Vol 76 Issue 12

Mr. Wigger is a member of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Minister Activities Rev. C. Hanko, one of our churches’ emeriti pastors, was able to return to his home in Hudsonville, MI in early February after a short stay in Brookcrest Nursing Home in Grandville, MI. His blood counts are back to normal and he feels much better. Rev. M. VanderWal, pastor of the Covenant PRC in Wyckoff, NJ, slipped on some ice and injured his back. As a result, he was not able to preach for his congregation on February 6. Hopefully he suffered no lasting injury...

Johannes C. Sikkel: A Pioneer in Social Reform, by R. H. Bremmer. Neerlandia, Alberta, Canada/Pella, Iowa: Inheritance Publications, 1998. 47pp. US$5.90/CAN$6.95 (paper). [Reviewed by the editor.] The appeal of this small book to the Reformed reader is manifold. It introduces a prominent minister in the reformation in the Netherlands known as the “Doleantie” who is otherwise only a name on several Dutch books gathering dust on the bookshelf. It indicates the extent to which the Doleantie and its preachers were involved in the national life of the Netherlands, particularly politics and labor. And it demonstrates the sharp disagreements among the...

Rev. VanBaren is a minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches. “The Man of the Millennium” At the end of every year, Time magazine nominates its “Man of the Year.” With bated breath, the press awaits its great announcement. This year, of course, was different. This year it was not only a question of “Man of the Year,” but also “Man of the Decade,” as well as of the century and of the millennium. The reason for its choices might be of interest to the Christian as well. However, the world examines and announces according to standards that are neither...

Rev. Kleyn is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Edgerton, Minnesota. Our lives as children of God are to be directed and governed by one fundamental principle. One rule determines all that we think, all that we say, and all that we do. That rule is, “Do all to the glory of God!” That is our calling in this life. And that will be our calling into all eternity. That this is the principle that determines all our conduct is clearly shown in the Scriptures. “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any...

The late Homer Hoeksema was professor of Dogmatics and Old Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. In the light of the significant data studied in the previous chapter, the few details furnished us by the Scriptures concerning the history of the two spiritual seeds during the prediluvian period may be clearly understood. As we have remarked before, the Scriptures are selective in their account of the history of this period, and extremely brief. Yet they furnish us with sufficient details that we may clearly understand the history. We are told something of the beginning of the two lines, that of...

Prof. Hanko is professor of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. Introduction Although I have used the name Berengar in the title of this article, there are two reasons why this choice of names might be misleading. The first reason is that Berengar was not by any means the only one to enter the debate over the doctrine of transubstantiation. In fact, in this article we will be talking about two others: Paschasius Radbertus and Ratramnus. Both are important names in the debate. The second reason why the use of his name in the title is...

Rev. VanderWal is pastor of Covenant Protestant Reformed Church in Wyckoff, NJ. Strange! The Messiah, as soon as He presented Himself to John the Baptist and received His glorious gifts at baptism, is immediately driven into the wilderness. Conventional wisdom would have Jesus immediately begin healing the sick, deaf, dumb, lame, raising the dead, and casting out demons. He ought to have begun showing the glory and majesty of His kingdom, gathering multitudes about Himself. There is a great movement to be begun, a movement lasting up to our present day! Conventional wisdom is, however, not the wisdom of God....

The “Witness” of Matthew 18 Please have Rev. Daniel Kleyn complete his article [“The Neglected Admonition,” Standard Bearer, Dec. 15, 1999]. Don’t “neglect” to explain exactly what is meant as “witness.” It cannot necessarily mean witness to the sin against the brother. I was involved in a situation like this and accompanied the offended brother as a “witness.” To make a long story short, I left the PCA because of what transpired. I am very interested in what the author has to say about the “witness” and his responsibilities. Emmett O’Donnell Fulshear, Texas Response: The Standard Bearer article referred to...

Last fall, shocking events at Hillsdale College, a small but renowned college in Michigan, rocked the conservative community in North America. The president’s daughter-in-law committed suicide. Her husband informed the public that just before she killed herself she had confessed to adultery with her father-in-law over a period of some nineteen years. She made the confession in the presence of the father-in-law. The board of trustees of the college quickly arranged the president’s early retirement and appointed a high-powered committee to find a successor. The committee included famous and influential conservatives William J. Bennett, author of The Book of Virtues,...

Rev. Hanko is a minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches. “Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?” Psalm 15:1 Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit the psalmist writes: “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem” (Ps. 122:1, 2a). In the old dispensation, if anyone were to ask, Where does God dwell? he would have been informed that there was only one place in the whole world where God dwelled. He would have...