Vol 18 Issue 01

Our Part in the Present Chaos. It has by this time become clear that the United States is almost pledged not only to aid Great Britain materially but also to fight her battle. Before the melodramatic meeting of the President of our country and the Prime Minister of England there were indications of our increasing share. Since that meeting President Roosevelt has delivered a speech declaring that our Navy has been given orders to shoot at any Axis boats which threatened our safety in defense waters. Undoubtedly matters of great importance were discussed by these two leaders at that historical...

This heading suggests what may very actually be called a new problem in our circles. It is new in the sense that until now we virtually took for granted that a Christian would not engage in Sunday labor. Even those who never see the inside of a church building considered six days of labor sufficient for any man and appreciated one day in seven as a day of relaxation to be spent in joyriding, visiting or frequenting various places of amusement. But today a radical change is evident, brought about especially by the war in Europe and the resultant defense...

As I face the task of writing an article of this nature I am keenly aware of my limited qualifications for such work, firstly because it is on material quite foreign to a minister’s regular field, and secondly, it is a relatively new subject among us, having been introduced only recently by Rev. Kok in Our Church News. I will however write in the hope that it may provoke a fruitful discussion among us, and in the Standard Bearer, if it does not dislocate the Editor’s plan, or interfere with his policy. In order to see our problem it is...

At the time when Abraham, in obedience to the command of the Lord, took up his residence in the land of Canaan, the Canaanites were fast deteriorating morally in all their branches. This is implied in the saying of God to Abraham that the measure of iniquity of the Canaanites was not yet full. That the tribes of Canaan, even at that early date, were steeped in idolatry is also indicated by the doing of the patriarchs that consisted in their building, in agreement with their calling, an altar to the Lord in every place where they would temporarily pitch...

The first question of the Heidelberg Catechism speaks of an “only comfort in life and death.” There are three elements in this question that at once draw our attention and that require explanation. The first is the fact that the Catechism here speaks of “comfort,” and the question arises; what is the implication of this concept? What is true comfort? The second element is expressed in the adjective “only.” By this qualification the Christian comfort is characterized as an exclusive and quite sufficient comfort. One who has this comfort needs no other. And the third element is expressed in the...

In his latest radio address President Roosevelt informed the American public that he had “issued orders to the navy that all necessary steps be taken to insure the safety of communications in the approaches between Iceland and the United States, as well as on other seas between the United States and all other strategic outposts.” Mr. Roosevelt, moreover, in the same speech, was quite insistent on the delivery of American-made war materials to Great Britain and their passage through the American defense zones at all costs. And he warned that all axis warships will be fired upon at sight if...

At the last synod of the Christian Reformed Churches a rather miserable case was considered in connection with their mission work among the Indians, more particularly with the work at Rehoboth. On the surface it appeared to be the question whether “white patients” should be admitted to the hospital there, but it was repeatedly stated that there was a “deeper problem at the bottom of the whole matter.” It is not our purpose to review the whole case as it was considered by the Christian Reformed Synod. There is chiefly one point of interest to which we would like to...