Vol 38 Issue 01

There often appear in religious magazines many brief notices concerning various events in the church world, that, while of some interest, are nevertheless too brief to comment on. Many of these have been collecting on my desk for some months, and it would perhaps be of some value to “catch up.” ECUMENICISM IN LATIN AMERICA Evidently the ecumenical movement is not restricted to this country alone; recently there was an attempt on the part of liberals in South America to unite all Protestant churches into one denomination. A brief report of this was recently given in Christianity Today from which we quote....

The principle of the sixty-second article of our Church Order is that the consistory of each church is empowered to determine various matters concerning the administration of the Lord’s Supper. There are certain essential elements that belong to the sacrament which the consistory itself may not change. Christ has instituted this sacrament in the church and the fundamental elements of that institution must be preserved lest the symbolism and significance of it be destroyed. In the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, however, there are also those things which may be considered incidental or non-essential. In our last article we mentioned...

8. God is Perfectly Just. In connection with this divine virtue, we may notice again that our creed makes but a partial mention of God’s attributes. In reciting the so-called ethical attributes of God it passes by what might well be called God’s ethical attribute par excellence, namely, the divine holiness, and it makes specific mention of God’s righteousness, or justice. Though we probably cannot say anything with certainty as to the reason for the selection made in this article, we may surmise that there may have been a historical reason why the perfect justice of God stood on the foreground...

We noted in our preceding article that the real question between Rome and Protestantism is whether apart from the revelation contained in the Bible, there is another supplementary and explanatory revelation, which has been handed down outside of the Scripture, by tradition. Are there doctrines, institutions, and ordinances, having no warrant in the Scriptures, which we as Christians are bound to receive and obey on the authority of what is called common consent? This Protestantism denies. And we remarked that we deny this, in the first place, because the Romish doctrine of tradition and belief in doctrines not taught in...

The New Testament priest is a dedicated man. As we have seen, the Old Testament priest was consecrated and dedicated to the service of God in the tabernacle and temple. And even before the tabernacle was built by Moses the priest of God was one whose life was devoted to God. He knew but one God, Jehovah the sovereign God of our salvation, and for Him he lived. This God he loved with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his mind and with all his strength. This God he worshipped. To Him all his praise, thanksgiving and...

In these verses Paul continues the subject of prayer; he has yet more exhortations to the church of Ephesus on this score. His interest, as we noticed in former essays, is that the church may not be placed “under law” by false teachers, but that they may truly be under grace and have the law of God written in their hearts. Such is the New Testament in Christ’s blood. This means the putting off of the old man (dying unto sin) and putting on the new man in Christ (true joy in God through Christ and a living according to...

And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.  But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and putt it under him and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other slide; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.  And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.  Exodus 17:11-13 At Rephidim, Israel was given water from the rock. According...

Expounding God’s Word, by Alan M. Stibbs. Published by Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Mich. This little book of 112 pages is a homiletical-hermeneutical treatise, that is, it evidently aims at teaching how to prepare sermons by expounding the Scriptures as the Word of God. In an introductory chapter, that author writes: “The immediate aim of this volume is to indicate and illustrate some principles and methods of biblical exposition. Its ultimate aim is to encourage readers themselves to become diligent and effective workers in the same field of ministry.” I may say, in general, that this book serves this...

On the above subject I still have a few words to say. In the first place, I mentioned in one of my former editorials on this subject that also our liturgical forms speak more than once of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, and this should be reflected in the songs we sing in our public worship, something which is impossible if the congregation is limited to the psalms as they occur in our Psalter. Thus we read in our Baptism Form: “In like manner, when we are baptized in the name of the Holy Ghost, the Holy Ghost assures...

The Program Committee of the Reformed Witness Hour announces that Rev. H. Veldman, Minister of the Word of God in the Prot. Ref. Church of Redlands, Calif., will occupy the “pulpit” of our distinctively reformed radio broadcasts during the five Sundays of October. Rev. Veldman will devote his first and second messages under the theme, “Boldness To Preach The Gospel.” The following two Sabbaths he will treat the subject of “Our Heavenly Advocate,” and concluding his series of radio messages Oct. 29 with a discussion on our being “Justified Freely In Christ Jesus.” Printed copies of these and all our...