good
fallenman'scompletesinfulnesswith-          them and gives them over to their          worksin theology, ethics, science, and
out any good whatever. "Partial de-         reprobate mind.                            art. At long last, they are dead in sin.
pravity" is the doctrine off allen man's         The spiritual difference among        But surely Professor Macleod would
wickedness in all parts of his being        the unregenerated is a difference in       admit that these wretched persons
while retaining some goodin all parts       degree of wickedness. It is not a          are still humans, and not devils.
as well, whether because of a limited       difference in extent of goodness.               Man always remains man. He
fall or because of the operation of              The doctrine of total depravity,      remains man when he falls into spiri-
common grace.                               as held by Herman Hoeksema and             tual death. But now he is totally
        The PRC confess total deprav-       the PRC (and by the Reformed and           depraved man.
ity.                                        Presbyterian creeds), does surely al-           All of Scottish Presbyterian
        Total depravity holds that all      low for "progression or variation."        Macleod's arguments in support of
sinners are alike completely wicked         There is development of sin in both        his doctrine of partial depravity and
and wholly devoid of all good. As           individual and society. But this de-       against the Reformed doctrine of to-
respects the extent of inherited cor-       velopment is not development from          tal depravity fail.
ruption, there is no difference among       partial depravity to complete deprav-           The doctrine of total depravity
unregenerated sinners. Gandhi was           ity, that is, from more goodness to        stands: Unregenerated men and
as completely sinful as Hitler. On the      less goodness or no goodness at all.       women are completely sinful, devoid
supposition that George Washington          Rather, it is development of sin.          of any good. All of them. All of us, by
was unregenerated, he lacked all                 The completely depraved per-          nature.
goodness as much as did Pharaoh.            son, in whom is no good from birth,             This doctrine is fundamental. It
The Bible says so: "There is none that      develops and works out all the possi-      is fundamental to the whole system of
doeth good, no, not one" (Rom. 3:12).       bilities of his depravity during his       truth known as Calvinism. Deny this
                                            lifetime, according to his circum-         doctrine, and the whole of Calvinism
Total Depravity and                         stances. Baby Judas was as com-            is demolished.
Development of Sin                          pletely depraved as was adult Judas             The doctrine is basic to the gos-
        But it is perfectly in harmony      at the moment that he betrayed Jesus.      pel of grace. Total depravity is the
with the doctrine of total depravity,       But the adult traitor had made             judgment - the searing, humbling,
and certainly the truth, that one sin-      "progress" in the intensity and ex-        offensive judgment - of the gospel
ner is worse than another, even as one      pression of his depravity.                 upon us in the interests of the good
sin is worse than another sin. The               The development of sin in the         news of sovereign mercy in the cross
apostate from the faith is far more         world throughout history is similar.       of God Incarnate (Rom. 1:16-3:30).
wickedthanthepagan(cf.Matt.11:20-           Things do not go from good to bad          Deny it, and the entire gospel is sub-
24). The professing Christian who           but from bad to worse. What is now         verted.
abandonshiswifeandfamilyis worse            taking place in Western civilization is         But this is the present position of
than an unbeliever (I Tim. 593). Both       not thebecomingbadof a society that        Professor Macleod and, I fear, of Scot-
the unregenerated husband who faith-        formerly was somewhat good but the         tish Presbyterianism.
fully loves his own wife and the            increase of lawlessness.                        Because of the doctrine of com-
unregenerated husband who commits                The figure that accurately pic-       mon grace. Cl
adultery against his wife are com-          tures the development of sin in the                                         - DJE
pletely depraved. Both the faithful         unregenerated sinner  andin the world

                                                                                         December 1,1992 I Standard Bearer I 103


A n   A p o l o g y                              that I may have given. What I wrote          with many responsibilities.- The fact
           This letter is written in response    in my report was at best ambiguous;          that no one objected to what I wrote
to your article in the Sfun&rdBeauer             certainly, I failed clearly to express       does not imply anything except that
of the 1st September, 1992 ("A Broth-            myself. It was also entirely inappro-        my prose was obviously less than
erly Request that the RCUS Prove Its             priate for a document intended for           riveting.
Charge against the PRC") in which                public consideration.                             As I have said, I make no such
you stated an offense .against  the Re-                I would ask that `you not hold         excuses for myself. I askthat you will
formed Church in the United States.              these statements against our denomi-         accept my apology and extend for-
You were offended at statements in               nation. As you are well aware, a             giveness.
our Home Missions Committee Re-                  Synod deals with many documents                Withwarmest Christianregards,
port, reprinted in our Abstract, which           and reports. Had any member of                                (Rev.) David A. Dawn
you took as charging the Protestant              Synod spotted this statement, I am                                        Chairman,
Reformed Church with hyper-cal-                  certain it would have never seen the                      Home Missions Committee
vinism.                                          light of day. The same is true of the             Reformed Church in the United
      As both author of that report              Home Missions Committee members.                                               States
and chairman of that committee I take            The statement you took offense to            Response:
personal responsibility for what was             was part of a very lengthy report. As            - The apology is gladly received.
published. I wish to offer you my                I'm certain you appreciate, the mem-                                          - DJE
unreserved apology for any offense               bers of the Committee are busy men                                                  cl





           The .Christiari and ickness


      The greatest of all comforts for           and mercy is upon us. Even in-times          sickness. In fact, He has told us in His
the Christian who is lying on a bed of           of sickness God is dealing with us in        Word much concerning the purpose
illness is the knowledge of the truth            love and mercy,. and for our good and        for which He sends suffering and
that sickness is in the hands of his             salvation.                                   sickness. We need to know the Lord's
loving heavenly Father. Sickness does                  We said in our last article on this    purposes that are clearly revealed in
not come to us by chance, it is not just         subject that there are many mysteries        His Word.
something inherent in being human,               in God's providential dealings with               To understand the goodness and
and certainly it is not the workings of          man.. We always want to know the             wisdom of the Lord in sending us
the devil with which God has nothing             reason why God deals with us in              suffering and, affliction, ,we must re-
to do. Sickness, and all our diseases,           certain ways, especially when our way        member that God's purpose with His
are entirely under the sovereignron-             is hard and grievous. But God does           saints is spiritual. Though the Lord
trol of God. Furth&nore, because of              not always make His way plain. Of-           also takes care of our physical well-
the cross of Christ Jesus, God's grace           ,,ten His ways are so deep that they are.    being in this life, He has a higher,
                                                 beyond our understanding. In times           spiritual purpose for us.. It is not true
                                                 like these the Lord calls us simplyto        that Gods purpose is that we be al-
                                                 trust Hisgoodness and wisdom with-           ways physically well, healthy and
Rev. denHartog  is pastor ofHope Protes-         out doubt and wavering. But God has          strong. To think this is utter foolish-
tant Reformed Church in Redlands, Cali-          not left us entirely in darkness con-        ness. God sends us sickness and
fornia.                                          cerning His purpose in sending us            suffering for a higher, spiritual pur-
104  /Standard Bearer  /December 1,1!3!32


pose. Through sickness God teaches          als, and sickness. because of. God's        which Christ enduredinorder to save
us profound spirituallessons that we        good purpose in them. In sickness the       us. We are partakers of the suffering
could not learn if we were .always          Lord makes `.His.. saints, spiritually      of Christ especially, of course, when
strong and healthy. So, for example,        strong, through faith in Christ Jesus.      we suffer for His name's sake. But in
He sends us sickness to make us real-       Spiritual strength before the Lord is       all our suffering we have fellowship
ize our own great weakness and our          more important than physical                with His suffering.
complete dependence upon the Lord.          strength.
In times of health and strength we are            In the midst of sickness and tri-
so prone to imagine that our strength       als God teaches us the power of His               Sickness in the church
is in ourselves. Sickness humbles our       grace, the greatness of His love, and
pride and .destroys our self confi-                                                        gives us a great occasion
                                            the faithfulness of His mercy. As
dence.                                      Christians we must not despise these           to reveal that our religion
      How beautifully this was illus-       great spirituallessons. We allwant to                     is genuine.
trated in the life of the great apostle     learn many things that will be useful
Paul when God gave him a II thorn in        for our life. But the greatest things in
the flesh, a messenger of Satan to          life that we must learn are the truths           Though it is true that God does
buffet him." The apostle tells us in II     of God, the truths of His glory and         not send us suffering to punishus for
Corinthians 12 that this thorn in the       virtues. We learn these things first of     our sins, nevertheless we learn, from
flesh was given to him of Godin order       all through the study of God's Word         our sufferings, something regarding
that he would not be exalted above          and through attention to the preach-        our sins, and something of the mercy
measure through the abundance of            ing of that Word. In connection with        of God. If God would deal with us
revelations given to him. Paul's thorn      the knowledge of God's Word we              according to our sins, then we would
in the flesh prevented him from be-         also learn through the experiences of       deserve to be destroyed. Our sins are
coming proud. Pride is a great evil         our life, especially in the deep experi-    so great that we deserve eternal tor-
unto which all of us are so prone. God      ences of our life.                          ment in hell. The Christian does not
`so loves us that He sends us things in          It is God's -purpose that His          foolishly say in the midst of suffering,
our life to keep us from this ugly sin.     saints testify of His grace and good-       What did I do to deserve this?" We
In the midst of sickness and suffering      ness. Some of the most powerful and         know that our sins are so great that
the Lord teaches us humility and de-        beautiful confessions of all are made       we deserve only judgment and no
pendence on the Lord. Paul earnestly        by saints of God in the midst of afflic-    mercy. The wonder however is that
prayed that the Lord would remove           tion. Consider for example how many         God in His sovereign mercy in Christ
the thorn in the flesh. God did not         -of the psalms are confessions which        Jesus delivers us from all our misery
remove it, in spite of these prayers.       saints of God made during and after         and suffering.
God answered Paul's prayers with            great trials and after much suffering.           God sends us sickness and infir-
the words, "My grace is sufficient for           Sickness helps the Christian           mities also in order to teach us about
thee; for my strength is made perfect       identify with Christ in His suffering.      death. Every sickness and disease
in weakness." As a result, Paul made        Christsufferedmorethanweall. Even           speaks of death. We do not like to
thebeautifulconfession, "Mostgladly         in our most dreadful suffering we do        think about death. But it is a fact that
therefore will I rather glory in my         not approach the fearful depth and          if the Lord tarries we will all have to
infirmities, that the power of Christ       awfulness of the suffering of Christ.       die some day. The Christian needs to
may rest upon me. Therefore I take          The suffering of Christ was a unique        think about his death. We may not
pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches,     suffering because his suffering was         live in the vain imagination that we
in necessities, in persecutions, in dis-    that of the Holy Son of God and be-         shall never die. We need to prepare
tresses for Christ's sake: for when I       cause it was an atoning suffering.          for death. When we are strong and
am weak, then am I strong."                 Our suffering is never an atoning suf-      healthy we usually do not think about
                                            fering. God does not send us suffer-        death. For the Christian equipped
                                            ing to punish us for our sins. We do        with the knowledge of the Word of
            The Christian                   not and cannot pay for our sin by           God, thinking about death (not only
    can  glo y in infirmities,              suffering. Any such false notions           the death of others but especially his
                                                                                        own death) has a sanctifyingeffect on
          trials, and sickness              must be driven far from our minds.
                                            Christ fully paid the penalty of our sin    his whole life. We walkin the shadow
           because of God's                 through His suffering, and He mer-          of death all our life long. The Chris-
     good purpose in them.                  ited perfect righteousness for all His      tian need not be terrified with the
                                            saints. Yet our suffering brings us         thought of death. Christ has removed
                                            nearer to Christ in His suffering. It is    the sting of death and destroyed the
     What an amazing statement! The         good for the Christian in the midst of      power of death. He has delivered us
Christian can gloryin  infirmities, tri-    suffering to meditate on the suffering      from the fear of death. Because of the

                                                                                          December 1,1992  I Standard Bearer I 105


perfect work of Christ Jesus on the            terribly sinful to,tiurmur and com-         ..we-are .memb.ers one of another. If
cross we have been delivered  from             plain against. the Lord because  He         this is truly  Tealized  by the members
the awful reality of eternal death that        sends us suffering. Be&use  of our          of es, church',a  beautiful thing will
we once deserved. For the Christian,           sinful nature we are prone to do ex-        take place. When one member suf-
death is. a passage from this life of          actly this. We need to pray earnestly       fers, all the members will suffer with
sufferingandm$eryintoeternalglory              for grace and faith to endure sickness      him: The suffering of the members of
and blessing. Death will destroy this          and suffering. Because  there is a very     the church will bring them closer to
vilebodyofsininorderthatwemight                close relationship between our spirit       each other and bind them together in
receive anew and glorifiedbodyfash-            and body it often happens that sick-        the bond of love and peace. Every-
ioned after the glorious image of              ness of our body is accompanied by          where God's Word commands the
Christ.                                        depression of our spirits. As Chris-~       .members of the church of Jesus Christ
      Ali of our s&ness and suffering          tians we must understand this and be        to visit the sick and the afflicted,
in this present life prepares us for our       prepared for this. Pastors and elders       According to Matthew 25 one  of the
place ,in glory. This is an astounding         need to visit the sick because it is        great things the Lord is going to ask
truth. The apostle teaches us this             especially in time of sickness and suf-     each one of us is whether we have
truth in II Corinthians 4. .There  is a        fering that the Christianbecomesvery        visit&i the sick and afflicted. Only
vast difference in the measure of suf-         discouraged and depressed. At such          those who have faithfully done that
feringthatGodsendsHissaints.  Some             times, more than ever, the child of         will enter into the joy of heaven. The
must endure far more suffering than            Godneeds the comfort of the Word of         sickness of themembers of our church
others. The place that God has pre-            God. When we are  sick'we need              must keep us from the great evil of
pared in glory for.%& saints will not          especially to spend time reading the        ielf-centeredness  in which we think
be the same for every one of His               Word of God and in prayer. And if           only of our own welfare. The'sickness
children. Somehow our suffering in             we are not able to do that ourselves,       of our fellow saints is one of the great-
the present life is related to the place       we need to call for the elders of the       est opportunities the Lord gives us to
God has prepared fdr us in glory.              church, as James tells us in chapter 5      exercise and reveal the love of God in:
Thosewhosuffermuchinthislifewill               of his epistle.                             our life. Pure and undefiled religion
have a very special place in glory.                 Because of our sinful natute it is     is revealed when the saints in love
Furthermore, theBible teaches us that          easy for us, when we are sick, to           care for one another. Sickness in the
the sufferings of this present time            become very self-centered. When a           church-gives us a great occasion to
cannot be compared with the glory              spirit of self-centeredness takes over,     reveal that our religion is genuine. 0
that shall be reveal&d in us. Com-             the person who is sick will be filled
pared to God's eternal weight of glory,        with self pity. Such an attitude is
the sufferings of this present time are        sinful and will only make a person                    We are trou&Lidon
always light. We will fully under-             more and more miserable. Such an
stand all of that only when we get to          attitude will cause a person to weary           every side, yet not di5-
heaven. Then, through all eternity,            those who come to visit .him with
we will with greatjoyrealize how our           endless talkabout his ailments. When            tresseh we are  per-
suffering prepared us for glory, and           a Christian does this he must realize'         pL&ed, 6ut not in G!&
how relatively imali even the most             that he is really complaining against'
dreadful and prolonged suffering of            God. He is in fact doing the very               spa&;
this present tinie was, compared to            opposite of what the-Lord calls us to                rPersecut& but not
the eternal reward of glory.                   do in sickness. Rather-than murmur
     If we understand something of             andcomplain, thechristianmustrest              for~a&n; cast down,
all of this by faith in the midst of our       in the grace of God and steadfastly
suffering, we will not be discouraged          look unto the Savior. It is only in this        but not destroyer
and we will not pray that God will             way that he will experience the good-                Always bearing
always take away all our sickness and          ness and mercy of God. Only as the
suffering. How could we do such a              child of God experiences by faith and           about in the 60&y the
thing if we know what a great pur-             quiettrustthemercyofGodwillhebe                 dyindof thelor&slls,
pose Godhas in our suffering? God's            able to testify of the goodness of the
purpose is not earthly but heavenly.           Lord and glorify the name of God.               that the Life ako ofJesus
The ++uffering of this present time            This is one of the chief and most
causes the child .of God more- and             beautiful purposes for which God                m@t  be  m&e  mani-
mofe  to long for his final redemption         sends trials and afflictions.                  f&t in our 606~.
and the heavenly `glory that awaits                 God sends trials gnd afflictions
him. This is good.                             to His saints also for the good of the              IICorintfiians4:8-10
     In the light of all these things it is    whole church. In the body of Christ

106  /Standard Bearer I December 1,1992


   ,l%oper Christian. Self-Esteem.

     Do you, my younger brother or          been written for publication in maga-,     her small library. She was moving
sister, have a proper view of your-         zines of every sort. Politicians speak     into a retirement home and kindly
self? That is a question that is bibli-     of the concept. Educators have  ap-' -offered  me most of her books. I took
cally based. The Bible often speaks to      plied their ideas of self-esteemin the     the books home, and later was brows-
you personally, calling you to  self-       areas of school curricula and  prm-        ing through one of them when I came
examination. Obviously, then, there         ciples of teaching. Psychologists          across an old church bulletin. The
is a way in which you must consider         evaluate the self-esteem of their cli-     date was from some time in the 1930s.
your own-life, your own nature, your        ents as a prime indicator of psycho-       It was longbefore self-esteembecame
own gifts, your own behavior, and           logical stability. And many preach-        the well-known topic of discussion it
your relationships with others and          ers mold their sermons around this         has become today. The Reverend
with God.                                   key concept. And all of this emphasis      Herman Hoeksema, the  bulIetin'c
     But when I ask, Do you have a          is rather recent.                          noted, was to preach a sermon that
proper view of yourself, it is with pur-         But it is because of the recent       day from Romans 6:ll: "Likewise
pose that I phrase the question that        nature of all this emphasis on self-       reckon ye also yourselves to be dead,
way. Because whether or. not you            esteem that I want to caution you to       indeed unto sin, but alive unto God
have a properview  of yourself is deter-    becareful how you evaluate yourself.       through Jesus Christ our Lord." The
mined by only one standard - and            It seems that sometimes we accept the      title of his sermon was "Proper Chris-
you are not the standard. God is the        ideas of modern psychology, and of         tian Self-Esteem."
Standard. More concretely, He is that       such prominent men as James Dob-
Standard as He sets Himself before          son and Robert Schuller, without           Self&teem: A Biblical  Cdncept,
you in the Bible.                           evaluating these ideas in the light of          I found it fascinating that Rep..
                                            Scripture.                                 Hoeksema, at that time pastor of one
An Important Subject.                                                                  of the largest Reformed congrega-
     Self-esteem is an important sub-       An Old Subject                             tions in America, would be using such
ject for young people, also for many             The concept of self-esteem is not     a theme backin the 1930s. To me the
church youth. Several times-in my           new., It is in fact much older than is     concept of self-esteem .had not been
pastoral labors I have observed a pre-      formal education, such as we have it       so much a biblical concept, as a theory
occupation with self-esteem. When I         today. The concept ,has been dis-          developed by our modem-day edu-,
have asked a question such as, "What        cussed for many years prior to the         caters and psychologists. That church
do you view as one of the most diffi-.      introduction of the field of psychol-      bulletin, therefore, called my atten:
cult problems you face," or, "What do       ogy, and it is certainly older than        tion to the subject of self-esteem as a
yalou thinkis the problem," Ihave heard     modem medicine. It is true that the        biblical concept, `.
young people lament, "I guess I have        emphasisthatmodempsychologyhas                  If self-esteem is a biblical con-
a low self-esteem."                         placed on self-esteem is of recent ori-    cept, we need to examine that concept
     It is no wonder that self-esteem       gin. And the emphasis on this idea in      in Scripture. God's. Word alone is
would be such an important subject.         the church world has been largely          authoritative for doctrine and life (II
The society in which we live hasput         increased by such men as Dobson and        Tim.  3:16,17).  Thatbeingestablished
great emphasis on self-esteem in re-        Schuller. But self-esteemis dealt with     - and I trust it is established in you,
cent years. Books on the subject            quite extensively in the Bible.            my Christian brother or sister - our
abound. Articleson the subject have              I was first intrigued by the sub-     interest becomes more focused. I  am;
                                            ject personally more than a decade         interested in what ministers and edu-
                                            ago. Before entering the ministry,         cators, psychologists and physicians
                                            and during my seminary days, an            are saying about this subject, only to
                                            elderly saint from First Protestant        compare their views with the instruc-'
Rev. Key is pastor of the Protesfa& Re-     Reformed Church in Grand Rapids,           tion God gives in I& Word.. If the
formed Church of Randolph, Wisconsin.                                                  modem perspective on this subject is
                     .i                     Michigan, gave me a few books from                                        :
                                                                                         December 1,1992 / Standard Bearer / 1$17.


correct, we must not hold on to views       church's historical presentation of                  the root of all problemsthought  tobe:
from the past simply because we are         man's condition and the. wayto proper                 foundin "anegative seEnage;`! New,
comfortable with them; If what the          C h r i s t i a n   s e l f - e s t e e m .   .       Age, thinking, becoming more and
Dobsons and Schullers  - as well as                This view can be found in many                 more prevalent in today's society,
the unbelieving psychologists and           of the writings of the-Puritans of old.               teaches that you can consciously
educators, etc. - are saying about          In my study of this ,subject,  I ran                  choose to cleanse your mind of any
self-esteem can be demonstrated as          `across some striking quotations from                negative self-images. If you have a
correct bibZicaZZy,  then we must change    churchmen of old. I will quote one,                   problem, or if you do not like your
our old conception of things and be-        Horatius  .Bonar,  a 19th century                     circumstances, you can make them
gin anew. The question is: How does         preacher in Scotland. He said,                        go awayby  clearing them out of your
the modem self-esteem movement                                                                   mind,andconsciouslyreplacingthose
hold up to Scripture's view of man,.of        In all unbelief there are these two,.              negative images with images of what
sin, of self-love and self-esteem.            things: a good opinion of self and a               you would like reality to be. Reality'
                                              bad opinion of God. So long as these               is, then, what you create in your own
The Historical View of Self                   things exist, it is impossible for an              mind. New Age thinking thus totally
      You should know that the mod-           inquirer to find rest. His good opin-              ignores the problem of sin and rejects
e& theory of self-esteem differs  sub-        ion of himself makes him think it
                                            ' quite possible to win God's favor by               the church's long-standing remedy
stan,tially  and drastically from that        his own religious performances....                 for sin.
view of self that has been taught in the      The object of the Holy Spirit's work,                    But such teachings as contrast
church historically. Whereas the              in convicting of sin, is to alter the              with the church's historical position
modem idea of self-esteem is to pro-          sinner's opinion of himself, and so to             are not confined to philosophical
mote a feeling of positive self-worth,        reduce his estimate of his own char-               movements, nor to the field of psy-
a feel-good-about-yourself attitude,          acter that he shall think of himself as            chology. There is today a different
that idea runs contrary to the histori-       God does....                                       presentation right within the church
cal view of the human condition. In                                                              itself. That becomes a matter even
the past, were one to say, "I'm OK,"              Now, I emphasize, that has been                more dangerous for  you. young'
the response would be, "No, you are         the historical position of the church as             people. You must be conscious of the
not OK; you are a sinner." Histori-         a whole. In our day you will find very               fact that there is a right way and a
cally, the church has presented the         few churches. maintaining and pro-                   wrong way of viewing yourself. For
human condition as one most humili-         claiming such a presentation of man                  your sake, and for your spiritual
ating. Man is sinful through and            and salvation.                                       _ health, I long for you to view yourself
through, incapable of doing any good              The prevalent emphasis on self-                and evaluate yourselfin the right way
and inclined to, all wickedness. You        esteem in our day has taken a very                   - God's way. 0
and I are born dead in trespasses and       different approach.. How often is not
sins, spiritually dead and dying day
by day. We stand before a holy and
righteous God, who hates all sin and
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of God, God become flesh, who went                                                                   members `will receive their
to the cross to die as satisfaction to                         Protestant Reformed                    copies without ordering but
God for the sins of His own people,              BFk                 Churches in America            may order additional copies
those chosen by God from eternity.               likea                                              at 30% off. To order, send
And seeing-oneself in Cht'id, we may             watered                                   \         payment to:
know that we are saved, that we are of           gmkn..."              ertrudeHoeksema                             R F P A
great worth in the sight df God, that                            9
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given us, no matter how few or small                                                                           (616) 530-9461.
those gifts may be. Thus,.you  and I                                                                   Also available for pick-up
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That,. very briefly stated, is the

108 /Standard Bearer I December 1,1992


 :  .;:;  ;  .,_
           ,fi  ..-
 ;_ . . . ..`. :  ,# -Hugh  .J-&mer:. :  .e-                                                                                       1
; ] ~`cf m--,`# ::] @.&f&mer. &d .Martyr*
                 S,`.                  . .
. . _
Reformation in England                             Under these circumstances, Ref-       gland; partly because the writings of
          : God .worksPin mysterious ways,    ormation came about in England. It         Luther had come into the country and
and the wonders of His providence             was not as if Henryhimself was inter-      were avidly read, studied, and dis-
sometimes leave us gasping in sur-            estedinreformingdoctririe. Hehated         cussed in Cambridge's halls; and
prise. The Reformation in Engl.and  is        it, remained all his life devoted to       partly because Erasmus had seen to it
illustrative of this truth. While in          Romish heresy and superstition; per-       that his edition of the Greek New
Germany and Geneva God brought                secuted and-killed those who pro-          Testament was circulated in
about the .Reformation  through the           moted Reformation truths; and was          England's intellectual circles.
work of mighty men ,of God such as            determined to keep his church in En-               AlthoughLatimer showedgreat
Luther and -Calvin, in England- the           gland loyal to the doctrine of the Ro-     intellectualabilities, profoundinsights
Reformation turned on the lust and            manchurch. Buthis'determination to         into theology, and powerful oratori-
fornication of a king - Henry VIII,           get rid of papal rule in order to marry    cal gifts, he devoted his time and
known throughout history as the man           Anne Boleyn opened the door to Ref-        abilities to do all he could to combat
of many .wives, some .of, whom he             ormation efforts.                          anything that faintly resembled the
murdered.                                          In Germany, Geneva, and other         Reformation. He was a bitter oppo-
 .,.,Aboutthe,lustofHenrywemust               parts of Europe, reformationhadcome        nent of the Scriptures and ridiculed a
say a few words because the work of           about `through separation from the         colleague who expounded the Scrip-
the noble Hugh Latimer cannot be              church `of Rome. This was never to         tures in his classroom. Latimer even
understood without the background             happen in England. In this country,        used the opportunity of his disserta-
o f   afornicatingking.   `:  -               reformationwasattemptedbyefforts           tionfor a divinity degree to attackthe
            Henry, a Tudor king,, was mar-    to change the church of Rome itself        views and teachings of Philip
ried to Catherine of Aragon. Henry            into a Protestant church. England          Melanchthon.
wantedto-be free of this -marriage,           still bears the effects of this today.             But God brought Hugh Latimer.
partly because Catherine hadnot suc-                                                     to the service of the Reformation,
ceeded in giving him a male heir to sit       Latimer's Early Life                       though in a rather remarkable and
on the throne, and partly because             and Conversion                             even humorous way. A group of
Henry'hadhislustfuleyes upon Anne             ThedatkofHughLatimer'sbirth                men, one of whom was Thomas
of Boleyn?  a girl of the `palace who         is not known;. but apparently took         Bilney, was accustomed to meet to
would not-sleep with Henry unless he          place somewhere between 1475 and           discuss ways of promoting the Refor-
m a r r i e d h e r .   ~                     1490.. He was barn of a prosperous         mation  .to which they were deeply
            The `pope would not release       farmer, in. Thurscaton in  Leices-         committed. BilneyhadseenLatimer's
Henry from his marriage to,Catherine,         tershire. Recognizing Hugh's great         great potential and had long pon-
andHenry, in a fury agamst the pope,          abilities, his father gave him every       dered ways to persuade Latimer to
cutalltiesbetweenEnglandandRome,              educational- opportunity and, when         join the movement towards reform.
rejected the ecclesiastical and civil
                        .                     Hugh was 14, sent him to Cambridge.        Finally he hit upon a clever, though
authority of the pope in England,             There he studied,.became  a fellow of,     underGod'sblessingsuccessfulway.
made himself head of the church in            Clare Hall,' took a degree, entered        Pretending to desire to make confes-
England,`%nd refused' to allow any            intoastudyoftheologywithaviewto            sion and be absolved from sin by
money to `leave England's shores to           devoting his life to the service of the Latimer, he used Latimer's naivete
find its way into papal coffers.              church, and established ties with Cam-
                             ..  `_
 . . .        ,_ . .                          bridge which would last throughout
                                              much of his life.                          +      An excellent biography of Hugh
Prof. Hunko is p~ofess&of  Church His-             Cambridge was in ferment,             Latimer is: Douglas C. Wood, Stich a
toy and New'Testament in-the Protes-          partly because the teachings of John       Candle: The Sto y of Hugh Latimer;
ta'n~,Reforme~  +?+minf y. ,_           ,_    Wycliffe had never been lost in En-        Evangelical Press, 1980.          '

                                                                                              December I,1992 / Standard Bearer Ii09


                                                                   .

and pride (Hugh Latimer thought             protection, felt sufficiently free with      ment in 1536 and, in the same year, at
Bilney was about to make confession         the king to plead for some easing of         a Convocationcalled to confirmHenry
for his devotion to the Reformation         the persecution of protestants, and          VIII as head of the church of England.
and ask for forgiveness) to describe        received from the king the benefice of       In both sermons, Latimer preached
for Latimer his own conversion  from        West Kingston, where he preached             strongly in favor of reform and
the comfortless doctrine of workrigh-       Reformed doctrine.  When the king            pleaded with the assembled dignitar-
teousness which Rome taught, to the         had his back turned, occupied with           ies to bring about reform as swiftly as
blessed peace of faith in the perfect       other matters, Latimer was sum-              possible.
sacrifice of the spotless Lamb of God.      moned before the bishop of London,                While it seemed as if his pleas
Latimer was moved as never before,          harshly and incessantly questioned           were well-received, an event of an-
and, humbled before God, he cast his        over many days, and finally excom-           other kind spoiled it all. Lutheran
lot with the Reformation movement.          municated and condemned. He was              theologians came from Germany to
                                            restored to favor only by appealing to       discuss union between the two coun-
Latimer the Reformer                        the king and agreeing to 14 points of        tries and cooperation in the Reforma-
     Latimer's considerable gifts           Romish practice and worship which            tion. When the Lutheran theologians
were now devoted to the cause of            included approval of Lent and the            -were understandably unwilling to
reform, and he became an ardent and         lawfulness of crucifixes and images          accept the Romish doctrine of tran-
eloquent preacher of reform. His life       in the churches.                             substantiationg  Henry became in-
was, from that moment on, a life on an           . This moment of weakness was,          creasingly stubborn and not only in-
ecclesiastical roller coaster- some-        by-his own. admission, the low point         sisted on the doctrine, but threatened
times full of success, sometimes            in Hugh's life, a black day indeed, a        any who denied it with the direst
loaded with heartbreak, apparent            sin which he confessed before his            punishments.
defeat, and suffering.                      God, but a crucial point in his life: he          Latimer, fully aware that he
     As his preaching attracted more        resolved that, come what may, he             could never teach such doctrine, re-
people, the bishop of Ely, Dr. West,        would never do such foolishness              signed his bishopric. He would prob-
began to take notice. While first rather    again. Itwasaresolutionwhichwould            ably have escaped punishment if it
tolerant of Hugh and inclined to be         be sorely tested.*                           were not for the fact that a tree fell on
sympathetic, he was moved to anger                His life of ups and downs con-         himandcausedinjurieswhichbrought
when he heard Hugh preach against           tinued. Through the favor of Anne            him to London for medical help. He
the great sins of bishops - a sermon        Boleyn and Thomas Cranme?  Lati-             wasimmediatelyimprisoned, thrown
which Latimer preached on the spur          mer received the. bishopric of Wor-          into the Tower of London, and re-
of the moment when, about ready to          Chester, where he spent several happy        mainedthereforsixyearsuntilHenry,
preach on another passage of Scrip-         and fruitful years preaching reform,         having exhausted himself with all his
ture, he saw the bishop of Ely with his     but sufficiently far from the public         wives, died.
retinue enter the building.~Bishop Ely      eye that he attracted little unfavor-             Edward VI, the son of Anne
did not take kindly to such open criti-     able attention. But the Lord was not         Boleyn and the only male heir, took
cism and forbad Latimer to preach in        ready to leave Hugh in obscurity and,        the throne. Edward was strongly in
his diocese.                                as his fame spread, he was summoned          favor of the Reformation and offered
     A sympathetic prior from a local       to preach at the opening of Parlia-          Latimer his bishopric once again,
monastery of the Augustinian  order,                                                     which offer Latimer refused on the
whose monastery was free from the                                                        grounds of his advanced age. But he'
supervision of the bishop, opened his                                                    did continue. to preach, for he had
pulpit to `Latimer,  and the crowds         `There is some question `concerning          always been; and continued aboveall-
were larger than ever                       whether Hugh Latimer signed these            to be, a preacher of the gospel.       `- ..,
     But greater triumphs awaited           14 points, signed only tw.o of them, or
him - and greater troubles. When            signed none at all. It seems clear that      Latimer's Martyrdom
Cardinal Wolseylookedfavorablyon            he did in fact sign them. It is interest-        I But Edward soon died andMary
Latimer, all the pulpits in England         ing .and of some comfort to us who           came to the throne.' This is the Mary
were opened to him. When Cardinal           fear persecution that three of               who has rightly earned the name by
Wolsey, England's most powerful             England's outstanding Reformers              which she has been known since her
man under the king, fell from favor,        (Thomas Bilney, Thomas Cranmer,              death: "Bloody Mary."                    ._ _
Latimer's enemies smelled blood.            and Hugh Latimer) all recanted un-                Arrested and thrown again into
When King Henry was favorably in-           der torture in some measure, and
clined towardlatimer  (partly because       later repented of their sin,.only to die
Latimer, foolishly,  ,approved the          a noble martyr's death. .                    3That the bread and wine of the sacra-
king's divorce of Catherine of              2We shall examine the life of Cranmer        ment of the Lord's Supper actually
Aragon), he came under the king's           in a later article.                          become the body and blood of Christ;

110 /Standard Bearer / December 1,1992


             ,
 the tower, Latimer was deprived of          this day light such.a  candle, by God's            Italian bishop yonder, the devil's
 even a semblance of creaturely com-         grace, in England, as1 trust Shallnever            chaplain"- and about the falseness
 forts. He was tormented  and'ques-          be put out."                                       of images and relics, of the Roman
 tioned, threatened and mocked, while              The flames quickly reached the               doctrine of the Mass, and about the
 every effort was made to get him to         gunpowder tied about Latimer's neck                contemporaries, especially bishops
                                                                                                and others who neglect the ministry
 recant. Though now past 80 years            and he died with little suffering. But             o f   t h e ,   W o r d   a n d   b e c o m e
 old, he remembered the shame and            the case was not-so withRidley.  The             "unpreachingprelates." Bishops, he
 confusion of his earlier weakness and       wood was wet and burned  ,only                     says, "are so taken up with ruffling
 steadfastly maintained his confession       around his legs. His agony was great               in their rents, dancing in their do-
 of faith in his Savior Jesus Christ. His    and all but unbearable. His legs were             minions, . . . munching in their man-
 response to the taunts and ridicule of      completely burned away before an                   gers and mailing in their gay manors
 his tormentors was: "I thank God            onlooker removed some of the higher                and mansions" that they have no
 most heartily that he hath prolonged        faggots to permit- the flames to rise              time for preaching, while the devil
 my life to this end, that I may in this     higher and explode the gunpowder                   "the most diligent prelate and
                                                                                                preacher in all England" is busy poi-
 case glorify God with this kind of          which ended his life as well.                      soning the hearts of  men.5
 death."                                          .The triumphwas the victory of
      Imprisoned with Ridley and             faith; the everlasting shame and re-                   Hugh Latimer was "one of the
 Cranmer, fellow Reformers,. Hugh            proach remains Rome's.                           most distinguished prelates of the
 Latimer was sentenced to be burned                All Latimer's contemporaries               Church of England, undoubtedly one
 at the stake with Ridley. On October        spoke highly of him. He was eloquent             of the ablest, if not the ablest ecclesi-
 16,1555bothwereledfromtheprison             in speech, perhaps England's most                astic among the English reformers of
 to a place outside the north wall of the    powerful preacher. He was a man of               the 16th century . . . the John Knox of
 town, a stone's throw from Balliol          impeccable moral conduct. He was                 England, the bearer of a name that
 College, with Latimer lagging a bit         kind, honest, enthusiastic about the             `now shines over two hemispheres,
 because of his feebleness. Kneeling         work, given to many works of mercy,              and will blaze more and more till the
 together before the pile of faggots,        and wholly devoted to the cause of               last day.' N
 they both prayed and, rising, submit-       the spread of the gospel;                              Latimer, while dying, spoke of a
 ted themselves to the will of God and           One writer says this of his ser-             light in England that would never go
 their captors. They were tied to the        m o n s :                                        out. If today it has indeed not gone
 same stake with a chain around their                                                         out, sadness fills the souls of those
 waists, leaving their hands and arms              . . . The sermons of Hugh Latimer          who must admit that it is now little
 free. The faggots were piled around           . . . although in style essentially medi- I    more than a small and flickering flame.
 them, but, prior to their-being lit, a        eval, belong in thought and intention                                                             0
 sympathetic onlooker tied bags of gun         to the days of reform. Racy, full of
 powder about their necks to speed             anecdote, reminiscence and humour, _
                                               rich in  ho&$  English words like
 their death. The faggots were lit and                                                        4Words  so expressive that no dictio-
                                               "ugsomen'ess," "dodipoles" and
 the pain began. It was then that              "belIy-cheer,"4  these sermons are an          nary is needed to know their mean-
 Latimerutteredthoseimmortalwords              indication of the vigour and courage           i n g .
 which have rung down the centuries            and outspokenness which belonged               5J.R.H.`Moorman;  A History of the
 of time: "Be of good comfort, master          to the New Age. Latimer has hard               Church of England, (Adam & Charles
 Ridley, and play the man: w.e shall           words to say about the pope-"that              Black: London, 1963) p. 183.




        The Office of the President

                                                   The office of tht president is tq state and explain the business to be transacted, to
                                             see to it that eve yone observe(s) due prder in speaking, to silence the captious and those
 Rev. Cammenga is pastor of the Protes-      who are vehemedin  speaking; and to properly discipline them if they refuse to listen.
 tant Reformed Church of Loveland,           Furthermore his-office  shall cease when  the assembly arises.
Colorado.                                                                                                     Church Order, Article 35. '

                                                                                                December 1,1992 / Standard Bearer / 111


                                              Stating and Explaining the Business                    2.Preventing  one or two from
I n t r o d u c t i o n                             The first duty of the president is      monopolizing the discussion.
      This article describes the office,      "... to state and explain the business to              3. Seeing to it that speakers ad-
or duty;of the president of ecclesias-        be. transacted . . . . II This duty of the    dress only the subject under discus-
tical assemblies. The article origi-          presidentwasespeciallyimportantin             sion, cutting off those who speak on
nated with the Synod of Embden,               the.days when no printed agenda was           unrelated subjects.
1571. Originally it concerned only the        handed out to delegates in advance.                    4. Cutting short those who go on
president of the particular and gen-          Today delegates have a rather thor-           and `on.
eral synods. It was the Synod of              oughknowledge of the business com-                     5. Seeing to it that delegates use
Middelburg, 1581, that revised the            ing before the classis or synod from          goodmanners and show proper cour-
article so that it referred to the duty of    the agenda. Even though this is the           tesy when speaking.
the president in all the assemblies,          case, certain matters included in the                  6. Insisting that speakers address
including consistory and classis.             .agenda  may need elucidation and             the chair, and not other delegates.
      It is worthwhile to compare our         explanation. When this is necessary,                   7. Not allowing discussionwith-
Article 35 with recent revisions by           it becomes the responsibility of the          out any formal motion.
other Reformed churches.'                     serving president.                                     &Seeing  to it that motions are
      Article 32b of the Church Order               This implies that it is the duty of     carefully and properly formulated.
of the Christian Reformed Church              the president to be sure that the del-                 9. Preventing unduly prolonged
reads:                                        egates have a clear understanding of          discussion. and bringing the discus-
                                              matters being treated on the floor of         sion to a close by calling for the ques-
  In every assembly there shall be a          the assembly. `If it becomes plain in         tion.
  president whose duty it shall be to         the course of discussion of a certain                  lO.Maintaining  proper solem-
  state and explain the business to be        issue that there is misunderstanding          nity, preventing the assembly from
  transacted, and to see to it that the
  stipulations of                                                                           becoming lighthearted or even rau-
                      the Church Order are    on the part of any delegate, the presi-
  followed and that everyone observes         dent ought to do his best to remove           cous.
  due order and decorum in speaking.          the misunderstanding and clarify the                   ll.Making  sure the stipulations
                                              issue.                                        of the  Church Order  are followed.
      Article 35 of the Church Order of             The president ought also to be                   12.Enforcing the rules of parlia-
the Canadianand AmericanReformed              sure that motions presented to the            mentary procedure.
Churches reads:                               assembly are clearly stated and not                    This does not prevent the presi-
                                              open to misunderstanding. No am-              dent himself from addressing the as-
  President. In all as&mbiies there           biguous motion ought to be allowed            sembly on a given issue. If he feels the
  shall be a president whose task it is:      t o   s t a n d .                             need to do this, however, he must
  a. To present and explain clearly all                                                     relinquish thechair  to the vice-presi-
  matters tobe dealt with;         .          Enforcing the Rules of Order                  dent. In this case, the vice-president
  b. To ensure that every one observe               The second duty of'the presi-           retains the chair until after the assem-
  dueorderin   s p e a k i n g ;              dent, according to Article 35, is "... to     bly has disposed of the issue. When
  c. To deny the floor to those who                                                         the president does this, he addresses
  argue about minor things or who let         see to it that everyone observe due
  themselves be carried away and can-         order in speaking . . . . U                   the assembly not any longer as its
  not control their strong emotions;                This is the main taskof  the presi-     president, but as an ordinary del-
  d. To discipline those who refuse to        dent at our major assemblies - to             e g a t e .
  listen.                                     regulate discussion and debate. The
  In major assemblies the office of the       president is to see to it that there is an    Silencing the -Captious
  president shall cease when .the as-.        orderly transaction of the business.                   The third`duty of the president
  sembly has ended.                           He is not to force the discussion in a        mentioned in Article 35 is "... to si-
                                              certain direction; or influence the dis-      lence,the  captious and those who are
      The duties of the president are         cussion tohis own personal ends, but          vehement in speaking . . . . N
referred to in other' articles of the         he is to direct the assembly so that                   Two different sorts of persons
Church Order.  Article 37 treats the          there may be a free, open, and suffi-         are inview  here. "Captious" persons
duty of the president of the local con-       cient discussion of the issues. In sum,       are those who are sharp in their speech,
&story. Article 41 deals more exten-          it is the president's special duty to         who make sarcastic remarks, who are
sively with the office of the~president       safeguard the deliberative character          caustic when referring to others,
ofthe  classical meetings. Mention is         of our major assemblies.                      whose talk irritates and offends.
also made of the duties of the presi-               This duty of the president in-          "Those who are vehement in speak-
dent of the major assemblies in the           cludes several things:                        ing" are those who lack self-control
Rules of Order both of the classes and              1. Giving everyone who desires          and do not exercise appropriate re-
of the synod.                                 to speak the opportunity of the floor.        straint when speaking. They lose

112 /Standard Bearer I December 1,1992


their temper and blow up, or are                 forth. The. Church Order does not             the president I'... shall cease when the
unable to control their emotions. In             evenrequire that the assemblies have          assembly arises." The president is not
the language of James 3, they do not             a vice-president (cf. Article  34), al-       a permanent officer of the assembly,
know how to bridle their tongue.                 though neither does it forbid the elec-       but only the presiding officer at that
      These types of individuals the             tion of a vice-president. All our as-         particular meeting of the assembly.
president is to "silence." Usually an            semblies, consistory,  classis, and           This is a necessary safeguard against
exhortation from the president to the            synod, elect vice-presidents.                 hierarchy; When the assembly is ad-
offending party will be sufficient. In                Generally, the duties of thevice-        journed, the office of the president
some instances, it is not. In this case,         president include all the duties of the       ceases. However, it is the case that the
Article 35 gives the responsibility to           president when he is called upon to           last serving president of classis'and
the president  "... to properly disci-           act in the place of the president. This       synod functions at the beginning of
pline them if they refuse to listen . . . . N    may be either because the president           the next meeting of classis and synod
What this means is that the president,           relinquishes the chair temporarily, or        to the point that the assembly is le-
in the name of the assembly, forbids             because for one reason or another he          gally constituted and the newly cho-
the individual to continue to speak.             is unable to function. in his office.         sen officers can function.
That is the fl discipline" Article 35 has             When not occupying the chair,                 The only exception to this provi-
in mind, not discipline in the sense of          the vice-president is to assist the presi-    sionis the president of the consistory.
formal church discipline, the exercise           dentineverywaypossible. Heshould              His office as president of the consis-
of the keys of the kingdom of heaven.            assist the president in determining           toryisnot temporarybutpermanent,
In certain cases the president may               whose turn it isto speak, especially          according to the stipulation of Article
even call for a motion of disapproval            when there are several who desire the         37 of the Church Order. A new presi-
and censure from the assembly. In                floor. He should remind the presi-            dent of consistory is not chosen at
extreme cases, the individual may be             dent of any item on the agenda that           each new meeting of the consistory,
banned from the meeting.                         may have been overlooked. And he              but the serving pastor is automati-
                                                 should assist the president in enforc-        cally. the president of the consistory.
Duties of the Vice-President                     ing the rules of procedure and debate.        In case a congregation has more than
      Nowhere in the Church Order                Term of Office                                one pastor, they preside over the con-
are the duties of the vice-president set              Article 35 states that the office of     sistory meetings by rotation. 0




                          .History .of the-PRC:
                          Li5arnin.g to Live.
                            with -Caricature                                                                             . .

    [The text ofa lecturegiven to the Associationfor the Advancement ofDutch-American Studies @.A.D.A.S.)  held at Hope
    College on September20,1991. The topic of the conference was "The Dutch and Their Faith. N The conference was sponsored
    by the Joint Archives  of  Holland. This lecture was repeated at the Protestant Reformed Seminary on March26,1992,  and;
    at the editor's request, submitted for publication in the  SB.]

                                                      We often wonder how others               if one is seeking to know how others
                                                 perceive us. This relates to many             perceive him, he generally wants an
                                                 areas of our lives: personal appear-          honest, solid, well-evidenced analy-
                                                 ance, effectiveness on the job, per-          sis and evaluation. This is also true
Mr. Huisken is a member of the Protes-           sonal relationships, educational back-        with regard to one's religious beliefs.
tant Reformed Church in Grandville,              ground, status within.ourprofession,          If criticism or praise is to be given.
Michigan and registrar at Hope College.          to name just a few. In all these areas,       about our beliefs, they ought to be

                                                                                                 December 1,1992 I Standard Bearer I 113


based upon sound evidence, not per-          time. I cannot possibly relate the           consistory was autonomous. Could,,
sonal bias or prejudice. It would be         whole of our history in this brief space.    in fact, a classis or a synod suspend
reasonable to expect that, given the         But let me begin by sketching briefly        and depose a minister and his consis-
importance of religious belief and           our origins. My emphasis today will          tory? The answer of Hoeksema and
given the highly personal nature of          be on theology - not persons - al-           his consistory was that suspension
those beliefs, it would be doubly im-        though understandably persons and            and deposition could only be done by
portant that the analysis or evalua-         personal feelings enter into every dis-      a consistory. The fact in Hoeksema's
tion given be based on the facts at          pute, be it secular or ecclesiastical.       case, however, was that the suspen-
hand. If that is not the case, then the      And, of course, I am going to have to        sion and deposition occurred at the
result will be a distortion of a person's    refer often to Herman Hoeksema, the          discretion of the classis and synod.
beliefs. And, when those distortions         founder of the PRC. It was against           This, by the way, accounts for the
are the results of exaggerations of          him and his teachings that charges           distinction in the names of the Chris-
certain points of doctrine, then the         were leveled and caricatures made,           tianReformed  Church, the Reformed
result is caricature, not truth.             so we have to deal with that. But I          Church in America, and the Protes-
     It is my contention (and experi-        believe it fair to say that, even when       tant Reformed Churches. Churches,
ence, I might add) that this is what has     Hoeksema was involved, the argu-             not church, say the PRC. A distinc-
happened and is happening when the           ments were primarily theological, not        tion which is lost on many today..
story of the Protestant Reformed             personal. The only incident, an inci-             This history, however, must  .be
Churches is being told. You will be          dent which actually precedes the his-        put into context in order to under-
happy to note-right up front- that           tory of the PRC per se, that might be        stand the reaction of the CRC to
I will apply this to both sides of the       more personal than theological was           Hoeksema and his cohorts Danhof
fence: to those who have presented           the flagincident in the 14th St. CRC of      and Ophoff. James Bratt in his book,
the doctrines and persons of the PRC         Holland, Michigan. All the big guns,         Dutch Calvinism in Modem America,
for ill, and to those who are more           including Gerrit Diekema himself,            sets the context fairly well. There
kindly disposed-mostly  IX's them-           were brought out against Hoeksema,           were two cases preceding the 1924
selves - to the telling of that history      and he was nearly tarred and feath-          Hoeksemal  Common Grace case
and of describing its notable persons.       ered. Treason and Nazi were words            which figure into the demise of
      So,whenaskedbymycolleagues             often used against him in that contro-       Herman Hoeksema in 1924 in the
(often, I might add) about what I was        versy. Where's Jay Wabeke when               CRC: theBultema  case and the Janssen
going to do with this topic, my re-          you need him?                                case. The Bultema case, sometimes
sponse has been that, first, I would              The official beginning of the PRC       known as the Maranatha case, dealt
like to ask whether the analyses and         was 1926, when the CRC Synod of              witheschatologyandBultema'slean-
evaluations given about the origins          that year did not sustain the protests       ings toward premillennialism. The
and subsequent history of the PRC            of Hoeksema and the Eastern Ave.             Janssen case dealt with higher criti-
have been accurate and fair? A good          consistory. His deposition was made          cism and Janssen's alleged denial of
test of that willbe subsequent history.      final by that gathering. But, a sepa-        the miracles in Scripture. Hoeksema
Has subsequent history proven or             rate existence began already in 1924         figured prominently in both of these
disproven some of the analyses that          and, in fact, the periodical, the Stun-      cases. He served on both of the syn-
have been made? Second, my pur-              davd Bearer, in which Hoeksema,              odical committees, and he authored
pose will be to give my own personal         Danhof, and Ophoff carried on their          most of the synodical  committees'
reactions to representations of our          controversy with the CRC, was  al-           reports in these cases. He was now a
history. I have lived through some 40        readyestablishedin1924. In1925, the          marked man. And, when he contin-
years of our 67-year history; I have         three congregations involved adopted         ued his writings against common
come to know quite well the leaders          an Act of Agreement, temporarily             grace after the Janssen case, the pro-
of our denomination, including the           organized as the Protesting Christian        tests against him began. The conclu-
late Rev. Herman Hoeksema. I have            Reformed Churches, and in 1926 or-           sion of the matter was that the Three
heard them preach; I have read the           ganized permanently as the Protes-           Points of Common Grace were
literature, both pro and con. And, I         tant Reformed Churches in America.           adopted by the CRC Synod of 1924.
have found that, for the most part, I             There were two issues of pri-           The result for Hoeksema personally
have had to learn to live with carica-       mary importance in the 1924-26               was his suspension and deposition
ture, not fact. Much of what I have to       struggles. The theological issue was         along with Danhof and Ophoff. And
say will, of necessity, focus on Herman      common grace with its concomitant            so it was that the history of the PRC
Hoeksema, the founder of the PRC;            spiritual-ethical-moral issue of the         began.
but I think it will become evident           relation of the believer to the world             The beginning of the history was
quite quickly that the caricatures have      and secular culture. The antithesis          also the beginning of the caricature.
extended far beyond him.                     was discussed at length. The church          Gross exaggerations of the PRC the-
     My problem today, of course, is         political issue was whether the local        ology and of its moral stances

114 /Standard Bearer I December I,1992


abounded. I cannot be complete here,         Reformed in their preaching and                 of A.C. DeJong, The Well-Meant Of-
but let me give you some of the most           teaching but with a tendency to one-         fer of the Gospel: The Views of H.
g l a r i n g   e x a m p l e s :              sidedness, the onesidedness of logic          Hoeksema and K Schilder. The ori-
  1. Right out of the box was the              and reason. He was accused of plac-           gin.of this book was  DeJong's  doc-
  charge that the PRC was not a church,        inghis own reason above the author-           toral dissertation on this subject for
  but a sect. Its theology was so  lop-        ity of the Word of God. Hoeksema's            none other  thank G.C. Berkouwer.
  sidedthatitwasasingle-issuechurch.           theology was "single track," empha-           And the thrust of the workis  to paint
  Its leader, Herman Hoeksema, was             sizing the sovereignty of God in sal-         Hoeksema as a hyper-Calvinist of
  so dominant that what was begun as           vation; but he needed to be "double           the baldest sort. Berkouwer, in turn,
 the PRC was the mere following of a           track.," emphasizing the sovereignty          spread this caricatureinhis own dog-
  man and therefore had no right of            of God and the responsibility of man.         matics. He refers to DeJong's book
  existence.      St. Herman and Pope          Hoeksema, it was said, destroyed              as an authoritative, reliable analysis
  Herman were a few of the choice              thescripturalparadoxofsovereignty             of Hoeksema's teaching on the offer
  epithets hurled his way.                     and responsibility, and he did this by        and preaching.
      But, this was caricature. Subse-         human reason alone. And, to top it
  quent history has shown that this            off, to make matters even worse, he
  charge, made in 1924 and repeated            was one of those supra-lapsarians                    Not  hype+Calvinism
  often in subsequent years, was not           who argued continually from the                        of the baldest sort,
  correct. HermanHoeksemahasbeen               viewpoint of the counsel of God.
  dead for 25 years -and we are still              Someone who argues this about                          but ca&ature
  here. In fact, therearenoHoeksemas           Hoeksema and PR theology, how-                         of the baldest sort.
  occupying positions of leadership in         ever, simply has not read enough
  the PRC today. Common grace cer-             about us. We believe in a reasonable,
  tainly occupied the mind of the PRC,         rational faith, just as many other Cal-              Thespinfromallofthisisthatthe
  but much positive development of             vinists do. Doctrine, however, all by        PRC,ashyper-Calvinists,preachonly
  doctrine was achieved, particularly          itself, simply will not do. Faith with-      to the elect and, further, take pains to
  in the area of the covenant of grace.        out works, says the biblical writer          make sure that that's all they do.
  2. Then there was the immediate              James, is dead. This we teach and            This, of course, precludes all mission
  charge in 1924 that Hoeksema and             believe. We take seriously the teach-        preaching, and, in fact, the PRC have
  his followers were anabaptistic in           ing of the Heidelberg Catechism in           been characterized as having no in-
  their view of culture and the world.         Lord's Day 39: When confronted               terest in missions at all. This also
  J.K. VanBaalen led the charge in this        with the question of the catechism as        leads, of course, to the label of being
regard and accused Hoeksema of                 to why we must do good works, we             a Post Toasties church -better than
  being separatist and of promoting            confess along with all Reformed be-          anybody else and, of course, the old,
  world-flight  - a classic anabaptist.        lievers m that so we may testify, by the     old charge that only  PR's will be in
      But, again, this was caricature.         whole of our conduct, our gratitude          heaven - singing Dutch psalms, of
  And, again, subsequent history is the        to God for His blessings, and that He        course.
  determinant. Hoeksema, good Cal-             may be praised by us; also, that ev-                 By now, you have guessed the
 vinist that he was, certainly was a           eryone may be assured in himself of          response. Not hyper-Calvinism of
 proponent of the antithesis,butnever          his faith, by the fruit thereof; and         the baldest sort, but caricature of the
  did he promote the world-flight of           that, by our godly conversation, oth-        baldest sort. There are those who
  theanabaptists. His detractors heard         ers may be gained to Christ." And,           believe that only the elect should be
only the negative part of the antith-          as Herman Hoeksema himself wrote             preached to and that mission preach-
  esis, the believer's "no" to the world;      in his pamphlet, "The Christian and          ingisnon-essentialatbestandwrong
  they did not hear the positive teach-        Culture,"  II... (the believer's) calling    atworst.  But thatisnotwhatthepRC
 ing of the "yes" to God. That is the          in this present world is to represent        believe and teach. The PRC endorse
 true presentation of the antithesis.          the cause of the Son of God always           the teaching of Canons, II, 5 that
Therefore, a full, active, spiritual life      and everywhere, in the family, and           preachers ought to preach promis-
 "in the world" was absolutelyneces-          in the school, in society and in the          cuously and without distinction and
 sary.                                         state, in, the laboratory and in the         to command all humanity to repent
                                               shop.... He strives for a Christian          and believe. The question for us has
                                               family, a Christian home, a Christian        not been whether we should preach
  We believe in a reasonable,                 life in society, a Christian school, a        to all or call all to come to Christ, but
                                              Christianuniversity,aChristianstate,
      rational faith, just as                                                               the question has been whether God
                                              and is a living member of the Chris-          is gracious in the preaching to all,
many other Calvinists do.                     tian church.`?                                indeed loves all, and wishes to save
                                              4. And, finally,I call attention to the       all.
                                              caricature of the PRC and its theol-                  And missions, what about mis-
 3. Next there was the caricature of          ogy as hyper-Calvinism. Particu-              sions? Currently the PRC, in addi-
 the PR theology as scholastic.               larly, this label has come about be-          tion to home mission work in the
 Hoeksema and Danhof were, in fact,           cause of the PRC's denial of the well-        U.S., have mission projects in Ja-
 already characterized by the Synod           meant offer of the gospel. That this is       maica, Singapore, and Ghana.
 of 1924 as men who were thoroughly           caricature is evident from the book                   And Post Toasties? I think it is

                                                                                            December 1,1992 I Standard Bearer I 115


  abundantly clear to those who listen           false. The positive development of            thatinstills dread in people. Why is
  well to what we say and write, that            the concept of the catholicity of the       itthat,whenoneisthinkingofchurch
  we clearly believe in the catholicity          church has been slow in coming, but           migration,all  theoptions, whetherit
  of the church.                                 it is coming.                                 beCatholicismorBaptistorMethod-
                                                 3. Finally, there is the matter of the        ist, are acceptable, but if he considers
      But I-promised to deliver both             antithesis. We have those who live            migrating to the PRC he will quickly
sides.     Our own analyses and the              out of negativism, those who under-           betoldthathewillbemakingagrave
presentation of our own leading per-             stand only the "no" of the antithesis.        mistake? And this dread seems to be
sons by our people and in our  publi-            There are some in the PRC who have            passed from generation to genera-
                                                 not achieved the delicate balance be-         tion. The caricature continues. Just
cationshas led to a unique caricature            tween the legalist and the libertine.         recently, for example, I had lunch
of its own. Let me cite a few examples           But the believer cannot live out of a         with a former colleague at the col-
that  ,come  readily to mind:                    negative position. The positive de-           lege. We had not seen each other for
  1. There is first of all the caricature        velopment of the truths of scripture          some five years and, as we were
  of Herman Hoeksema himself. St.                has to be a priority if the believers in      catching up on families and work,
  Herman? Pope Herman? Part of                   the PRC are to lead healthy,  full-           the conversation turned to church.
  that caricature is true. That is the           orbed Christian lives.                        Utter disbelief that I was still affili-
  problem with all caricature. Carica-                                                         ated with the PRC! How was it
  ture is exaggeration, but exaggera-               So, what do I make of all this             possible that I still maintained mem-
  tion which is based on what is. And,         personally? Several points, in conclu-          bership there? Now, he had had no
I have witnessed it for myself.                                                                contact with us, but his opinions of
  Hoeksema was'placed  ona pedestal            sion, for you to think about  - as              the PRC were firmly fixed. And, that
  by his followers.  .He was catered to        historians, as theologians, as aspir-           causes me to look at myself and at
  and was adored. Did he speak  ex             ants to either.                                 what we as PRC teach and believe.
  c@h&-a?   To some perhaps. Fact,               1. Why cannot the story get told              So, from that point of view, the ques-A
  however, is that Hoeksema was very             straight? Historiansarededicated  to          lion is an important one. But carica-
  human. He was, according to some,              accuracy and truth. But historians            ture abounds, and  having to deal
  naive about people; he was gullible.           cannot seem to tell the story  .of the        with that perhaps gives us a sense of
  Often he could not discern the truth           PRC correctly. And; in connection             defensiveness that shows too much.
  about those who heaped adoration               with this, why cannot historians rec-
  a n d    adulation      u p o n   h i m .      ognize our existence? True, we are               The solution to caricature is com-
  Hoeksema's own last years were                 small, but we are part of the Re-           mitment to truth. For those of you
  marredbythosezealotswhoinsisted                formed community. I make refer-
  that their own beloved Dominie                 ence to James Bratt's book particu-         who are interested in the Reformed
  Hoeksema could not possibly suffer             larly. He deals with our origins but        communityandinthehistoryofthose
  dementia.                                      does not deal with our continued            denominations that claim member-
      History, however, will sort this           existence. And as far as theologians        ship, I urge you  t-o read critically our
  out. As generations pass, those who            go, the opposite seems to be true.          history and theology. Analysis and
  themselves lived the history of 1924          They seem obsessed in dealing with           criticism, to be sure, are to be ex-
  will be gone. Hoeksema as a person            HermanHoeksema.  Thecontinental              pected; but tell the story straight, and
  will be put in perspective, and focus         theologians, and Berkouwer in par-           present not only us, but all parties, as
  will turn to his legacy as a theolo-           ticular, cannot seem to get Hoeksema        they are, not what you would like
  gian.                                         out of their minds. James Daane,
      The absence of peer review of             probably one of the more astute CRC          them to be. And, I reiterate, that cuts
  publications also, I believe, hampers         theologians of recent time, seemed to        both ways. I am reminded of a re-
  our publications. The smallness of            be fascinated with Hoeksema and              mark made to one of our professors
  our denomination is a factor here.            often came to hear him preach. And,          by none other than Harry Boer. This
  But. I hope that. we can accomplish.          the irony in this all, is that of all the    professor had reviewed one of Boer's
  some of that in the future. The books         theologians that the CRC has pro-            books on the doctrine of reprobation.
  andpamphletswewritewouldserve                 duced, Hoeksema has written the              Boer's comment to him was that, while
  us  much.better  if additional input.         most, been debunked the most, been           there was certainly disagreement over
  were sought prior to publication and          debated with the most, but has never         the contents of the book, he appreci-
  if capable editors were to fake their         been recognized as the theologian he
  red or blue pens to the text before it        was by his mother, the CRC. Some-            ated the fact that his views had been
  was published.                                thing, I say, to think about.                presented accurately. That is what
  2. Secondly, there is the attitude of                                                      we ask and, I- think, what we can
  some in the PRC that we ought in-                                                          expect.  0
  deed be separatists. Any and all               The solution to caricature
  discussions have to be done on our              is commitment to truth.
  terms and with our issues. We have
  fought the battle against those who
  insist on the PRC as the only  true           2. To be more  personal still. There
  church, all the rest being apostate or        seems tobesomethingabout  thePRC

116 /Standard .Bearer  / December I,1992


The  Case for Full Subscription to the    to the "Three Forms of  Unitv" as              nation of some points of the afore-
Westminster Standards in the Pres-        merely binding one to the creeds "in-          said doctrine, made by the National
byterian Church in America,  by           sofar as the creeds agree with Scrip-          SynodofDordrecht,1628-`19,dofu?ly
Morton Howison Smith. Greenville,         ture" and those who view subscrip-             agree with the Word of God.
SC: GPTS Press, 1992, 98 pages            tion as binding one to the creeds "be-
(paper). No price given. [Reviewed        cause the creeds agree with Scrip-                   The `Case fqr Full Subscription
by the Editor.]                           ture."                                       reminds us, if we need reminding,
                                               Smith shows that "full subscrip-        that the churches must hold every
     One of the founding fathers .of      tion" is thel'resbyterianposition.  Itis     officebearer  tohis vow of full sub-
the Presbyterian Church in America        a valuable part of this short book that      scription." It could well have been
(PCA) and longtime Stated Clerk of        it traces the fascinating history of the     added that this implies the necessity
the General Assembly, Morton              issue of subscription in the history of      of disciplining those who violate their
Howison Smith, pleads for full sub-       Presbyterianism in the United States.        vow. Failure todiscipline is the cause
scription to their creeds by all          At a crucial juncture in 1837, the Pres-     of the apostasy of the church. Whereas
officebearers in the PCA. He does         byterian Church spelled out the. er-         violation of his vow by the teachingof
this in the face of opposition within     rors that had actually entered that          heresy is the fault of the minister,
that church. The issue is popularly       Church by means of "loose," or "sys-         failure to discipline is the responsibil-
referred to as the difference between     tem subscription." They included the         ity of the church itself.
"strict" and "loose" subscription to      denial that God sovereignly governed                 Morton Smith does not shrink
the Westminster Confession and Cat-       the entrance of sin into the world (the      fromindicating the seriousness of the
echisms. As Smith correctly notes,        first error mentioned!); the teaching        issue in his own church, the PCA. If
the issue is better described as "full    that election is conditioned by faith        the issue is not resolved in favor of
subscription" versus "system sub-         (the second error mentioned!); the           full subscription, schism is likely (p.
scription."                               denialof  the federalheadship of Adam        5) and apostasy is all but certain (p;
     At issue is the meaning of the       and original sin; the denial of the          79).
"Second Question" of the vows taken       substitutionary and penal character                  The book includes an article by
by officebearers in the PCA at their      of the death of Christ; the denial of        John Murray, "Creed Subscription in
ordination: "Do you sincerely re-         irresistible grace; the doctrine that        The Presbyterian Church in the
ceive and adopt the Confession of         "God has done all that he can do for         U.S.A.," that has not been published
Faith and the Catechisms of this          the salvation of all men, and that man       before.
Church, as containing the system of       himself must do the rest"; and more                  The Case  for  Full Subscription
doctrine taught in the Holy Scrip-        (cf. pp. 68-70). _.                          can be ordered from GETS Press,
tures....:' Those who argue for "sys-          Those doctrines more than any           Greenville Presbyterian Theological
tem subscription" hold that the min- other that the advocates of "system               Seminary, P.O. Box 9279, Greenville,
istermerelyexpressesagreementwith         subscription" are determined to op-          SC- 29604 (phone: 803-233-0726).  n
the general (undefined) system of         pose are the doctrines of sovereign
doctrine taught by the creeds. This       grace.
leaves them, they contend, the right           History proves that "full" (and I       The Pow&  Of Prayer: The New York
to disagree with any number of spe-       would add, "honest") subscription to         Revival of  1858, by Samuel Prime;
cific. doctrines taught by the creeds.    the creeds is absolutely necessary for       Banner of Truth Publishing, 1991;
Those who insist on "full subscrip-       the preservation of a denomination of        265pp.,  $10.95 (hard cover). [Re-
tion," Smith among them, maintain         churches as true churches of Christ.         viewed by Prof. Herman Hanko.]
that the "Second Question" binds ev-      Our ownReformed  "Formula of Sub-
ery officebearer who takes the vow to     scription" is a "full subscription"                  The author of this reprint by
sincere agreement with the creeds         document:                                    Banner of Truth was a Presbyterian
themselves, and that as regards all                                                    minister from 1834 to 1885. He was,
their doctrines.                            . . . we heartily believe and are per-     therefore, a witness to this revival.
     Basically, this is the issue that      suaded that all the articles and points            The revival of which he speaks
has come up, again and again, in the        of doctrine, contained in the Confes-      began in Collegiate Reformed Protes-
Reformed tradition as the conflict          sion and Catechism of the Reformed         tant Dutch Church on Fulton Street in
between those who see subscription          Churches, together with the expla-         New York City at a prayer meeting

                                                                                         December 1,1992  / Standard Bearer I 1 l?


whichbeganwithonly sixpeople,but           ers, was an exercise in ecumenism.            following remarks at a prayer meet-
soon included hundreds. This meet-              There ,is a flat contradiction in        ing:
ing and subsequent meetings became         the book (the same contradiction                       We should remember that all
well known under the name: Fulton          whichis found in so many accounts of            these great revivals were bestowed
St. Prayer Meetings.                       revivals): the book emphasizes that             in answer to prayer: I wonder if my
     The meetings brought about a          the revival came spontaneously, un-             brethren ever think of the. power of.
revival of prayer and conversions          expectedly, surprising everyone, as a           prayer; of the power they have to
                                                                                           prevail over the divine mind. If you
which embraced the whole of New            mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit,           ask me how this is, I cannot tell you
York City, spread to surrounding ar-       so much so that other revivals are              how . . . .
eas, eventually reached the extremi-       even somewhat criticized (p. 3Q); but,
ties of the country, and even was          at the same time, the whole tenor of                   The Presbyterian then referred
found on board ships plying the            the book is that revival comes only           to some biblical examples, among
oceans and in foreign lands.               when people earnestly pray, continu-          whom was Moses. What did God do
     The author claims that this re-       ously bombard heaven with prayers             in connection with Moses' prayer?
vival was the fourth great revival, the    forrevival, andferventlyseekreirival          Why, he seemed not to be able to
first being Pentecost; the second, the     (P. 70).                                      withstand the prayer of his servant
Reformation; the third, the New  En-             These revivals too were charac-         . . . .U And so the church must learn
gland revival (p..68). Why the author      terized by an Arminian view of.salva-         "that God hears and answers prayer,
makes no mention of the revivals           tion: the unconverted able to .pray           thatprayerwithGodpr~aiZ.s"(pp.69,
under Charles Finney is a bit of a         and long for salvation in Christ (p.          70).                .'
mystery, since Finney's revivals be-       138), the anxious seat -that precur-                   No Reformed man can possibly
gan prior to 1858 and ran concur-          sor of the altar call (p. 138), and salva-    have such a conception of God. In-
rently with.the  New York revival,         tion dependent upon what man does.            deed, if it were really the case that our
and Finney was also a Presbyterian               As is, common with revivals,            prayers could change God's mind, I
minister. It is almost as if Samuel        there are in this revival. also post-         would never dare to pray  again. But
Prime expresses his dissatisfaction        millennial overtones. If only people          the evil of such a conception is that it
withFinney's  revivals, although there     would seekrevival fervently enough,           denies God's own immutability; it
are some similaritiesbetweenFinney  s      revival would sweep the whole world           `denies the sovereignty of God's coun-
revivals and the New York revival.         and usher in the kingdom.of God here          sel; it gives to mere man a wisdom
Perhaps Finney was too obviously an        below. In fact, the authorof this book        superior to that of God-manknows
Arminian, although he was never dis-       is so impressed with the fervency of          better than God as to what man should
ciplined by his church.                    the revival which he witnessed that           receive; and it makes salvation de-
     The book does not profess to be       he suspects the dawn of the millen-           pendent upon man's work. These are
a theology of revival, but is concerned    nium any. day (p. 194).                       blasphemous notions which no  Re-
mainly with-an account of the revival            While the' descriptiqn of this re-,, formed manIcan entertain for a mo-
and describes a large number of con-       viva1 makes it'clear that it was not
                                                          .-                             ,.ment.                                    :
versions in answer to prayer.              characterized by the'excesses'of  the.                 :The book is full of "answers to
     Even without containing a U the-      New England revival and the Finney            prayer." These "answers" specifi-
ologyofrevival," thebookgivesabun-         revival, the chief error of the whole         cally concern themselves with con-
dant evidence of why revivals are          movement lies in its teachings on             versions of loved ones and healings
never according to the will of God. I      prayer, The book makes,it  clear that         from diseases. The book talks about
have learned that to criticize revivals    the chief characteristic of the revival       how all these prayers were answered.
brings on the wrath of many who            was prayer; but the prayers described         But what is a pastor going to say to's
consider revivals to be something so       were certainly contrary to all that           husband whose wife is taken away
sacred as to lie beyond criticism. But     Scripture teaches us concerning               from-him and from his children even
the more I read of revivals, the more      prayer. _            2                        after many fervent prayers. What is
Ibecome convinced that they are sim-             The main error `of the books            an elder in the`church going to say to
ply contrary to Scripture, and that no ~ theology of prayer is its obvious com-          an old saint who has spent hours on
Reformed man can truly support             mitment to the idea that prayer, if           his knees praying for a wandering
t h e m .                                  offered fervently enough and by               son, when it does not please God to
     TheweaknessesoftheNewYork             enough people and for a long enough           ,bring that son to repentance? Ought
revival are evident on the pages of        period.of time; can persuade God to           we to say: You have not prayed ear-
this book. The Fulton St. PrayerMeet-      change His mind (an idea all to com-          nestly enough? You have not prayed
ings and the revival they sparked cut      mon today in Presbyterian and Re-             with sufficient faith? You have not
across denominational lines without        formed circles). This is explicitly           prayed with .enough people? You
any regard for the truth of Scripture.     stated in the book; A Presbyterian            have not prayed long enough?
This revival, along with so many oth-      clergyman is quoted as making the                      Does it all depend on our

118 /Standard Bearer / December 1, j992


prayers? This would rob the child of       (faith and experience and the justifi-         tial theologians," the book-is a valu-
God of all comfort and hope. It all        cation of the sinner); Zwingli (remem-         able, and interesting, introduction to
finally comes down to one simple           bering Jesus); Calvin (our knowledge           the thinking of the ten theologians for
petition (and yet so desperately diffi-    of God); Jonathan Edwards (the chal-           pastors. I was particularly struck by
cult to pray) found in the prayer our      lenge of.modern  culture); Karl Barth          McGrath's  analysis of the ministry of
Lord Himself taught us: "Thy will be       (the "otherness" of God, expressed             Jonathan Edwards (pp. 100-110). He
done.". It is all there. The proponents    byMcGrathasBarth'sinsistence,"Let              seesit as a response to the challenge to
of revival seem never to have learned      God be God"); and C.S. Lewis (long-            the preaching of the gospelby the rise
how to pray that prayer.                   ing for God). I                                of modern culture. Edwards' cong-re-
        I find it more than passing                 The work is deliberately `simple      gation contained many "self-made
strange that the book informs us in a      and light. The author writes here not          persons" who hadno  use for the doc-
Preface that the book is being repub-      for the theologian but for the layman          trine of justification by faith alone,
lished upon the advice of the late Dr.     who desires toknow something about             without works. There were also many
Martyn Lloyd-Jones.  n                     these notable. theologians and their           nominal Christians who were of-
                                           teachings. Speaking to this audience,          fended by the notion that they were
                                           McGrath writes:                                sinners. Edwards called these atti-
A Cloud of Witness&, by Alister E.                                                        tudes U Arminianism." He attacked
McGrath. Grand Rapids: Zondervan             (This book) is meant to whet your            them by preaching that human
Publishing House, 1990. 141 pages,           appetite on the one hand, and disarm         achievements do not impress God
$8.95, paper. [Reviewed by the Edi-          yoti fears about tlieolog)i  on the          and by preaching the full reality of
t o r . ]                                    other. Despite everything you.may
                                             havebeen  told, theology can befun,          sin. McGrath suggests that the chal-
                                                                                          lenge that-confronted Edwards is the
        Able English theologian and          it can be relmant.to  your faith, and it
                                             can be helpful k, the task of building       very same as that which confronts the
popular writer Alister E. McGrath            up individuals and communities in            gospel in the churches of North
gives us short sketches of the life and      their faith (p. 12).                         America today. -'
outstanding' ideas of ten leading                                                              Helpful to "potential theologian"
Christian thinkers.. They are              Each chapter on one ,of the theolo-            and pastor alike are the author's rec-
Athanasius (the divinity of Christ);       gians iS only about ten pages long and         ommendations for further reading at
,Augustine (the grace of God); Anselm      can easily be read at `one sitting.            the end of each chapter and at the end
(the death of Christ); Aquinas (faith               Despite being aimed at those          of the book. 0
and reason); Luther, in two chapters       whom McGrath describes as "poten-





Congregational  Highlights                 lecture. Such was the case again this          area PR churches gathered together
        Even though the front cover of     year.                                          at the newly completed Faith PRC
this issue of the Standard Bearerindi-              T h e   congre.gation  o f   t h e    auditorium to hear Rev. K. Koole,
-cates that this is the December 1st       Immanuel PRC of Lacombe, AB,                   Faith's pastor, give an interesting
issue, I am writmg  this installment of    CanadasponsoredaReformationDay                 speech on "The Reformation: Redis-
the "News" inearly November, which         lecture on October 28 in their church          covery of the Harmony of the Gospel
means that our churches' annual ob-        auditorium with their pastor, Rev. M.          of Grace."
servance of ReformationDay  has now        Dick, speaking on the subject; "The                 The Evangelism Committee of
just-passed. Many of our congrega-         Fire of the Reformation:: Is it Still          the South Holland, IL PRC sponsored
tions mark this important event in the     B u r n i n g ? "                              alectureonOctober30intheirchurch.
life of the church by sponsoring a                  On October 29, Rev. A.                Their speaker was the former Calvin
                                           denHartog,  pastor of the Hope PRC             College professor, Henry Vander
                                           in Redlands, CA, gave a speech on the          Goot, who spoke on "The Reforma-
                                           subject, "What is a Reformed                   tion and the Gospel of Vocation"
.Mr. WiggerisamemberoftheProtestant        Church?" in Hope's auditorium.                 (treating the Reformers' idea of the
Reformed Church of Hudsonville,Michi-               On the 29th of -October .many         Christian's work in life).
gan.                                       members from the West Michigan                      And the Reformed Witness Com-
                                                         `.
                                                                                            December 1,1992/StandardBearer  Ill9


                                                                                                            SECOND CLASS
                                                                                                            Postage Paid at
                                                                                                            Grandville, Michigan
   P.O.Box603
   Grandville, Ml 49466-0603


mittee of theDoon and-Hull, IA PRCs,       Spriensma~  gave a very worthwhile
along with the First PRC of Edgerton,` and at times a very emotional speech
MN, sponsored Prof. H. Hank0 at a          for the annual Fall Mr. and Mrs. and
Reformation lecture on the carnpus of      Adult Bible Societies Mass Meeting:
Dordt College. Prof. Hanko spoke on        He spoke in the Grandville, MI PRC
a topic of extreme importance, "The        onthetopic"TheologicalPilgrimage."
Battle for the Bible."                     In that speech he touched on many of
      Evidently the construction of the    the events in his past which, looking                  TAPE OFFER
new church sanctuary of the Hull, IA       back, were  signs of our heavenly                Tape&f  the conference on Spiri-
PRC continues to progress. A recent        Father's infinite love  ,and mercy and     tual Depression held on October 9
bulletin announcement from Hull's          His patient leadingof Rev. Spriensma       and 10 at Byron Center Protestant
Building Committee encouraged the          and his family into'our churches.          Reformed Church are available by
congregation to try out several differ-           Rev. W. Bruinsma spoke to the       writing to the
ent samples of possible pews to'be         annual Fall meeting ofthe Reformed.          Byron Center Evangelism Society
used in their new church.                  Free Publishing Association (RFPA)                      P.O. Box 71                   -
      And one other note of interest       on September 24 at the Hope PRC in                Byron Center, Ml 49315.
from Hull. Their Christian Fellow-         Walker, MI. Pastor Bruinsma spoken         Tapes include the speeches given by
ship Society added several books to        on "The S&rncIau&+qzrand  the Cov-         Prof. Robert Decker and Rev. James
their church library, among which          enant Family."                             Slopsema along with the question and
was Calvin's Institutes of the  Chris-      TheFallLadies"LeagueMeeting               answer periods. Total cost is.36.00.
tiun Religion and the Zondervan Pic-       was held in the First PRC in Edgerton,
torial Bible Dictionary;- .  :.            `MN onOctober'20. Rev. M. DeVrjes
      The congregation of the Faith        spoke on the topic "Promoting Re-
PRC in Jenison, MI met recently to         spect in an Age'of  Rebellion."                  WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
approve plans'to  upgrade their organ                                                       The 45th wedding anniversary-
and to purchase furnishings for their      M i n i s t e r i a l   C a l l s          was observed on November 4,1992, ,
new addition.                   .,             Only one item to-report in this        bY                                                 ,_
      Not all our churches "build" new     issue. Rev. R. Hanko, considering the            MR. and MRS. GEORGE                          ;
structures. Some, like the Randolph,       call to serve as,missionary  to North-                 ENGELSMA.
WI PRC, also "tear down." At least         ern Ireland, asked for and received. a           We, their brothers and sisters,
Randolph's building committee was          three-week extension. ,He now will         extend to them our congratulations.
looking for someone interested in          answer this call, the Lord willing, on.          May God continue to bless and
moving, for their own use, or tearing      December 6. 0 r              .             keep them in His loving care.
down the garage of the parsonage.                                                           "Happy is he that hath the God of
We assume that once removed the            j=ibdfor zEou@it:                          Jacob for his help, whose hope is in
garage will be rebuilt.                          There is no going-to the fair ha-    the Lord his God" (Ps. 1465).
     While Rev. A. Spriensma was                                                                               Grand Rapids, Michigan
                                           ven of glory without sailing through,
preaching in the congregation of the       the narrow strait of repentance.
Loveland, CO PRC in mid-October,
he found time after the evening ser-,.           2'                -.WilliamDyer
                                                       _;  y.  ..-
vice on October18,  to give a special                                                                   NOTICE!!
presentation explaining how he and                                                          Classis East will meet in regular
his family came into the PR churches.                                                 session on Wednesday, January 13,
                                                                                      1993, atthe Faith Protestant Reformed
Denominational Highlights                                                             Church, Jenison, Ml. Material for this
     I include the previous news                                                      session must be in the hands of the
item because it serves to introduce                                                   Stated Clerk by December 14, 1992.
anotheritemaboutRev.  A.Spriensma.                                                                             Jon J. Huisken
     On September 29, Rev.                                                                                          Stated Clerk

120 /Standard Bearer / December 1,1992


