Vol 76 Issue 02

Mr. Wigger is an elder in the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Denominational Activities The Theological School of our churches opened its doors again this year on September 7 at Southwest PRC in Grandville, MI with its Seminary Convocation. Pray for our four professors and their important labors on behalf of our churches. The student body this year includes three special students, Mr. Mark Shand from the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Australia, Brisbane congregation, and Mr. Paul Goh and Rev. Lau Chin Kwee, both from the Evangelical Reformed Churches in Singapore. Besides these three, Mr. Angus Stewart, from the...

September 1 – 4, 1999 South Holland, Illinois The September meeting of Classis West was held at the South Holland Protestant Reformed Church from September 1-4, 1999. An officebearers’ conference was held the day before. The theme of the conference was “Fully Equipped for the Work: A Conference for Elders and Deacons.” The conference was attended not only by many of the delegates to classis, but also by a large contingent of men from Western Michigan, including the seminary students and professors, as well as many other visitors. Rev. Charles Terpstra gave the keynote address, the theme of which was...

Rev. Terpstra is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Holland, Michigan It is probably well known that the Reformation did not develop Christian doctrine in the area of eschatology very strongly. In part this was due to the fact that, in general, the Reformers accepted the long-standing, amillennial eschatology of Augustine set forth c. AD 400. And partly this was due to the fact that the various doctrines that belong to eschatology were not all that controversial at the time of the Reformation. An exception to this was the chiliast error (literal millennialism, i.e., thousand-year reign of Christ on...

Rev. Kuiper is pastor of Southeast Protestant Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. “Beloved, now are we the children of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope purifies himself, even as he is pure.” I John 3:2-3 It is an amazing fact of church history that when the Reformers battled hard against salvation by the works of the law, they did not throw away the baby with the...

Prof. Decker is professor of Practical Theology in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. Calvin understood this prophecy to be a “confirmation” of the “doctrine … concerning the restoration of the Church.”* Calvin viewed this prophecy of the restoration of the church as a special vision added by God, ” … by way of confirmation, in order to make it more certain and undoubted that, whatever calamities might arise, his Church never perish” (p. 90). That which God confirms by this vision is the promise revealed in Isaiah 1: 26 and 27, “And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and...

Prof. Dykstra is professor of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. At the end of 1533 the Anabaptist group at Munster in Westphalia, under the leadership of a former Lutheran minister Bernard Rothman, gained control of the city council. Early in 1534 a Dutch prophet and ex-innkeeper named John of Leyden appeared in Munster, believing that he was called to make the city the new Jerusalem. On 9 February 1534 his party seized city hall. By 2 March all who refused to be baptized were banished, and it was proclaimed a city of refuge for the...

Rev. Koole is pastor of Faith Protestant Reformed Church in Jenison, Michigan. Other than the worship of the Virgin Mary, the doctrine we most associate with the Roman Catholic church and her abuses is probably her doctrine of purgatory. It is this teaching that serves to underscore what Rome is all about, namely, ignoring (or better, inventing) Scripture, promoting superstition, inculcating fear into the minds of her members, using fear to extract a steady stream of income, corrupting the gospel of Christ crucified, and destroying the blessed assurance of faith in Him. It is this doctrine that makes plain from...

Rev. Cammenga is pastor of Southwest Protestant Reformed Church in Grandville, Michigan. Bound by the Creeds The Reformed creeds define the Reformed faith. What it is to be Reformed, the creeds establish. The creeds are the standard against which every teaching that claims to be Reformed and clamors for acceptance by Reformed believers is to be judged. Every Reformed believer is bound by the Reformed creeds. No one has the right to consider himself to be a Reformed Christian who blatantly contradicts what the Reformed creeds teach. Especially is the Reformed officebearer bound by the teaching of the creeds. At...

Someone might doubt whether there is anything to the theme of this special issue. That the Reformation recovered the gospel of grace and, in connection with this, the sole authority of Holy Scripture is well known. But did the Reformation say anything distinctive about the last things? Did it do much with eschatology at all? Does it not betray the Reformation’s lack of interest in the last things that both Luther and Calvin neglected, indeed refused, to write a commentary on the book of Revelation? To be sure, there was the rejection of purgatory. That was definitely important for eschatology....

Our special, Reformation issue of the Standard Bearer this year is devoted to the influence of the sixteenth century Reformation on the church’s eschatology. Eschatology is the church’s understanding and confession of the Word of God on the last things, culminating in the second coming of Christ. The subject is timely. As we approach a new millennium, many are distracted by the scare of Y2K. Other professing Christians—millions of them—become excited at the prospect of an imminent rapture of the church, which is utter and bizarre nonsense. Of late, prominent Reformed and Presbyterian theologians and teachers tell conservative audiences that...