Vol 23 Issue 09

Report of Classis East Convened Jan. 8, 1947 at Grand Rapids, Michigan This meeting of Classis was held at Fuller Avenue, January 8, 1947. The opening exercises were conducted by Rev. R. Veldman. After the singing of Psalter No. 132 he reads Psalm 121 and leads with prayer. The credentials were read and received,showing that all the churches were represented at Classis. Classis then is declared constituted. Rev. J. D. De Jong is called upon to preside and Rev. R. Veldman officiates as clerk. The president addresses a word of welcome to Classis. He them asks the delegates who are...

Barthianism . . . . One of the calmest and most fair criticisms of Dr. K. Barth and his theology that has appeared for some time is contained in the following few paragraphs. It was written by the Rev. C. Norman Bartlett, S.T.D., in an article entitled, “The Preacher and Current Trends in Theology”, in the January 1947 issue of the Moody Monthly. Usually, if one but so much as mentions the name of Barth or has the courage to quote him, he is in danger of being labelled and classified as a “Modernist”. It is, of course, practically impossible...

“Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any many man.” James 1:13 In verse 12 the Church of God is admonished to endure temptation. And the man who endureth temptation is blessed because, when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him. Failure to endure temptation implies, we understand, that we succumb to these forces of evil. Is there anyone, then, who might attempt to justify his surrender to the powers of...

The Sunday School teacher must study the passage upon which his lesson is based. That is the first step in the preparation of his lesson. He must do so not only in order to present the story in its correct light but also in order that he may have an interesting explanation of the lesson for his pupils. He is not there to entertain his pupils, but because he is dealing with children whose attention is easily distracted, he must seek always to hold their attention by presenting the truth in as interesting a way as he possibly can. Plan...

Under the above caption The Standard Bearer for January 1, 1947, contains answers to some questions sent in by a brother in Sioux Center, Iowa. His questions were these:      1. What is the character of the jurisdiction of Classis over the Consistory? My answer: Advisory, not mandatory. 2. What remains of the autonomy of the local church, if according to Art. 79 of the Church Order of Dort, Ministers of the Word, Elders and Deacons, who have committed a public and gross sin, shall be suspended and expelled from their office by preceding sentence of their Consistory and...

Pope Gregory having died, the cardinals chose Bartholomew Prignano, who took the name of Urban VI. Urban gained for himself the hostility of the cardinals by his attacks upon their worldliness, and four months later they were demanding his resignation. But, as we saw, Urban would not resign; and the French cardinals elected Robert of Geneva as Pope Clement VII. This, as was remarked, had never before happened. There had been rival popes before but always chosen by opposing parties; but these two popes had been duly elected by the same cardinals. (Half of the countries of Europe declared in...

The Lord had sent Saul to Samuel to be anointed king over Israel. “Tomorrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin,” the Lord had said to His servant, “and thou shalt anoint him to be captain over my people.” That the Lord sent Saul to Samuel means that the entire chain of events by which, unbeknown to himself, Saul was led step by step into Samuel’s presence, had been sovereignly designed by God in His counsel and forged into actuality by His providence. The straying of the asses from the estate of...

5. The Communion Of Saints. (continued) That history is not to be compared to a movement along the spokes of a wheel towards its hub. It does not present the picture of a number of different churches, equally imperfect in their apprehension of the truth as it is in Christ, but simultaneously approximating it. On the contrary, it was a development from a definite starting point, along a straight line, from which, however, under the influence of the carnal element in the Church, in the course of time, many departed, to follow after their own philosophy, and to establish various...

The following is a clipping from “The Church Herald” of Jan. 10, 1947. It may serve to illustrate how history is perverted when a writer draws upon the sources of hearsay and his own imagination, rather than take the trouble of investigating the facts in the case before he writes: We like to sing, “Faith of our Fathers Living Still” and praise their loyalty and devotion. Perhaps it is due to our charity that we say but little of the sins and blunders of our fathers. Scripture speaks not only of the fine qualities of the fathers but also of...