All Articles For Vol 42 Issue 15 5/1/1966

(Continued session of March 15, 1966 and the regular, spring session of March 16 and 17, 1966)  The continued session of the September, 1965 meeting of Classis West was held on March 15, 1966 at South Holland, Illinois. Of the twelve churches residing in Classis West, eight churches were represented by two delegates, three churches were represented by one delegate and one church was not represented.  Rev. C. Hanko, having conducted the opening devotions, continued to serve as chairman of this session of Classis. Rev. D. Engelsma functioned as clerk. 

April 6, 1966 At Southwest Church  Rev. G.J. VanBaren led in the opening devotions. And after he declared the classis properly constituted, he recorded minutes while Rev. R. C. Harbach presided. All the churches were fully represented.  This very brief session of classis treated mostly routine matters.  The Classical Committee was instructed to prepare a constitution governing its work, and present it to the next classical meeting for approval.

Rev. J.A. Heys, South Holland’s minister, has received a call from the congregation at Edgerton, Minn.  Rev. D. Engelsma of Loveland, declined the call which came to him from the church at Randolph, Wis.  Hudsonville’s consistory has named a Duo from which one will be called at a congregational meeting to be held April 25. The duo: Revs. M. Schipper and H. Veldman.

TROUBLE AMONG THE LIBERATED  It appears as if the Liberated Churches in the Netherlands are still having their troubles. Our readers will recall that these troubles revolve around whether or not the Liberated Churches should seek closer contact with the “Gereformeerde Kerken” from which they broke away in the early 1940s. We quote the following announcement from Church and Nation: (The translation is ours.)

In our preceding article we quoted at length from the Reformed Dogmatics of the late H. Bavinck, in which a brief resume is set forth of the doctrine of the providence of God. We concluded that article by calling attention to the word providence, noting that the word itself is hardly Scriptural but that it has had a place in the history of the doctrine of the Church for ages. H. Bavinck notes that the word itself is of heathen origin, but that it can be used, provided that we understand the Scriptural significance of that which this truth is...

THE MYSTERIOUS NUMBERS OF THE HEBREW KINGS, Edwin R. Thiele; Wm. B. Eerdmans Publ. Co., Grand Rapids, Mich. 232 pages, $6.00

The rationalistic school of biblical criticism claims that in and after the Protestant Reformation the development of biblical textual, literary and historical studies was not possible because of the doctrinal bias and intolerance of the Protestant theologians. Romanism also hampered advance in this direction with its canons of the Council of Trent (1546), which prohibited not only other shades of interpretation, but thought other than that already imposed by the church. So, both Romanism and Protestantism had contributed to intellectual stagnation.

We have come to the very heart of the issue that always distinguishes the sound Scriptural preaching of the gospel to the unconverted from all sorts of human philosophies and corruptions of the truth. Here we come to the parting of the ways between those who maintain that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation and those who insist on a mere offer of salvation which man may accept or reject. Here we either consistently maintain that salvation is of the Lord, and entirely so, or we try to introduce something of man into the work of salvation. 

Two matters remain to be treated in this investigation and critical analysis of the doctrine of Holy Scripture held by Karl Barth. These matters concern two main grounds advanced by Barth in support of his view of Scripture. Barth appeals, in defense of his position, to the teaching of the Reformers, especially, to the teaching of Luther and Calvin, and to the teaching of Scripture itself.

Do we worship the Unknown God?