Vol 28 Issue 22

REPORT OF CLASSIS WEST IN SESSION AT DOON, IOWA—SEPTEMBER 3, 1952 After the singing of Psalter 408 Rev. De Jong reads from I Cor. 12 and offers prayer. The roll call reveals that all (twelve) congregations are repre­sented. Rev P. De Boer becomes chair­man for the day and Rev. J. De Jong records the minutes.

The Rev. Henry Danhof The above name is well-known to the readers of this paper. He was for a number of years co-editor of the Standard Bearer and contributed regularly for those years to its content.

Turning to the prophetic discourse of Isaiah, the 49th chapter, the thirteenth verse, we come upon this complaint of Zion, the church. “Zion said, the Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.” As if this were possible! To Zion’s complaint the Lord returns a wonderfully consoling reply. Says the Lord to His people. “Can a woman forget her suck­ing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.

“The child that is born shall surely die.” These were the prophet’s final words to the pen­itent David. He had sinned, and had sinned grievously. In the words of the prophet, he had despised the commandments of the Lord to do evil in His sight. He had killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites and had taken the victim’s wife to be his wife.

Rev. Kok begins his article with a statement that reads:

In our former essay, written by us on this Scrip­ture passage, we called attention particularly to the term “children”, “fathers” and “young men” in our text.

In the last issue of our magazine we reproduced and translated an article from the pen of J.L. Struik, found in the Reformatie of June 21, 1952, on the sub­ject “What Now Is Really Christian Education?” The same writer also furnishes a brief answer to the ques­tion, “Is Christian Instruction Different in Every­thing?” Before offering our comments we present also this article, since it deals with a closely related question. Mr. Struik writes as follows (translation mine, H.C.H.):

Q. 88. Of how many parts doth the true conversion of man consist? A. Of two parts; of the mortification of the old, and the quickening of the new man. Q. 89. What is the mortification of the old man? A. It is a sincere sorrow of heart, that we have provoked God by our sins; and more and more to hate and flee from them. Q. 90 What is the quickening of the new man?

For the Arminians everything is conditional. They speak of a conditional election, and therefore they also speak of a conditional gospel and a conditional promise.