Vol 56 Issue 03

Again this month there is quite a bit of news concerning calls extended by various of our congregations. Candidate Ronald Hanko has accepted his call from Covenant Church in Wyckoff, New Jersey, to become the second pastor of this young congregation. Their current pastor is leaving soon to labor as missionary in Singapore. 

September 12, 1979  Hudsonville Prot. Ref. Church  Classis East met in regular session September 12, 1979, at Hudsonville. All the churches were represented by two delegates. Since the major portion of this meeting was devoted to the examination of pastors-elect Carl Haak and Steven Houck, delegatesad examina Revs. Engelsma, Miersma, and Lubbers were also in attendance. Rev. A. den Hartog chaired the meeting. 

THE PIETY OF JOHN CALVIN, An Anthology Illustrative of the Spirituality of the Reformer; Translated and edited by Ford Lewis Battles with music edited by Stanley Tagg; Baker Book House, 1978; 180 pp., $9.95. (Reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko) 

In the gospel according to John, John 21:3-14 (for text consult your Bible), we read of the third appearance of the resurrected Christ to His disciples. Each of these appearances is a manifestation of the risen Christ. According to vs. 1 Jesus showed Himself. That was necessary because He is now the resurrected Christ, and the former relationship to the disciples has been transformed. It’s the same Lord Jesus, only now He is raised from the dead.

The Church in New Zealand A short notice in the Banner of Oct. 5, 1979, caught my attention—particularly because of our contact with the Orthodox Presbyterian Church there. The article portrays a sad picture of the general church situation—which likely is not a great deal better in this country.

THE WORKS OF THE FLESH MANIFEST (Galatians 5:18) 

How he came upon the information we are not told, but of Esau we read that he saw that Isaac blessed Jacob and sent him away to get a wife from Rebekah’s family in Haran. It is quite plain from the silence that prevails upon the pages of Holy Writ that Rebekah did not reveal either to Isaac or to Esau her knowledge, that Esau intended to kill Jacob as soon as the days of mourning for Isaac’s death were past. And this is not right. 

(In the last installment of this translation Kuyper was talking about the exercise of authority in the church. He had mentioned a direct authority, i.e., an authority by which Christ rules directly over His church. He concluded the last paragraph with the statement: “But also with the use of means the King exercises authority through men, and only this mediate authority is relevant here.” Thus, he now turns to a discussion of mediate authority.) 

A reader asks:  What is the meaning of the similarity in the expression of Micaiah found in I Kings 22:17, “Israel scattered upon the hills as sheep having not a shepherd,” and that ofMatt. 9:36, “the multitude scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd”?  These two expressions obviously point to similar occasions. 

(Editor’s Note. Because of an abundance of material for this issue, some of which should not be delayed, we give our editorial space to this transcript of Prof. Hanko’s address to the annual meeting of the Reformed Free Publishing Association. In this guest editorial my colleague states some things, I believe, which need saying and from which our readers may well benefit. HCH)