All Articles For Vol 61 Issue 06 12/15/1984

THE GLORY OF THE TRUE TABERNACLE, by Rev. George C. Lubbers; Grand Rapids, Mich., 1984. (674 pages, paperback, $11.00) Reviewed by Prof. R.D. Decker. Rev. Lubbers, who has faithfully served his Lord for some fifty years in the ministry of the Word in the Protestant Reformed Churches, needs no introduction to Protestant Reformed readers. His wide and varied experience as a pastor, preacher, and missionary (both domestic and foreign) is everywhere apparent in this fine commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews. In this book one finds solid exegesis from the Greek text.

Rev. W. Bekkering has accepted the call to Faith Protestant Reformed Church. Rev. C. Haak has declined the call from Hull Protestant Reformed Church. This means that of this writing three churches in Classis West are vacant: Hull, Lynden, and Trinity in Houston, Texas. Rev. and Mrs. H. Veldman left for Lynden, Washington, where Rev. Veldman will be preaching until December 16.

Labor is an institution of God. Like marriage and government, labor is a creation ordinance. The God Who made man, made man to work. We ought to work. Work is good for us. We should be thankful that we can work. We can be sure that we will work in heaven, in the new creation of God.

John Wycliffe died in 1384. He left behind him a translation of the Scriptures from the Latin into the English language. He left behind him, in his numerous writings, a clear exposition of most of the doctrines which would later form the heart of the Reformation. He left behind him, too, a clear description of many of the errors of a church which had departed from the foundation laid in the Word of God. This legacy of Wycliffe lived on in England, and in Eastern Europe in two separate streams.

Article 9: And I believe one holy catholic and apostolic church. We find in this particular article of the Nicene Creed the four attributes of the church. It speaks of her unity or oneness, her holiness, her catholicity, and her apostolicity.

The one outstanding feature of this short letter is that the author draws a contrast between Gaius and Diotrephes concerning their hospitality or lack of it in their dealings with the brothers who brought the gospel in their midst.

“How Shall We Disagree?” The Banner, November 19, 1984, contains two letters in “Voices” which express grave reservations about the decision of the Reformed Fellowship in Northwest Iowa to withhold financial support from Calvin College and Seminary in response to the Synod’s decision last summer to allow for the ordination of women as deacons in the Christian Reformed Church. This raises the question, “How shall one disagree?” One of the letters, written by Rev. George Vander Weit, points out that this is nothing less than the “tactics of the world . . .

A most crucial moment had come.

THE REFORMATION OF 1834, Faculty of Mid-America Seminary; Mid-America Reformed Seminary Bookstore, Orange City, Iowa; 85 pp. (paper), $5.00 U.S., $6.00 Can. [Reviewed by Prof. H.C. Hoeksema] This little book is a contribution by several writers (members of the MARS faculty) to fill the lack of English-language materials about the Secession of 1834. It is certainly true, as the Preface observes, that “all primary and the best secondary sources which tell this story are found only in the Dutch language.”

About Partaking of the Lord’s Supper From a reader in Holland, Michigan I received the following letter, placement of which was delayed somewhat because of our special issue: “Dear Prof. Hoeksema, “While not a member of the PRC, I do subscribe to the Standard Bearer. I read your magazine from cover to cover with interest, though not always in agreement.