Vol 78 Issue 10

Mr. Wigger is an elder in the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Mission Activities   On Thursday, January 17, Rev. C. Terpstra, a member of our churches’ Domestic Mission Committee, along with Rev. G. Eriks, pastor of the Loveland, CO PRC, the calling church for our mission activities in Spokane, WA, made their annual visit to the mission field. Not only did they inquire about the needs of Missionary Rev. T. Miersma and his family, but they also met with the families in the group and got a feel for the work there and how the Lord is using...

Green Eye of the Storm, by John Rendle Short. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1998. Pp. ii-294. $19.99 (paper). [Reviewed by Herman C. Hanko.] This well-known author from Australia has defended the creation narrative in Genesis 1 by describing the “controversy between science and Christianity” in the lives of Arthur Rendle Short (1880-1953), Philip Henry Gosse (1810-1888), George John Romanes (1848-1894), and the author. The lives of these four men roughly correspond to the development of evolutionary thought from 1750 to the present. Philip Henry Gosse Philip Gosse was a self-taught biologist who acquired a reputation for extensive knowledge in the field...

Rev. Kleyn is pastor of First Protestant Reformed Church in Edgerton, Minnesota. Sadness is a big part of earthly life. Countless circumstances and experiences make us sad. At times it seems we are not only passing through a valley of the shadow of death, but actually living in such a valley. As Moses puts it in Psalm 90, our days are characterized by labor and sorrow, by iniquities and sins, by death and dying. Life is a vale of tears. But life for the child of God should not be an unhappy and joyless experience. It ought not be, and need...

Prof. Engelsma is professor of Dogmatics and Old Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. This article introduces a study of the Bible’s teaching on eschatology. The word “eschatology” comes from the Greek word in the New Testament meaning ‘last’: eschatos. I John 2:18 speaks of the “last time” (literally: “hour”). I Peter 1:20 refers to the “last times.” John 6:39 teaches the “last day” (see John 6:44, 54; John 12:48). Jude 18 mentions the “last time.” In light of these and similar passages, eschatology is Scripture’s teaching concerning the last time, the last things, and the last day. Because the heart of the biblical teaching on the last hour, the...

George Ophoff was Professor of Old Testament Studies in the Protestant Reformed Seminary in its early days. Reprinted here, in edited form, are articles which Ophoff wrote at that time for the Standard Bearer. The matter which we began to examine in our last article was whether the believers of the old covenant were taught and empowered to read in the shadows any reference to future realities. We averred that the shadows did indeed speak to the believers of good things to come. They did so in that they, the shadows, were accompanied by the word of prophecy. The events...

Rev. Terpstra is pastor of First Protestant Reformed Church in Holland, Michigan. A Serious Preparation A final area of concern and consideration is that of preparing for worship. If the worship of God is such a serious, solemn activity, then it must be entered into and carried out with careful preparation. Is it not true that if we have planned some important dinner-date with friends, then we take the necessary time and steps to get ready for it? How much more when we have an appointment with God in His house each Lord’s day! There are three parts to our...

Rev. VanBaren is a minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches. “1994?” …A Rerun? Our editor examined the position of Mr. Harold Camping revealed in his book “1994?” in the Standard Bearer (Vol. 69, page 149; see also page 269, where the editor comments on a letter to the editor on this matter). Camping was careful to put that “?” behind the date—but the book made very plain that he believed with almost absolute certainty that Christ would return in September of 1994. The editor exposed the errors in this teaching. He concluded his editorial: The mark of false prophecy...

Failure to Meet the Standards   The article authored by Rev. Dick published in the December 15, 2001 issue of the Standard Bearer is not good. Rev. Dick employs questionable metaphors and a frenetic writing style to garner attention. In this he has succeeded. My understanding of what Rev. Dick is trying to say is that, because those who date can sin, dating, as currently practiced by many Christian young people, must be eliminated. As his only appeal is to reason, one can also reason that drinking wine should be eliminated. After all, one who drinks wine could do so to the...

Painfully Practical As the previous editorial illustrated, the forthcoming commentary on Romans by Herman Hoeksema, Righteous by Faith Alone, builds up the believer through sound doctrine. It is not a whit less edifying as regards the application of the doctrine. The Romans sermons, which make up the commentary, are intensely, pointedly, and even painfully practical. If the notion is abroad that Hoeksema was abstractly doctrinal, and not practical, in his preaching, publication of the sermons on Romans will lay this notion to rest once and for all. In these sermons, Hoeksema was busy applying the doctrine, not only from chapter...

Rev. Slopsema is pastor of First Protestant Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Philippians 2:12, 13 The way to exaltation is the way of humble obedience. So it was with Jesus Christ. Although He was in the form of God, He took upon Himself the form of a servant and was made...