Vol 63 Issue 18

Gise J. Van Baren is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. The Only Answer for AIDS It is interesting to discover, in the increasingly frequent articles about AIDS, that there is but one way identified to remain AIDS-free. Many will speak of “safe sex” as though one can find methods of violating God’s laws with impunity still. Others find different methods of avoiding the consequences of sin. Still, it is very interesting and noteworthy that there is a generally universal recognition that there is but one sure way of avoiding this dread disease. Dr. Paul Donohue, a...

Ben Wigger is an elder in the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. In our churches summer is a slow time. Many of us take our vacations at this time of the year. Church life could be described as light. In contrast to this trend, Southeast P.R.C. is holding a Summer Bible Class for a period of six to eight weeks. Their pastor, Rev. Key, will lead this class which will continue study in the book of Ephesians. Southeast’s Council also reported to their congregation that due to requirements of the building inspector and increased size of the narthex; the...

May 13 & 14, 1987 Southeast Protestant Reformed Church Classis East met in regular session on Wednesday and Thursday, May 13th and 14th, 1987, at the Southeast Protestant Reformed Church. Each congregation was represented by two delegates with the exception of Kalamazoo on the second day. Rev. R. Miersma presided at this session. Classis had one major item before it, namely, the protest of an individual against a decision of the January, 1987 classis which decision said that the protest he submitted against his consistory was not legally before since it had not been finished in the minor assembly (his...

HERMENEUTICS, AUTHORITY, AND CANON, edited by D.A. Carson & John D. Woodbridge; Zondervan Publishing House, 1986; 468pp., $14.95 (paper). (Reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko.) The battle over the doctrine of the inerrancy of Scripture goes on and the result is a continual stream of books which flow from the ecclesiastical press. This book is a part of that stream. It is somewhat difficult to evaluate a book of this sort because of the different writers who have authored chapters—Woodbridge, Bromiley, Frame, Silva, Van Hoozer, Carson, Moo, Blomberg, Dunbar—and the different subjects and approaches which the authors take. This review, therefore,...

Jason L. Kortering is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Grandville, Michigan. We are in the midst of outlining the section of the Book of Numbers that covers the second numbering of the people and related events (beginning at chapter 30). Moses reminds the heads of each tribe that if a man vow or swear an oath, he must do as he has vowed, for the Lord’s honor is at stake (Num. 30:1-3). The same holds true for a woman, only her father or husband had the right to disallow the carrying out of the vow (Num. 30:4-8). The...

Herman C. Hanko is professor of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. Genetic Engineering! What high hopes this holds for the future of man! It has the potential to create heaven on earth and loose man once and for all from the chains of ignorance and poverty which hold him in his dark prison! We have discussed in our last article what men have already accomplished through genetic engineering and what they hope to accomplish in the future as the genetic code is broken and the secrets of it are learned. We have to discuss one...

Ronald J. Van Overloop is a missionary-pastor of the Protestant Reformed Churches in Northwest Chicago. Within the sphere of Reformed believers there has always been a segment who have held as suspect all aspects of evangelism (both mission work and personal witnessing). It is contended that evangelism has historically been the occasion for many departures from the Reformed faith. It is also contended, that if one is truly Reformed, then he cannot expect effective and successful missions. It is falsely assumed that one must be Arminian at least in his methodology if not in his theology if he is to...

Ronald H. Hanko is pastor of Trinity Protestant Reformed Church, Houston, Texas. In many ways the tenth commandment stands apart from all the others. Its unique importance is demonstrated, for example, by the statement of Paul inRomans 7:7: “For I had not known sin except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.” In I Timothy 6:10 he again sets it apart from the all others and shows its importance by telling us that the love of money, covetousness, the sin, forbidden in the tenth commandment, is the root sin. This distinctive character of the tenth commandment is evident in its demand....

Ronald L. Cammenga is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Loveland, Colorado. In the past several articles we have discussed public confession of faith. We have used as our guide the three questions that are asked of those who make confession of faith. We want to conclude this discussion by calling attention to certain responsibilities which a confessing member of God’s church has. Some of these we have already referred to in passing. An Unreproachable Life Perhaps the most important calling of a confessing member of the church is to live an unreproachable life in the midst of the...

We are happy to announce that the Standard Bearer, beginning with the current volume, is now available in microform from University Microfilms Inc., 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106. It is also possible that in the future all our past volumes will also be microfilmed and become available in this form. For the benefit of those who may be traveling this summer in the vicinity of any of our Protestant Reformed Churches, we are publishing again a directory of our Protestant Reformed Churches. We have not yet received information concerning our new Lacombe, Alberta congregation. However, such information can...