All Articles For Lanting, James

What would you say if an adherent of a heathen religion asked you how your God differed from theirs? Besides the obvious, that our God is the true God and theirs is not, what would be some central points to mention? Last time we considered two points concerning the oneness of God. First, our God is the one and only Creator who called all things into existence. He alone is “the beginning.” Secondly, He alone is “the end.” He is the goal, who governs and directs all things to accomplish His purpose and glorify His name. The apostle Paul when...

When you think about the fellowship we have with God, do you also think of the fellowship that God has within Himself? The covenant communion we have with God is related to the communion of the three Persons in the triune God. It is the God who has fellowship within Himself that brings His people into fellowship with Him. After a few articles on God’s covenant, we turn now to consider the doctrine of the Trinity and our fellowship with our covenant God. By His grace we have everlasting communion with God, the living God, the God who is three...

Previous article in this series: November 15, 2011, p. 86. For Adam to attain a life that he could not lose, he would have to be able to get to the point where it was no longer possible for him to sin. Some think that Adam eventually would have arrived at this point, if he had only remained obedient long enough. But such an idea originates in the mind of man. It is nowhere spoken of in Scripture. Jesus Christ is the one and only man that was and is unable to sin. So for the first Adam to get...

Mr. Lanting, a member of South Holland Protestant Reformed Church, is a practicing attorney. It’s time parents were free to choose the schools that their children attend. This approach will create the competitive climate that stimulates excellence in our private and parochial schools as well.  President Bush, April, 1991  The Bush Administration is sparing no expense to embrace a far-reaching definition of choice – including aid to parochial schools, if that will pass the hurdle of the 1st Amendment. Education Secretary Lamar Alexander has called government support of parochial school students “as American as apple pie.” Alexander hopes eventually to...

Mr. Lanting, a member of the South Holland Protestant Reformed Church, is a practicing attorney. The wall of separation between church and state is a metaphor based on bad history, a metaphor which has proved useless as a guide to judging. It should be frankly and explicitly abandoned.—Chief Justice William Rehnquist The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to announce its decision shortly in the public school graduation prayer case of Lee v. Weisman. This pending case gained nationwide attention after the Court recently intimated that it may use the Weisman decision to forge significant changes in church-state law. Constitutional scholars,...

Mr. Lanting, a member of South Holland Protestant Reformed Church, is a practicing attorney. Inter-religious Coalition Promotes a Religious Freedom Restoration Act In an unusual showing of solidarity, a large and diverse group of liberal and conservative religious groups have formed a rare coalition to support and sponsor a new federal statute calculated to enhance religious freedom in this country. Angered by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last year in the notorious case of Employment Division v. Smith, the coalition has convinced 104 U.S. Representatives to co-sponsor a new bill in Congress dubbed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (‘RFRA”). The...

Mr. Lanting, a member of South Holland Protestant Reformed Church, is a practicing attorney. Public Funds and Private Education Ever since the Bush Administration unveiled its “America 2000” program in the spring of 1991, the national debate over “school choice” has been escalating rapidly. In fact, many are predicting that school choice will soon eclipse abortion as the most controversial political, social, and church/state issue of this decade. Engendered by growing frustration with the nation’s notoriously inept public school monopoly,-school choice was originally conceived to foster healthy competition between public schools by eliminating residency requirements and permitting parents to choose...

Mr. Lanting, a member of Cornerstone Protestant Reformed Church, is a practicing attorney. May the State of Vermont exclude same-sex couples from the benefits and protections that its laws provide to opposite-sex married couples? That is the fundamental question we address, a question that the Court well knows arouses deeply-felt religious, moral, and political beliefs…. We hold that the State is constitutionally required to extend to same-sex couples the common benefits and protections that flow from marriage under Vermont law. Whether this ultimately takes the form of inclusion within the marriage laws or a parallel “domestic partnership” system or some...

Mr. Lanting, a member of South Holland Protestant Reformed Church, is a practicing attorney. IRS Requires Substantiation for Charitable Contributions The new law disallows a deduction for any contribution of $250 or more that is not substantiated by a written acknowledgement from the charity. IRS Revenue Procedure 90-12 (1994) The treasurers of our churches, schools, and denominational organizations should be aware of new IRS rules regarding charitable gifts effective for 1994. The new rules declare that no charitable deduction will be allowed for gifts in excess of $250 unless the taxpayer provides the IRS with a written receipt from the...

Mr. Lanting, a member of South Holland Protestant Reformed Church, is a practicing attorney. “To obey the Establishment Claus, it was not necessary for the University to deny eligibility to student publications because of their religious viewpoint. The viewpoint discrimination inherent in the University’s regulation required public officials to discern the student newspaper’s underlying philosophic assumptions respecting religious theory and belief. That course of action was a denial of the right of free speech and… undermines the very governmental neutrality the Establishment Clause requires.” Rosenberger v. University of Virginia, U.S. Supreme Court (1995) (majority opinion) “[The student newspaper in question...