Vol 61 Issue 10

Rev. Jon Smith has accepted the call to serve as pastor to Trinity Protestant Reformed Church in Houston, Texas. Hull Protestant Reformed Church in Iowa has called Prof. R. Decker to serve as pastor, from a trio including also Rev. R. Hanko and Rev. G. Van Baren. 

A MOMENT OF TRUTH (THE CONFESSION OF THE DUTCH REFORMED MISSION CHURCH 1982), Edited by G.D. Cloete and D.J. Smit; Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI. ISBN 0-8028-0011-4, 161 pp., paper, $9.95. WALKING ON THORNS, The Call To Christian Obedience, Allan Boesak; Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI. ISBN 0-8028- 0041-6, 65 pp., paper, $3.95. (Reviewed by Prof. H.C. Hoeksema) These two books are closely related. They are both concerned with the struggle against apartheid in South Africa by non-whites in the church there.

“The fear of God,” the Presbyterian John Murray has said, “is the soul of godliness,” (Principles of Conduct, p. 229). Murray is right. The fear of God is the essence of the Christian life. There can be no godly, pious living apart from the fear of God.

We have seen that the underlying truth of the Fifth Commandment is God’s sovereignty. God is the one Who has all power and authority in heaven and earth, and He is the one Who gives power and authority in the different spheres of life, so that not only kings and governments, but also parents, husbands, employers, and church officebearers rule at His command. 

We have been concerning ourselves for some time in this column with the history of the doctrine of Scripture as a larger part of the history of doctrine. That study has now brought us to the threshold of the Reformation. It is to the doctrine of Scripture as developed and defined by the Reformation that we now turn our attention. We can well express our subject in these terms. The Reformed doctrine of Scripture developed by the Reformation was not the work of only one man or individual but was the work of the Reformation as a whole.

Article 10—We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins.  In this article the early church first of all acknowledged one baptism.  This confession is based on Ephesians 4:4-6: “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, Who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” 

In the previous article we noted that Rufus Anderson emphasized the absolute necessity of the preaching of the Word on the mission field. Without preaching, the church simply cannot be gathered. Because this preaching, as well as the work of elders and the ministry of mercy, must be done by native converts it is necessary that schools be established. In some fields it is a must that the Scriptures be translated into the native tongue.

Introduction Having concluded a series of six articles on “Preservation and Perseverance” and two articles on “Integration and Segregation,” we now would call the attention of our readers to the twelve articles of our Apostles’ Creed. This is a beautiful confession. That it is a confession is clear from its content: I believe in God, the Father, Almighty, etc. It is a beautiful confession, first of all, because it is so brief. This creed is easily memorized, also by children.

The Idol: Sports A number of articles in recent publications have called attention to a “sacred cow” which even in our circles is not often mentioned: sports as idolatry. One hears often, with regard to TV, “I have it only because of my interest in sports.” And who would dare condemn sports? Is it not the “innocent” programming which can be enjoyed by the Christian on TV? Is it not theengaging activity associated with school? 

(Note: At this point we are still discussing the subtopic, “One Hundred Fifty Years and Sixty: Their Meaning.” We have completed a brief account of the Secession of 1834 and its transplantation to this country and continuation in the Christian Reformed Church in 1857. We are now ready to discuss the “Sixty Years.”)