All Articles For Editorial

You all know what, in the literal sense of the word, is meant by the term Yankee Dutch. It is a mixture of the Holland and American languages, sometimes resulting almost in a new language, a language all by itself. There used to be people that, having immigrated from the Netherlands into this country, after a comparatively short period had forgotten or pretended to have forgotten their mother tongue and seemed to speak it with great difficulty. They always spoke the American language even when they conversed with those that would much rather speak Holland. But the fact was that...

To a layman’s mind there occur still a few more facts that must be taken into consideration if we would explain the present economic situation. They concern particularly the modern industrial system. The first of these facts is the vast and extremely speedy production of commodities that are thrown on the market for consumption. How conditions have changed in this respect! I remember the days that it paid to make everything by hand. Even though there already existed the large factory with its machine-driven production, there was still room for the small shop. Working days were usually rather long. Wages...

At the title indicates, this series of editorials examines the harmonious relationship between the doctrine of God’s covenant of grace and the Canons of Dordt. The premise continues to be that the doctrine of the covenant of grace must agree with the doctrines of sovereign grace taught in the Canons. For the truth of God is one, unified body, and no part in it conflicts with another. In addition, God’s covenant of grace is intertwined with God’s saving work. God saves His people and brings them into the living relationship of friendship, which is His covenant life. The doctrine of...

In May of 2017, the editorial reviewing Synod 2017 was entitled, “The Pain and Profit of Protests.” I called attention to the reality that although protests and appeals are very painful, their presence and proper treatment are indications “that the churches are healthy and well.” Members who believe to have been wronged by a decision of an assembly have the right to object to the decision. Believers who are aggrieved by an action of a consistory, classis, or synod, have the right to show that the action ought to be discontinued or declared improper. The office of believer gives all...

Now, as I remarked, I am not at present interested in Yankee-Dutch in the literal sense of the word. I wanted to call your attention to the very real and always present peril of Yankee-Dutch in doctrine and in our practical walk of life. The first is plainly suggested by the passage which I quoted from Nehemiah. The children spoke half in the Hebrew language and half in the language of the heathen. Their language was a mixture. They knew the pure Hebrew no longer. Their speech was adulterated. Now, when our children of the second and third generation in...

(This article is a continuation of the one that appeared in Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 52, 53. Material of a different nature had the preference and till now crowded out this closing article on the above subject. Ed.) The question remains: what may be the causes that the people of God in the world so often relapse into a jargon of Yankee-Dutch in doctrine and in walk, so that it seems so difficult for them to maintain and confess the pure truth of the Word of God in their generations? Why do we not, why can we not remain...

For in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. Genesis 2:17 For the wages of sin is death….Romans 6:23 Since by man came death…. As in Adam all die….I Corinthians 15:21, 22 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and the name that sat on him was death, and Hell followed with him….Revelation 6:8 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. I Corinthians 15:26 Death, death, death. It marches through Scripture like a seemingly invincible army and down through history invades life like a monster with an insatiable appetite. Once it fixes its gaze...

In one of our weekly magazines (Newsweek) we read the following: On one side of the theological fence stands William Floyd, retired New York real-estate dealer, descendant and namesake of a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Twenty-seven years ago, after reading Thomas Paine’s “The Age of Reason,” he quit Christianity and began editing a freethinking journal called The Arbitrator. He is now a member of Dr. John Haynes Holmes’ Community Church in Manhattan. On the other side of the fence stands Dr. Harry Rimmer, Presbyterian evangelist. Nineteen years ago he incorporated a Research Science Bureau, to investigate man’s origin...

In The Banner of November 16 we found the following statement by the editor: “All these issues (that are at present being considered in the Netherlands, H.H.) are foreign to our own Church, except the one on Common Grace; and this was settled at the synod at Kalamazoo in 1924. When Dr. K. Schilder was among us, about eleven months (ago?? H.H.) he sought to reopen that controversy by propagating his off-color views on that subject, but the attempt was not successful. Many of our people are wondering what the decision will be next spring. (That is, when the Synod...

The doctrine of God’s covenant of grace with His people must be fully in harmony with the Canons of Dordt. Of course, it is true that in a Reformed church the doctrine of the covenant must be in harmony with all the Reformed confessions. But the covenant must explicitly conform to the Canons because the Canons set forth the Reformed doctrine of salvation. And the covenant is salvation, for God saves His people in order to bring them into the covenant relationship of love and friendship. The soteriology or salvation theology of the Canons is, in a word, unconditional salvation....