Vol 20 Issue 02

Dear Editor: Please let me have a little space to give expression to something which has been on my mind for some time. In this day of high cost of living, most of ns have obtained higher wages, salaries, or business returns to meet the greater layout for daily necessities. Some of us, who are working in war industries, even receive much more than is needed to meet the higher cost of living and “profit” greatly by the terrible conflict in which also our nation is involved. But while for most of us the increases in income are proportionate to...

Our subject is one which has often been the cause of much debate and perplexity. Every now and then someone is bound to ask whether or not the temptations of Jesus were real and genuine in character in the sense of being effective. Whenever this question is asked the one enquiring does not necessarily doubt the holy record of Scripture that Christ was tempted by Satan (Matt. 4), or that the evil one employed his means of temptation as in Matt. 16:23, and many other instances recorded in Holy Writ. In general the enquirer is most willing to accept Scripture’s...

We confess in Art. 12 of our Belgic Confession: “He also created the angels good, to be His messengers and to serve His elect; some of whom are fallen from that excellency, in which God created them, into everlasting perdition; and the others have, by the grace of God, remained steadfast and continued in their primitive state.” From, this quotation it is plain that among other things we believe concerning the angels: 1. That all of them were created good. 2. That some of the angels fell into everlasting perdition. 3. That others remained steadfast. 4. That the angels are...

When we speak of this sin we may first of all establish that there is in the Scriptures ample ground for the discussion of such a sin. For we may at first thought imagine that, the question is based upon an isolated instance in Matthew’s gospel, which would leave the discussion of it rather precarious. Against this we must first point out that not an isolated passage or instance teaches us about this, but that besides the main passage of Matt. 12 we also have the parallels in Mark 3:20-30, and Luke 11:17-25, but besides this we have the passages...

A committee of a certain Classis in the Netherlands, whose task it was to trace the origin and define the meaning of the pre-service prayer, wrote to Dr. Rutgers, complaining that it could find no material on that subject. Dr. Rutgers answered that this was nothing strange since he doubted whether, before the nineteenth century, such a prayer had even been in common usage. (Dr. Rutgers, KerkeMjke Adviezen I. p. 255). He himself could find nothing on it in the earlier centuries. I am not more successful than Dr. Rutgers. It is peculiar to notice that neither Voetius in his...

At the camp of Gilgal a strange company of ambassadors arrived. Professedly and apparently the travelers came from afar. For the sacks upon their asses were old, their wine bottles old and rent and bound up, their shoes clouted upon their feet. The garments upon them were old, and all the bread of their provision was dry and moldy. According to their account, the land of their abode lay far beyond the borders of Palestine, where their fellow countrymen had heard the fame of Jehovah, the God of Israel and all that He did in Egypt, and all that He...

As soon as Achan’s crime is punished by his death God reassures Joshua and the people, exhorts them to be courageous and cheerful, and for the second, time to undertake the expedition against Ai in the confidence, reposing on His promise, that the king of Ai and all that appertains to him—his people, city, and land—has been given in Joshua’s hand. In this second venture, the Lord and not Joshua takes the initiative. These are His orders to Joshua. All the people and thus not merely a two or three thousand will do battle with the adversary. The city is...

Q. 26. What believest thou when thou sayest, “I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth?” A. That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who of nothing made heaven and earth, with all that is in them; who like wise upholds and governs the same by his eternal counsel and providence, is for the sake of Christ his Son, my God and my Father; on whom I rely so entirely, that I have no doubt, but he will provide me with all things necessary for soul and body: and further, that he will make...

Let us take a little closer look at what the Synod had to say on the question of corporate responsibility, and its application to union membership. We find this in “principles” 2 and 3: “1. The Biblical doctrine of corporate responsibility and the Biblical teaching of the Christian’s separation from the world make it imperative for members of neutral labor organizations to discontinue membership of such unions whose common practices are clearly in conflict with the principles of the Word of God. “2. The doctrine of corporate responsibility does not imply that membership in unions which have engaged in sinful...

That Van Til has no ground whatever for the accusation that we present God as the real Subject of man’s actions, and that, on the contrary, he had plenty of material in his possession to convince him exactly of the opposite, may become still more evident from the following quotation from my The Gospel: “Of a similar nature is the objection of Heyns’ that our view presents men as being passive. Man, Heyns teaches, must do something to be saved. It simply will not do just to tell him: you have to do absolutely nothing! No, he must believe and...