Vol 74 Issue 07

Mr. Wigger is an elder in the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Mission Activities Rev. A. Brummel, pastor of the Edgerton, MN PRC, left for the Philippines Tuesday morning, December 2. He was scheduled to meet Rev. A. denHartog, pastor of the Hope PRC in Redlands, CA, in Osaka, Japan. Together from there, the Lord willing, they planned to travel to and visit two locations on the island of Mindanao, then proceed to the island of Luzon for a conference on Calvinism in the city of Daet, and conclude with meeting contacts in Manila. They will have a busy...

The Question of Woman: The Collected Writings of Charlotte von Kirschbaum. Tr. John Shepherd. Ed. and with an Introduction by Eleanor Jackson. Grand Rapids, MI/Cambridge, U.K.: Eerdmans, 1996. x + 202 pages. $16 (paper). [Reviewed by the editor.] Those who read Eberhard Busch’s biography of Karl Barth, Karl Barth: His Life from Letters and Autobiographical Texts, had to wonder about the relationship between Barth and his assistant and secretary, Charlotte von Kirschbaum. The young woman moved into the Barth home, spent the summer months alone with Barth in a chalet in the countryside, and was his sole traveling companion on...

Rev. Brummel is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church in Edgerton, Minnesota. Hinduism is of great importance due to the fact that approximately 700 million people, or 14% of the world’s population, adhere to this religion. Over 82% of India is committed to Hinduism, and more than one million adherents are found in North America.1 Hinduism has also spawned three other movements which have become world religions; Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism. These facts prompt us to ask a few questions: What does it mean to be a Hindu? What does the Hindu believe? In the Hindu religion, as in most...

Rev. Terpstra is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Holland, Michigan. At present in this rubric we are “taking heed to the doctrine” of Christ (Christology). Rev. S. Key has been writing on this subject from the perspective of Reformed dogmatics. As I join him in writing under this rubric, I plan to present doctrinal studies based on specific scriptural passages. For the doctrine of Christ we will consider some aspects of His life and work from the perspective of the gospel accounts. I believe we will also find these biblical studies to be rich in doctrine and will...

Rev. Dick is pastor of Grace Protestant Reformed Church in Standale, Michigan. It was dark. Very dark. It was the darkness of sin. The time of the power of darkness…. The Devil’s darkness! This world’s prince. Dark ruler. Chaining men to darkness. Confusing darkness. Death’s darkness. For this was judgment. Judgment of the God who is light and in whom is no darkness at all. Who hates sin. Who sends the darkness plague. Dark deeds, dark heresies, dark rebellions deserve damning darkness. God kills darkness. Justice, Godness, demand darkness’ death. Behold! There is light! Speaking in the darkness! Last public...

Rev. denHartog is pastor of Hope Protestant Reformed Church in Redlands, California. From the time of the Reformation the truly Reformed church has been serious about preaching the law of God. Reformed churches have a tradition of reading the law of God each Lord’s Day in the worship service. This practice, however, has often been opposed. It has been abandoned by most Protestant churches. There are two great errors that arise repeatedly in the church. There is the error of antinomianism, which is the false teaching that salvation by grace alone excludes all necessity of law-keeping by the redeemed Christian....

Prof. Decker is professor of Practical Theology in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. Article 74 of the Church Order of the Protestant Reformed Churches speaks of the last step required by Christ in Matthew 18:15-17: “If anyone, having been admonished in love concerning a secret sin by two or three persons, does not give heed … the matter shall be reported to the consistory.” This article also stipulates that “public sins” must be reported to the consistory. It is possible that the sin is so public that the consistory is aware of it even before someone reports the matter. In any...

Theological Honesty Regarding Infant Baptism Your recent editorial on catechism (Standard Bearer, Sept. 15, 1997) prompts me to write and query some of your assumptions. Firstly, I presume that you only attribute the qualities of election, redemption, and regeneration to the demonstrated spiritual seed of believers, because many by their behaviour in childhood are markedly still children of wrath. Therefore, you would not describe all children of believers in these terms, right? We agree that they are all encompassed in the covenant and ought to receive the sign of that; yet, we know what happened to Esau: given the sign...

The fifth Family Holiday Conference sponsored by the British Reformed Fellowship (BRF) will be held this summer in Northern Ireland, God willing. The site will be the lovely Castlewellan Castle Christian Conference Center in Castlewellan, County Down. The impressive Castle and its spacious grounds are located five miles inland from Newcastle and the Irish Sea in a park of about 1,600 acres. The area is the northern foothills of the majestic Mourne Mountains. The theme of the conference will be “The Doctrine of the Last Things.” The speakers will again be Prof. Herman Hanko and Prof. David Engelsma of the...

Rev. Miersma is pastor of Immanuel Protestant Reformed Church of Lacombe, Alberta, Canada. O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.  II Chronicles 20:12 Another new year. The year of our Lord 1997 is now history, and a new year, 1998, has been ushered in. We know what took place in the past year. However, tomorrow, the new year, the remaining years of our life are a mystery to us. Since the future is a...