All Articles For Editorial

In this world, especially the modern world, with its flood of literature in the form of magazines and newspapers, and its incessant radio broadcasts, it is very easy indeed to become acquainted with the world’s viewpoint with respect to anything at all. Predominantly that viewpoint, the viewpoint of Man, is being presented of any topic that is being discussed. And it is not easy for the Church and for the individual believer to escape the danger of adopting this viewpoint and to maintain his own, or rather Scripture’s viewpoint with respect to the same realities and events that are evaluated...

Of this exclamation of the lamenting prophet we were reminded when we read the answer by Prof. L. Berkhof in The Banner of Oct. 31, 1941, to a question by a member of the Christian Reformed Churches concerning the censurableness of a Church member’s belonging to the C.I.O. The standpoint of the reply is that membership of the C.I.O. and, of course, of any worldly union is a relative matter: one may belong to such organizations, but it is better, because it is less dangerous, not to belong to them! And when we compared this weak and colorless reply to...

An overflow audience greeted Dr. K. Schilder, when on the 8th of February he entered the auditorium of the First Protestant Reformed Church of Grand Rapids to deliver his lecture on the subject of Common Grace. The large auditorium had been filled to capacity with numerous extra chairs. Loudspeakers had been installed in the basement for those that could find no room upstairs. In the auditorium every seat was taken, and many remained standing during the entire lecture. And more than one hundred made use of the loudspeakers downstairs. Without a doubt it was easily the largest audience the professor...

According to a review in the Calvin Forum the theory of Common Grace was given an airing in a meeting of the Calvinistic Philosophical Club, held at Westminster Theological Seminary on October 8, 1941. Dr. C. Van Til, who had recently returned from spending a sabbatic year in truly sabbatic Redlands, California, was the speaker. And his subject was supposed to have been: the bearing of common grace on non-theistic thinking. But the time was too limited to do justice to the whole theme, hence he discussed the question of “common grace” proper. He divided his subject into four parts:...

Even though we did not agree with the policy that led to the involvement of our own Country in the world conflict, now the Government has declared war, and has received declarations of war, the Christian citizen can have only one duty: obey for God’s sake and for conscience sake. When the Government calls upon our sons to go to battle, we will send them and they will go. And whatever burden the Government may think necessary to place upon us, we will bear without murmuring. This does not mean that we have changed our personal opinion about this war...

Now our own country is involved in World War II, it may be of interest to pass in review the main events of this tremendous conflict. The first year of the war was on the whole characterized by the “Blitzkrieg” of Hitler’s forces in which the German mechanized forces scored brilliant victories, partly because of their overwhelming power and thorough preparedness over against the unpreparedness of Great Britain and France, partly because of repeated surprise movements of the German army in connection with a ruthless trampling under foot of the rights of smaller nations. The war was started when Hitler...

Those that are able to read Dutch may omit this editorial, for it contains in the main a reproduction of what I wrote in the previous issue of our paper on the same subject. The reason for this reproduction is a request. Many, and, perhaps, they are chiefly found among those that are most directly concerned with this problem, cannot read the Holland language. And the request, therefore, is very reasonable, one, in fact, which I may not ignore and cannot refuse. All the more gladly do I follow up this request, because in personal discussions it became evident, as...

Just now I am referring to the particular fact, that by its stand with regard to the worldly unions The Christian Reformed Church becomes the occasion that some of the weaker brethren of the Protestant Reformed Churches are tempted to sin. When one becomes the occasion for another to fall into sin, he is a stumbling block. The Christian Reformed Church, because of its stand, or failure to take a positive stand with regard to the unions, is the occasion that some of our men stumble into a double sin: they break their vow pledged before God and the Church,...

A very common argument used to defend the membership of the Christian in a worldly union is that God’s people must be salt of the earth. Now, salt is of no use as long as it remains outside of the substance that is to be salted. It is evident that a Christian cannot influence the union for good and act as the salt of the earth in such an organization unless he join it first. Hence, it is evidently the plain duty of the Christian to become member. The Word of God demands it of him. It is next to...

According to reliable reports by several well-pleased of his audience, a Christian Reformed minister in Grand Rapids recently preached a sermon on Genesis 14:13 in which he emphasized that the Christian must not separate himself from the world, and that it is proper for him to become member of the worldly unions. The text reads as follows: “And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Manure the Amorite, a brother of Eschol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederates with Abram.” It is usually explained that these confederates...