Vol 62 Issue 01

Classis West of the Protestant Reformed Churches met in Loveland, Colorado on September 4-6. Ten ministers and fourteen elders were present, to do the work of the churches in the West. Rev. M. Kamps, president of the previous Classis, opened the sessions with a devotional exposition of I Peter 1:17-21. Rev. K. Koole presided over Classis. Rev. M. DeVries (Edgerton) and Elder J. Van Oort (Doon) were delegated to Classis for the first time and signed the Formula of Subscription. Working through the largest Agenda in recent memory, if not in all its history, Classis labored three full days and nights,...

THE EPISTLES TO THE COLOSSIANS, PHILEMON AND EPHESIANS (New International Commentary), F.F. Bruce; Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1984; 442 pp., $18.95. (Reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko) The New International Commentary Series is different from other series because the volumes of the set are periodically rewritten. The original volume on Ephesians and Colossians was written by E.K. Simpson and F.F. Bruce, while the original volume on Philemon was written by Jac. J. Muller. This volume is literally an entire rewriting of the older commentaries. It is, in the judgment of this reviewer, one of the better works of Dr. Bruce,...

Philip Rawson is the pastor of Measbro Dyke Evangelical Church at Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England. (This is the substance of a speech delivered by Rev. Rawson while in Kalamazoo, MI at a Missionary Conference sponsored by that congregation.) I believe The Holy Catholic Church, The Communion of Saints. In Barnsley, England that church of Jesus Christ is to be found. First of all, let me tell you something about my home town. Barnsley is a town of some 250,000 souls. It is almost in the center of the British Isles, and in the midst of the largest coalfield in England....

Ronald L. Cammenga is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Loveland, Colorado. Almost from the time of its introduction, the Christian church has been opposed to drama and the theater. The immorality and violence of the theater, as well as acting in itself, have always called forth the church’s condemnation. The ancient church father, Cyprian (c. 200-258) was an outspoken critic of theater-going. He wrote: But now to pass from this to the shameful corruption of the stage. I am ashamed to tell what things are said; I am even ashamed to denounce the things that are done—the tricks...

Jason L. Kortering is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Grandville, Michigan. The title of the first book of the Bible, Genesis, is derived from the opening word, Bereshith, which translated means, beginning. Hence, it sets forth the keynote of the whole book, the beginning of all things. This is further expanded by the Septuagint Bible which uses the Latin word, geneseos, origin, generations, and applies it to the generations mentioned in subsequent chapters. The Significance of the Book In a real sense, the approach we take to this first book of the Bible will determine how we read the entire...

Gise J. Van Baren is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. (Alice Van Baren: b. .August 12, 1935; d. March 24, 1982; after suffering for two years with ALS. She was a life-long member of the South Holland, IL. Protestant Reformed Church. The last two years of her life she spent at the home of her brother John in Grand Rapids, MI.) We tell this story, not so much of a sickness, a terrible and fatal sickness—though this too—but of communion of saints. Even that must be told but in part, for words can not express the...

Robert D. Decker is professor of New Testament and Practical Theology in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. As our readers know, for the past several years this rubric of our Standard Bearer has been capably edited by the Rev. Gise Van Baren. His contributions were informative, well written, and often provocative. The undersigned will try to maintain the same high standards for “All Around Us” in future issues. Our intention is to keep our readers informed concerning what is happening in the church generally. We will concentrate our efforts especially on the churches which are nearest to us, those of the Reformed and...

George C. Lubbers is a minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches. Chapter XXII The Mystery of the Seventy Weeks in Daniel 9 “IT IS FINISHED” TO THE UTTERMOST—con’t. It is really quite noteworthy that the Hebrew infinitivelecallee = to shut, restrain, finish is translated with the Aorist infinitive in the Septuagint. The Piel degree in the Hebrew suggests that this transgression was finished very, very much! The Aorist infinitive expresses completed action, pointedly completed action. The great transgression which was perpetrated by the one man in Adam, and as this passed on as sin and guilt and corruption to all men,...

Herman C. Hanko is professor of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. In previous articles we discussed the role which the minister has in the worship services. We noticed that sometimes he speaks on behalf of Christ, as Christ’s ambassador, saying authoritatively what he has been given to say in Christ’s name. Other times he speaks to God on behalf of the congregation assembled to worship. Especially this latter function of the minister is our interest now. The minister speaks to God on behalf of the congregation when he speaks the votum, “Our help is in...

Both in the secular and in the religious press South Africa is very much in the news at present. Almost unanimously the white minority government is condemned for its apartheid policy and for its recent actions in suppressing terrorism and rebellion on the part of those who have chosen these means of attempting to bring an end to apartheid. TheStandard Bearer has not commented substantively on the whole matter, but has only hinted from time to time that we were not hearing the whole story about South Africa in our press. Besides, we have criticized and expressed our disagreement in book...