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* Prof. Engelsma is professor of Dogmatics and Old Testament in the Theological School of the Protestant Reformed Churches. This article is the conclusion of the text of the address given at the commencement exercises of the Protestant Reformed Theological Seminary on June 16, 2003. The preceding installments appeared in the July 2003 and September 1, 2003 issues of the Standard Bearer. So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my...

Prof. Engelsma is professor of Dogmatics and Old Testament in the Theological School of the Protestant Reformed Churches. This article is the text of the address given at the commencement exercises of the Protestant Reformed Theological Seminary on June 16, 2003. The article of which this installment is a continuation appeared in the July 2003 issue of the Standard Bearer. So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs…. John...

Rev. Stewart is a minister in the Protestant Reformed Churches, presently working in Northern Ireland. We have considered the biblical message of the gospel that Patrick knew in his heart and that he brought to the people of Ireland. We have also seen that Patrick was called by the British church to labor in Ireland and that he had unshakable confidence in his divine calling. However, he was not sent to preach in wholly virgin territory. That there were some believers in Ireland before Patrick’s visit is evident from the writings of a contemporary, Prosper of Aquitane, and Patrick himself...

David J. Engelsma is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of South Holland, Illinois. In an earlier article, in the March 15, 1897 issue of The Standard Bearer, I showed that the teaching (and practice) of a “well-meant offer of the Gospel” to all who hear the preaching is a lively issue in Reformed, Presbyterian, and Calvinistic circles to day, both in our country and abroad, and that adoption of this explanation of the Divine calling vitally affects fundamental doctrines of the historic Reformed Faith. In the course of their defense of the offer, some are now referring to the denial...

(This article is the substance of a speech presented to the Officebearers’ Conference held in Southeast Church on January 8, 1985. It is prepared for printing at the request of the Consistory of Southeast Church which sponsored the meeting.)

Prof. Engeslma is professor of Dogmatics and Old Testament in the Theological School of the Protestant Reformed Churches. This article is the text of the address given at the commencement exercises of the Protestant Reformed Theological Seminary in the auditorium of the Hudsonville, MI Protestant Reformed Church on June 16, 2003. So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs…. John 21:15-23 Introduction Mr. Goh and Mr. Langerak, the two...

Rev. Stewart is a minister in the Protestant Reformed Churches, presently working in Northern Ireland. We saw last time (Standard Bearer, May 1, 2003) that Patrick believed and preached the grace of the triune God in Christ. Patrick’s understanding of grace is demonstrated yet further in that he repeatedly refers to his call to preach the gospel in Ireland as a “gift” of God to him (e.g., Conf 16, 33, 62). God, not Patrick himself, called him to his mission (Conf 56), for he received his office from God’s hand (Letter 1). Patrick humbly confesses that he was not worthy...

Rev. Stewart is a Protestant Reformed minister, presently working in Northern Ireland. But what was the message that Patrick preached to the Irish? Patrick leaves us in no doubt here, giving us a simple Rule of Faith near the beginning of his Confession: There is no other God nor was there ever in the past nor will there be in the future except God the Father ingenerate, without beginning, from whom all beginning flows, who controls all things, as our formula runs: and his Son Jesus Christ whom we profess to have always existed with the Father, begotten spiritually before...

Rev. Stewart is a Protestant Reformed minister, presently working in Northern Ireland. Leading twentieth century Patrician scholars reckon that he was born between c. 389 and c. 415 and that his death was between c. 460 and c. 493. They estimate Patrick lived between seventy and seventy-eight years. Many reckon that he was buried in or near Downpatrick, Co. Down. His mission in Ireland occurred between 430 at the earliest and 490 at the latest, and lasted at least thirty years. Augustine of Hippo’s dates are 354-430, and the Roman Empire fell in 476. If we think of Patrick laboring...

At one time or another every Bible reader must have been struck by that last verse of. John’s majestic gospel: “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.”  How must we take these words from the pen of the disciple whom Jesus loved, as hyperbole or simple fact? Have we to do here with poetic exaggeration, or must we take them literally and at face value?  What is a hyperbole?