The Reformed doctrine of the preaching of the gospel must sail between the Scylla of hyper-Calvinism and the Charybdis of Arminianism. On the one hand is the rock of hyper-Calvinism which denies that the call of the gospel comes, in all seriousness, to everyone who hears the preaching, elect and reprobate alike. On the other hand is the whirlpool of Arminianism which makes the preaching a well-meant offer of God to all who hear. The Reformed view, and practice, of preaching must neither be smashed on the one nor sucked down into the other.

THE GLORIOUS REALITY OF THE HEAVENLY JERUSALEM (Heb. 12:22-24) Sharper and more telling contrast could hardly be imagined than what is drawn here by the writer of Hebrews between Mt. Sinai and Mt. Zion, the city of the living God.

It would be a serious mistake to take the position that because God called Abram out of Ur of the Chaldees and into the land of Canaan in order there to establish His covenant with him, Abram, Sarai, and Lot were the only believers in the whole land of Canaan.

“We believe that those Holy Scriptures fully contain the will of God, and that whatsoever man ought to believe, unto salvation, is sufficiently taught therein. For, since the whole manner of worship, which God requires of us, is written in them at large, it is unlawful for any one, though an apostle, to teach otherwise than we are now taught in the Holy Scriptures: nay, though it were an angel from heaven, as the apostle Paul saith.

The Gereformeerde Kerken in the Netherlands have now also faced the question of. abortion. Apparently the Synod has spoken, and the decision which was taken proved to be a major concession to those who favor abortion. The whole matter is reported in the RES News Exchange under the title, “Netherlands (GKN) Synod Speaks Out On Abortion.” The article reads:

There continues to be much ignorance of the facts concerning the dismissal of Dr. S. Woudstra from the Reformed Theological College at Geelong, Australia; and, as a result, there is not little confusion in the situation. This is not a subjective judgment on my part, but is an objective fact. As of the date of this writing no one “down under” has done anything to inform the churches and the people specifically as to what has taken place. This is not due to the fact that what has taken place is of a private nature. For it concerned Dr. Woudstra’s...

“Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?” Luke 24:26

Rev. M. Kamps declined the call extended to him from Kalamazoo. The denominational Office Bearer’s Conference held in South Holland on March 4 was attended by nearly one hundred men. Discussions on the office of the diaconate were introduced by two papers—one, “Ministering to the Saints,” by Rev. Lubbers, and the other, “A Layman’s Observation of the Office of Mercy,” by Mr. Milton Alsum of our Loveland Church. The discussions were, according to Hope’s bulletin, “stimulating and instructive.”

THE NEW HERMENEUTIC, by Cornelius Van. Til; Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., Nutley, New Jersey; 230 pp., $5.95 (paper). [Reviewed by Prof. H. C. Hoeksema]

In his book, Tractaat van de Reformatie Der Kerken, Dr. A. Kuyper devotes a large section to the general subject of the deformation of the church. In this section, he discusses at some length the causes of such deformation. His remarks on this matter are so pertinent that they seem sometimes to have been written in our own time. Parts of this section follow below. We offer these quotes to the reader for two reasons. The first is that we may see more clearly how it is that churches go the way of apostasy and may understand the reasons for...