All Articles For Contribution

Discerning the pandemonium I write this article as a follow-up contribution to the editorial “Reformed theology’s commentary on the pandemic of 2020 (2)” published in the July 2020 edition of the Standard Bearer. In the introduction the author made the statement “The police’s killing of George Floyd in the U.S. state of Minnesota….” While the author’s point and overall message were sound, this statement was not. The mainstream media often chooses not to portray law enforcement in a favorable way. The media and other groups regularly use law enforcement encounters with the public as a driving force for accomplishing their...

In this report of the minutes of our latest Federa­tion Convention the undersigned will confine herself to the business transacted, as the other activities such as speeches, banquet and program numbers will be recorded in this issue of the Standard Bearer by others. The business sessions were opened in the morning of Thursday, Aug. 22, by the Rev. L. Vermeer, after our President, Homer Kuiper, read Psalm 144 and the Psalter number 371 was sung by the delegates. The roll call was then taken and all societies were repre­sented, including the three new member societies of Creston, Kalamazoo and Roosevelt...

Mr. K. Heersema of Redlands, Calif., writes us: Many thanks for your answer about Babylon’s fall. I write to comment on it in as far as you conclude that I reason that Germany will win the war. I see Babylon strictly as standing in the sign of merchandise as Tyre and Sidon in the Old Testament. As a fulfillment of Scripture the fall of the British empire is not needed. The fall of the capitalistic system fulfills the Scripture and Britain is going fast in that direction. Was Mammon-capitalism, the system of money, not an international world-power really universal, I...

Dear Editor: Whereas: It becomes evident from time to time, and that in an increasing measure, that our Prot. Ref. people have no heart for the local Christian High School, and, Whereas: To my judgment, the breach between us and the Christian Reformed Church gradually becomes wider, especially after Dr. Schilder’s visit and his present writings in the “Reformatie, and, Whereas: It is our God given duty to bring up, and educate our children in that truth that He in His grace has revealed unto us, and, Whereas: According to information the Chr. Ref. people now partly pay for the...

Dear Editor-in-Chief: On the very surface, your outline of the proposed change of the Standard Bearer is better than we have now. However, I think that we should add one more department, that is, if we will not get a Church paper. And the proposed addition is a department for the news of our churches. There is a lack now. With news, I refer to trios, calls, and other pertinent items about the life of our churches. Yours sincerely, Rev. G. Vos. Note: Thanks Rev. Vos for your suggestion. I suppose that if the proposed plan meets with general favor,...

To the Editor of the Standard Bearer, Dear Mr. Editor: Your challenge in the recent issues of the Standard Bearer can hardly pass unheeded. The very thought that the Standard Bearer might lose its influence through becoming a church paper makes one’s heart melt within him. While, on the other hand, a change which would mean a more systematic arrangement and a greater variety of material, without changing its present status, appeals to me very much. In fact, I believe that the time has come that a frank and open discussion on how our Standard Bearer might be improved can...

Rev. H. Hoeksema, Dear Editor:— The article of Mrs. P. D. B., “By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them” in Our Church News of March 28, with which I wholeheartedly agree, prompts me to write these lines. I was particularly interested in Mrs. D. B.’s article, since the poem referred to, which appeared in The Banner, also especially drew my attention as being very Arminian. I wrote an article to Mr. R. Postma “Uncle Dick,” who is editor of the children’s page, on which page the poem appeared, and who approved very much of the poem, and asked him to...

Rev. H. Hoeksema, Dearly beloved Editor: Will you be so kind as to publish the following open letter to my Christian Reformed friend and brother because I sincerely believe that there are many more Christian Reformed friends and brethren who should stop to think and diligently set themselves to answer the questions contained in it, and any other questions which may arise. Accept my thanks and my continued good wishes for the welfare of our Standard Bearer. To my Christian Reformed friend and brother: Do you think that the language used in I John 4:20 is fit to publish in...

At the editors’ request, Mr. Mike Langeland, mem­ber of our Georgetown PRC in Hudsonville, MI, and fifth-generation funeral director, wrote a few thoughts to us for the readers of the Standard Bearer. From the brother’s note to us: “Families suffering from loss must walk through the journey of a death, but they need not walk alone. Being supported and loved by God, family, and God’s people carries them through that journey….When I carry the body of my loved one to the grave, place a flower on their casket, engage my emotions while seeing the deceased body of my loved one,...

Esteemed Editor: Will you kindly allow me space for a few columns in your paper? In The Banner of April 20, there appears an article by Dr. W. H. Rutgers, which I believe calls for some reflection in our Standard Bearer. The article discusses the oft-occurring question of the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart and treats it in such a way that it constitutes an unconscious challenge to anyone who has learned to see and feel the Reformed view of God and the creature as we have it taught us in Scripture. I believe, to express at the very outset my...