Vol 90 Issue 01

Congregational Activities Considering again the Word of God in I Corinthians 12, this time in verse 14, “For the body is not one member, but many,” we extend our congratulations to Calvary PRC in Hull, IA, celebrating the anni­versary of their organization as a congregation on October 11, 2007. On Friday evening, August 23, everyone in the congregation of First PRC in Grand Rapids, MI was invited to come out and enjoy some softball at nearby Township Park. Supper started at 6:15 around a main course of hot dogs. Par­ticipants were encouraged to bring balls, bats, gloves, and a dish...

Abraham Kuyper: Modern Calvinist, Christian Democrat, by James D. Bratt (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2013). Pp. xxviii + 455. $30 (paper). [Reviewed by David J. Engelsma.] In his own biography of Abraham Kuyper, which served the purpose of introducing Kuyper to “the general reader” (Abraham Kuyper, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1960), Frank Vanden Berg acknowledged the fact and expressed the confidence that “the definitive biography of Dr. Abraham Kuyper must still appear, as it undoubtedly will eventually” (301). With the publication of James D. Bratt’s Abraham Kuyper, the definitive biography of that great, indeed astonishing, man has appeared. Bratt is well qualified...

Previous article in this series: June 2013, p. 404. John the Baptist understood and believed that tran­sition was a “must.” Christ “must” increase, and he “must” decrease. What does that mean? First, the transition from John the Baptist to Jesus was necessary because that was the will of God. It was the will of God that once the forerunner’s work was completed, then Christ would fulfill His earthly ministry. God’s purpose was not for John to continue His ministry side-by-side with Jesus for three-and-a-half years. It was the will of God that John’s work come to an end after only...

Lord’s Day 20 Question 53. What dost thou believe concerning the Holy Ghost? Answer. First, that He is true and co-eternal God with the Father and the Son; secondly, that He is also given me, to make me, by a true faith, partaker of Christ and all His benefits, that He may comfort me and abide with me for ever. In this Lord’s Day we have the Catechism’s brief treat­ment of the Holy Spirit. At first it may seem that the Reformed faith does not give enough attention to the Holy Spirit. After all, isn’t He as much God as...

Previous article in this series: June 2013, p. 392. The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), host of the parasitic conditional covenant heresy known as Federal Vision (FV), recently exoner­ated leading FV heretic Peter Leithart.1 Despite all the avowals to the contrary by the PCA’s Standing Judicial Committee (SJC), their decision sanctioned his heretical theology as inside the bounds of the Westminster Stan­dards and allowed him to teach that heretical theology as within the bounds of the creeds, a fact that Peter Leithart cares little about since he loathes the creeds. Previously I noted some important features of his trial and...

Previous article in this series: August 2013, p. 446. The History of the Concept Worldview The worldview that had been embraced by the Old Testament saints, and that was unfolded in God’s revela­tion as recorded for us in the Old Testament Scriptures, was brought into a clearer light with the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in the fullness of time. The New Testament clearly reveals the church as the continuation and fulfillment of Old Testament Israel, the one body of Jesus Christ, the true seed of Abraham (Gal. 3:16, 29). For that reason the worldview we derive from the...

Previous article in this series: September 15, 2014, p. 484. The Protestant Reformed Churches are united. In confession (doctrine). In discipline (church government). And, for the most part, we are united in worship (liturgy). It is the latter, unity in worship, that is the focus of our attention here. There is no question regarding how tight our unity is in doctrine—the confessions we hold spell that out very precisely. Nor is there question about our unity in church government—every PRC holds the Church Order as regulative and binding for her life. But how united are we in the mat­ter of...

For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Malachi 3:6 God’s abiding covenant faithfulness is set forth in our text. How appropriate to remember this when we consider the fact that with this issue of the Standard Bearer we begin our 90th year of publi­cation. This can only be attributed to our Lord, who is unchanging in His faithfulness to His people. We know that time and changes are ever busy. All things have a beginning and an ending. Things grow and develop, then fade and decay as the flower in the field....