All Articles For Editorial

The April 15 deadline for submitting material for treatment at synod has passed.1 The material for synod’s work has now been distributed to consistories. With the exception of a few items that may come through supplements, synod’s agenda is fixed. It is a large agenda, larger than average both in bulk and in the number of individual matters synod must deliberate. The subjects range from the mundane (but necessary) to the most profound and weighty. They vary from recommending approval of one minister’s retirement to the examination of seven young men who seek that office. From financial support of needy...

I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts. Ps. 119:68 Thou, O Jehovah, art my portion! That, evidently, is the dominating thought of this particular section of Psalm the one hundred nineteenth. And that, too, is the basis, the background, of the confession the psalmist makes here, that he is a companion of all Them that fear Jehovah, that keep His precepts. We remember that this psalm is divided into twenty equal sections, according to the number of characters in the Hebrew alphabet, each verse of each section, in the original,...

The strike, as a refusal to work at a job which we still consider ours, and for one whom we still recognize as our employer, is rebellion against proper authority. But it also obstructs, in fact, makes impossible the manifestation of true righteousness and justice, i.e. the justice and righteousness of God. The very opposite is frequently stated as an argument in favor of the strike. The strikers claim to have a just and righteous cause. The laborer is oppressed. His wages are held to a minimum. Working conditions are bad. He is compelled to work long hours. And when...

* Speech delivered by transcription on the Field Day, July 4, ‘44. Twenty years ago today the Christian Reformed Church, convened in synodical gathering in Kalamazoo, Michigan, was travailing in the pangs of birth, about to be delivered of a doctrinal child. She labored hard, and even though some ten days before mother had been taken to the hospital, and a consultation of expert doctors and professors had been held, that had given detailed advice just how this particular case should be treated, when finally mother was brought to the synodical delivery room, it seemed as if there were no...

The, business agent of Local No. 12, the same local that proposed the anti-strike overture to the last annual convention of the C.L.A., having noticed that the Standard Bearer took interest in the matter, was kind enough to send me a complete copy of the above mentioned overture, and we here offer it to our readers: To the Annual Convention of the Christian Labor Association of the United States. An overture. The board of the Christian Building Trades Local No. 12, proposes to this convention that it shall rescind its stand in regard the strike issue. In its official documents...

In the “Vrije Nederlander,” a paper published in London, England, appeared an article containing the information that Dr. K. Schilder had been suspended from office by the Synod of the “Gereformeerde Kerken” in the Netherlands, and that he is “moment eel ondergetoken.” The last phrase means that he has for the present disappeared, joined the “underground.” This seems to imply that our esteemed brother was once again in trouble with the Nazis, and that they were looking for him. The article in the “Vrije Nederlander” was based upon a rather lengthy article in. another Dutch paper, “Het Handelsblad,” and which...

In a contribution in this number of our paper Mr. G. Ten Elshof criticizes, and rather severely and completely condemns, the decision of our last Synod to invest the ten thousand dollars that accumulated in our Mission Fund for the time being in government war bonds. Perhaps, others, such as the mission committee, are the proper party to reply to this article. It concerns a matter of finance. And if my memory is correct (I did not take the time to look it up), the proposal to invest this sum as was decided came from them. Nevertheless, I consider it...

In answer to the article by Mr. J. Gritter in the August number of our paper, the following may suffice. 1. I wish to point out that nowhere did I make the statement that “employees, if dissatisfied, may collectively cease working.” Nor would I subscribe to this statement without important qualifications. Even if a man quits his job he has certain obligations before God, both with regard to his employer and to those that are dependent on him. The fact that he is dissatisfied with his job does not justify his quitting, unless he is sure of another job. And...

There is one more point I meant to make in regard to the position of the C.L.A. with respect to the strike. Thus far I argued that the strike is principally wrong because it is revolutionary. It is a refusal to work for those whom we regard as our employers, and to whom, therefore, we owe obedience and subjection according to Scripture. And, secondly, I showed that the strike cannot possibly stand in the service of righteousness, because it is not duly instituted authority that settles the issue in a strike, but mere force. The strongest wins. The point I...

At the annual meeting of the editorial staff of the Standard Bearer, which was held on June 4, it was decided to continue to edit our paper in the same manner as during the last three years. Accordingly, to undersigned was once more assigned the position of editor, clothed with dictatorial powers. But as these dictatorial powers mean mostly work, the editor was again appointed to draw up a schedule of subjects for the ensuing year, and to assign them to the various co-workers. The Rev. Ophoff was granted the privilege to draw up his own schedule. The schedule here...