Vol 39 Issue 16

Pope John XXIII has issued another papal encyclical. These encyclicals are treatises in which the Pope discusses various types of problems facing his church or the world in general. He has thus far issued eight; the one prior to this was entitled Mater et Magistra (Mother and Teacher) and dealt with social problems. The latest is calledPacem in Terris (Peace on Earth) after its opening words in Latin. It is a long document, numbering some 15,000 words and dealing, as its title suggests, with creating here upon earth a lasting kingdom of peace. Taken together, it is the most clear and remarkable blueprint...

“When ministers of the Divine Word, elders or deacons, have committed any public, gross sin, which is a disgrace to the church, or worthy of punishment by the authorities, the elders and deacons shall immediately by preceding sentence of the consistory thereof and of the nearest church, be suspended or expelled from their office, but the ministers shall only be suspended. Whether these shall be entirely deposed from office, shall be subject to the judgment of the classis, with the advice of the delegates of the (particular) synod mentioned in Article II.”  —Article 79, D.K.O. The above article treats the...

In our preceding article, we called attention to the Romish view of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper by quoting from the canons and decrees of the Council of Trent, and we quoted Chapters I through VII of these decrees. We now continue with these canons and decrees. CHAPTER VIII. On the Use of this Admirable Sacrament Now as to the use of this holy sacrament, our Fathers have rightly and wisely distinguished three ways of receiving it. For they have taught that some receive it sacramentally only, to wit, sinners: others spiritually only, those to wit who eating in...

Christ is the firstborn of every creature. With that thought we left our discussion last time. It cannot be a chronological distinction here, as we pointed out. And we may add that in God there never is any chronological distinction as far as His eternal thoughts and desires are concerned. With God you can never speak of this or that arising first or last in His mind from a chronological point of view. We think of various objects or abstract entities in a certain succession of thoughts. As we grow we add to our knowledge of fact. We recall facts...

In a way one would think that Paul really was finished with this epistle when he came to the end of verse 16 of this chapter. Did he not end with that grand and sublime description of what is to take place in the “manifestation” of our Lord Jesus Christ? Would it then not become evident that Christ as the Son of God in the flesh and as He is the glorified Savior is the only Potentate, the Lord of lords and the King of kings? Will He not be exhibited as only having immortality? Will it then not be...

And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel out of Shiloh . . .  And when they came unto the borders of Jordan, that are in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by Jordan, a great altar to see it.  Joshua 22:9, 10 Israel had entered its inheritance. The enemy had fallen before them wherever they met them in battle. They had received the land of Canaan...

Chapter 1: THE IDEA OF THE CHURCH(continued) Finally, there is that part of the church that is in God’s counsel, but is not yet born. It too must be realized and called out of the world. For this the coming of the Lord must wait. And therefore we read in II Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” That the word “all” in this particular text has no reference to all men, head for head...

Introduction The rather obvious reason for a treatment of this subject at this time is that through Professor Harold Dekker’s writings in the Reformed Journal it has become a pertinent issue. Prof. Dekker holds to the proposition that God loves all men. He maintains, further, that there is only one love of God, and that this one love of God is redemptive, though, strange to say, he does not maintain that it is redeeming. In this connection, it naturally follows that he must say something about the atoning death of Christ. And his position on this score is that the atonement of Christ is unlimited,...

Editorial Notes 1. The news column will not appear in this issue, due to the serious and extended illness of our news editor, brother John M. Faber. Please continue to send all news items to his address, so that the regular news column may appear in the next issue, D.V. 2. The special article on “The Atonement of Christ according to Dordrecht” was originally a lecture for the League of Men’s Societies. At their request it is published here, and through the cooperation of the. League and the RFPA is will appear in pamphlet form in the near future. Rank...

“For this child I prayed; and the Lord bath given me my petition which I asked of Him: therefore also I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord. And he worshipped the Lord there.”  I Sam. 1:27, 28 There is a grievous shortage of ministers in our churches. And, as I read in various church papers, this shortage is universal. I am supposed to write about this, and I will, in the form of a meditation. I said that this shortage is “grievous.” And that is correct. As long...