Vol 29 Issue 12

What Does “Brotherhood” Mean? Such was the title of a brief editorial appearing in the Church Herald, a Christian weekly serving the Reformed Church in America, in the issue of February 20, 1953.

Method In proceeding to discuss the content of our Church Order, the selection of a proper method becomes a matter of great importance. Several methods, good and bad, effective and deficient, are possible. There is, for example, the legalistic method according to which the Church Order is regarded and treated as a book of common laws in the civil sense.

Introduction Suggested by the title: Contending for the Faith.

It was not long after Arminius’ ordination at Amsterdam in 1588 that his erroneous views began to come to light. The occasion of this was Coornhert’s agitation against the doctrine of election. Arminius, whose views were not at this time in question as yet and who was accepted as being truly Reformed, was asked to refute the views of Coornhert and to defend the teachings of his former teacher, Beza.

In this article on this first section I Peter 1:1-12, we wish to call attention especially to verse 12. This verse reads as follows: “Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us (you) they did minister the things, which are now re­ported unto you by them that have preached the gos­pel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.”

By the addition of only one letter to the word “heave” we get the entirely different “heaven”. What a tremendous difference in meaning there is between those two words! And by adding the three short words, “unto the Lord,” to our theme of the last in­stallment in this department we get an entirely dif­ferent concept also.

Mahanaim (II Samuel 17:27) The people of the region where David and his fol­lowers were now encamped were friendly. Knowing that he and his people must be in a condition of ex­treme want for the necessities of life, they came to him in Mahanaim with an abundance of provisions. The sacred writer names three of these benefactors. With obvious delight he describes in detail their gen­erosity toward David.

2. Image Worship (cont’d.) The question must still be considered whether the Roman Catholic custom of placing images in the churches and bowing before them is to be justified. The Catechism treats this subject in Question and Answer 98: “But may not images be tolerated in the churches, as books to the laity? No: for we must not pretend to be wiser than God, who will have his people taught, not by dumb images, but by the lively preaching of His Word.”

Some time ago we wrote about the subject of con­ditions in the light of our Confessions.

“Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying Eli, Eli, lama sabachtani ? that is to say, My God, My God why hast Thou forsaken Me?” Matt. 27:45, 46 “And about the sixth hour!”