Vol 65 Issue 17

Thank you for your fine contribution to the Reformed witness with The Standard Bearer. I appreciate the diversity that there is even within the Reformed faith. Because of the diversity we often take exception to that which we read. I believe that the answer to “May the Deserted Believer Remarry?” (April 15, 1989) missed the mark. The thrust of the article was that although the deserted believer may not be in bondage to the one who deserted him/her, he is still bound to such a person. In other words he/she is not free to divorce or to remarry. It is true...

Mr. Wigger is an elder in the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Ministerial Calls Our Peace P.R.C. in Lynwood, IL formed a new trio: the Reverends W. Bekkering, B. Gritters, and G. Van Baren. From that three-some, Peace extended a call to Rev. Gritters. The congregation of our Faith P.R.C. in Jenison, MI also met in April to call a pastor from the trio of the Revs. R. Dykstra, J. Slopsema, and R. Van Overloop. From that group of three, Faith called Rev. J. Slopsema to come over and help them. Rev. C. Haak, pastor of the Lynden, WA...

THE INCARNATION, by Gordon H. Clark; The Trinity Foundation, 1988; 91 pp. plus appendixes; $8.95 (Reviewed by the Editor) This is a disturbing, and even distressing, book. Gordon H. Clark, renowned champion of Presbyterian orthodoxy, challenges the church’s traditional and creedal doctrine of the incarnation, that Jesus is one person and that this person is the divine person of the eternal Son of God. Clark argues that Jesus cannot be a real man like us unless He is a human person. Jesus, therefore, is both a divine person and a human person. John W. Robbins accurately expresses Clark’s teaching in...

Rev. Terpstra is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of South Holland, Illinois. In our last segment we ended by considering briefly the heresy of the British monk Pelagius. We noted that the heart of his error was the denial of man’s need for the sovereign work of Gods grace in saving him. According to Pelagius natural man has God’s gift of free-will and that was all he needed. By directing his will in the right way the natural man could make himself good in the eyes of God and do the good God required of him. He was not...

Rev. Kortering is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Grandville, Michigan. We now turn our attention to the next book in the section of the Old Testament designated as “The Former Prophets.” For this reason we do not treat Ruth now, but will take that up in connection with the section designated as “The Writings.” The Former Prophets include Joshua, Judges, both books of Samuel, and both of Kings. Name—Author—Date You may notice that in our King James Bibles there is inserted under the title, “The First Book of Samuel,” the words, “otherwise called the First Book of the...

Mr. Lanting, a member of South Holland Protestant Reformed Church, is a practicing attorney. The organized labor movement in this country has always been characterized by rebellion, violence, greed, and extortion. Union corruption has been highlighted recently because of the federal government’s suit against the notorious Teamster’s union. Using federal racketeering laws, the U.S. attorney general’s office sought to wrest control of the 1.6 million-member union from Mafia domination and place control of Teamster assets and elections in the hands of a court-appointed trustee. Federal prosecutors claimed the suit was the culmination of 30 years of effort by the government...

Prof. Hanko is professor of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary.

Prof. Hoeksema is professor of Dogmatics and Old Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. Is it time to grow up as a denomination? The Consistory of Southeast Church, Grand Rapids, thinks so. And so, too, does Classis East, though apparently with some reservations. I am also inclined to agree, though also with some reservations, as I hope to make plain. Coming to our 1989 Synod is an overture from Southeast to reorganize our churches into a 3-classis structure. For this overture the following .grounds are offered: “1. There are enough congregations in the denomination to make such a structure feasable...

The Synod of the Protestant Reformed Churches will meet this year in Hull, Iowa at the invitation of the Hull church. Synod will convene on Tuesday, June 13. The Rev. Gise Van Baren, president of the synod of 1988, will preach at the special worship service of the Hull congregation the evening before the convening of synod. We intend to print this sermon in the August 1 issue of The Standard Bearer with a report of the doings and decisions of synod. Missing from synod in his capacity as advisor as he has been only very rarely over the past thirty years...

In this issue, we take note of the meeting of the Synod of the Protestant Reformed Churches the second week of June. The editorial reviews the agenda of Synod. One of the items on the agenda, the overture of Southeast, Grand Rapids that Synod restructure the denomination in three classes, would significantly affect denominational life in the PRC. In response to our request, Professor H.C. Hoeksema gives his analysis of this overture, and offers his advice. Our hope is that this information concerning the activities of our broadest ecclesiastical assembly enables the members of the PRC (and others who have...