We goofed! If I believed in gremlins, I would say there was a bad gremlin sitting on my typewriter when the last issue was prepared, and that he traveled to the typesetter’s office and to the print shop. I refer to the obvious mistake on the cover of the last issue. At least that mistake and a couple of others in the contents were obvious enough to be recognized as mistakes. And mistakes like that have this benefit, that they help to keep one humble!
TO OUR CONSTERNATION we discovered that a horrible mistake was made in Rev. Harbach’s department, Studies In Election. What happened? Rev. Harbach is a department editor who gets his copy in to the editor far in advance. To help our typesetting service we send in Rev. Harbach’s copy in advance also; this gives the typesetter a running start on preparation of the Standard Bearer. Since these articles are all numbered, we expect our typesetting service to place them in the Standard Bearer in proper succession.
By the time this appears in print the first volume of The Triple Knowledge reprint should be off the presses and on its way to those who ordered copies in advance. We urge all those who do not have this thorough commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism and who have not placed advance orders to purchase this worthwhile volume—and also the two volumes yet to come.
IT ISN’T THAT WE DON’T TRY. But our plans and instructions are not always carried out by our typesetting service, Photo Composition; and this can be very frustrating for the one who gives the instructions. Please turn to your last Standard Bearer, and write, Volume XLIX, Number 5, December 1, 1972″ in the lower right-hand corner of the cover. Our apologies, too, to Rev. Kortering for the “goof” in his department. There could at least have been a colon between “Article 14” and “Pre-Adamite Man?”
In “Come Ye Apart . . . And Rest A While” you will find another of several attractive articles by Rev. C. Hanko. It could not be placed in the Dec. 15 issue; but we felt that January 1 is not so far removed from the Christmas season as to warrant saving this article for an entire year! So we present it—and without apologies!
Guest Article. In this issue you will find an interesting and significant article by the Rev. Euguene C. Case, of the First Presbyterian Church (PCA) of Woodville, Mississippi. Be sure to read it. And: Thanks, Pastor Case!
We hope that the serious typographical error in the editorial of the January I issue was recognized as an error. The average salary of the ministers in England to whom we referred was $2,500, of course, not $25,000. This should have been clear from the context, which referred to their limited means. The RFPA Publications Committee apologizes for the late appearance of The Triple Knowledge, Vol. 1. Circumstances entirely beyond our control caused this. We know that some wanted to have this volume before Christmas. We are very sorry that this became impossible.
Two New Departments In this issue we are introducing another new department, The Signs of the Times. Rev. G. Van Baren, who formerly wrote on matters ecumenical, will be the editor of this department, which is scheduled to appear in alternate issues. Not really a new department, but nevertheless an innovation, is the letter from the seminary faculty which appears in this issue. We hope to carry similar letters from time to time; and these will serve as somewhat of a replacement for news articles from the Theological School Committee.
Publication News If our book binder keeps his promise, the latest RFPA publication, Believers And Their Seed, should be on the market by the time this issue reaches you. This is a 159 page translation of the late Rev. Herman Hoeksema’s De Geloovigen en Hun Zaad. And here is the nice part of it: the RFPA is able to offer you this book at the bargain price of $2.95! We urge you to send in your orders immediately. If you hurry, you can even obtain copies for Christmas gifts yet! This book should be in all our homes.
Publication News. The first volume of the projected 3-volume reprint of the Rev. Herman Hoeksema’s The Triple Knowledge, An Exposition of the Heidelberg Catechism, will be published in early fall. As of this writing, the last details of preparation are being cared for before this volume goes to press; and thereafter it should be ready within two months. This first volume will include the first three volumes of the original 10-volume set (several of which are now out of print), and it will be attractively and serviceably published at an extremely reasonable price.
