Vol 66 Issue 18

Mr. Wigger is a member of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Ministerial Calls Both Rev. Richard Flikkema and Rev. Barrett Gritters have declined their calls to serve as the pastors of the Hope PRC in Isabel, SD and Randolph PRC in Randolph, WI, respectively. Mission Activities In late April, the Council of the Hope PRC in Redlands, CA sent their pastor, Rev. A. denHartog, along with elder Everett VanVoorthuysen, to Santa Cruz, CA, a city about 350 miles north of Redlands, to meet with four families there who had requested that Redlands visit with them concerning the possibility...

THE SEED OF THIE WOMAN, by Arthur C. Custance, 580 pp. Available from Doorway Publishers, Box 291, Brockville, Ontario K6V 5V5. (Reviewed by Rev. George C. Lubbers.) Hem is a book which is written in a rather clear style and in a clear vocabulary. This book appeals to a critical and attentive reader who is willing to do just a bit of critical thinking. The book delves into the field both of biblical exegesis and of Nicean theology. We recommend this book to the observant reader. The title of this book is obviously derived from Genesis 3:16. This would lead the...

Classis East met in regular session on Wednesday, May 9, 1990 with a continued session on May 30, 1990. The continued session was necessary to give a committee of pre-advice sufficient time to study the material given them. Rev. B. Woudenberg chaired the session of May 9th and Rev. W. Bruinsma the session of May 30th. Several matters of import occupied the agenda of classis: the report of the special committee of classis to visit Norristown and several appeals from members of two of the congregations in Classis East. Since some of this material was treated in closed session, reporting...

Rev. Miersma is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of New Zealand, a sister-church to the Protestant Reformed Churches of America. In order to discuss how to promote a “more meaningful” sister-church relationship we must first come to an understanding as to what a “sister-church relationship” is. Then we can discuss what makes such relationship “meaningful” in order finally to establish how it can be made “more” meaningful. Since the Protestant Reformed Churches of America seem to be the point of common contact, let us look at their definition of a sister-church relationship as set forth in the Constitution of...

Rev. Burley is pastor of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Winnaleah, Tasmania, Australia. The Evangelical Presbyterian Church (E.P.C.) has been in existence since July 29, 1961 (though it was first constituted under the name “Reformed Evangelical Church”). In order to gain an appreciation of the work of the E.P.C. it will be necessary to look at the background and formation of the church. We will, therefore, consider this subject under three headings. Backgroung And Formation In the early 1950s there were groups of earnest sincere Christians throughout Tasmania. These people were then attached to different denominations: Baptist, Church of Christ,...

Prof. Decker is professor of Practical Theology in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. One cannot help but note a vast difference between the Old and New Testament eras. The Holy Spirit “was not yet” in the Old Testament (John 7:37-39). This does not mean that the Holy Spirit did not work in the Old Testament. In I Peter 1:10-12 we read this: “…of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand...

Rev. Terpstra is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of South Holland, Illinois. Introduction To say that the work of the Holy Spirit in salvation is of vital importance is perhaps to state the obvious. Nevertheless, this must be our starting point. No individual believer and no church of Christ would dare slight or minimize the work of the Spirit in salvation. It is not too much to say that without Him there would be no persons saved and no church gathered. The Spirit is the indispensable Applicator of the blessings of salvation Christ has merited for His own in...

The Baptist Objection During the reformation period in Holland, from 10-50,000 Baptists were put to death by cooperating Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches. This was the result of a deliberate refusal to listen to what the Baptists were saying, while using Munster as a pretext for branding “every baptist” as a heretic. You are an educated man, and as such should know better. In your “Covenant” editorial (The SB, April 15, 1990), you seriously misrepresent us and make some very false accusations, the kind that led your spiritual ancestors to slaughter Baptists. Please print the following as a letter in the next...

In the “Letters” column of this issue of The Standard Bearer, Baptist Pastor William Oosterman objects to my editorial on the Reformed doctrine of the covenant (The SB, April 15, 1990, “The Covenant of God and the Children of Believers”). Specifically he objects to the criticism of the Baptist position that is inherent in the covenant-doctrine of the Reformed faith. Pastor Oosterman is careless with history. He charges that my spiritual ancestors in the 16th century slaughtered Baptists, suggesting that in condemning the Baptist error I am a child of my fathers who killed the prophets. My spiritual ancestor in the...

My treatment of the Reformed doctrine of the inclusion of the children of believers in the covenant of God, begun in the March 15, 1990 issue of The Standard Bearer, was interrupted by the special issue on preaching and by the editorial on Synod. The editorial in the issue of May 1 contended that the covenant is established with the elect children only and offered two grounds for this contention: 1) the rule of faith in Scripture that the covenant mercy of God is particular and sovereign; 2) the teaching on this very matter in Romans 9:1 ff. The editorial...