All Articles For Letters

Dear Editor: Please let me have a little space to give expression to something which has been on my mind for some time. In this day of high cost of living, most of ns have obtained higher wages, salaries, or business returns to meet the greater layout for daily necessities. Some of us, who are working in war industries, even receive much more than is needed to meet the higher cost of living and “profit” greatly by the terrible conflict in which also our nation is involved. But while for most of us the increases in income are proportionate to...

Appreciation for the RFPA and the Standard Bearer Greetings. I was so thankful to read that dear Annemie Godbehere’s work on the Reformed Baptismal Form has been published. She was working on it during the two years or so when I corresponded with her prior to her going to glory. Also, may I express my thanks for Rev. Michael De Vries’ meditation on “Sowing and Reaping” [Oct. 1, 2017]. Like the rest of your pastoral articles, it is both sobering and timely. It was good, too, to see Martyn McGeown’s report of the vindication of the Bristol street preachers. I...

Thanks to Rev. Koole for his four-part critique of K.J. Stewart’s Ten Myths about Calvinism. Exposed is a common element of the diverse, loosely affiliated churches espousing “New Calvinism” (Pseudo-Calvinism?). Populism, or being “culturally relevant,” driven by the “success” status of church growth, is the common element. The method? “Watering down” the faith once delivered to the saints in such areas as the historicity of Genesis, the love and reverent worship of God as He has laid out in Commandments 1 to 4, the doctrine of hell, the Trinity, God’s absolute sovereignty, the sinfulness of homosexuality, the truth that Roman...

I write in response to an article in Vol. 93, No. 14 of the Standard Bearer [April 15, 2017] by Rev. Kuiper entitled “Psalter Revision: Governing Principles (3) Text (cont.).” Depending on Synod 2017’s decision regarding the protest of a brother regarding the Psalter revision, this may become irrelevant, but I write regardless and will leave it to the discretion of the editor whether a response is warranted. First, I wish to comment positively. I appreciate Rev. Kuiper’s articles regarding the principles the committee is following with the Psalter revisions. Breaking the principles down and providing examples has been very...

I read with interest Rev. Jonathan Mahtani’s article in the May 15, 2017 Standard Bearer entitled, “Antinomianism: A Heresy Within.” I especially appreciated Rev. Mahtani’s urgent and pastoral warning against the “practical antinomianism” of using the fact of our freedom in Christ as an excuse to commit sin. The call to holiness as the proper response for gracious salvation was edifying for me personally, and I pray that it was for others as well. May Rev. Mahtani’s love for the church’s holiness be in every pastor’s heart as we minister to Christ’s bride. However, I was uncomfortable with the true/false...

Don Doezema’s writings have always benefitted me, and his writings in the Standard Bearer continue to do so. However, I have a query regarding his last article “Robbing Christ of His Honour” (20) in SB April 15, 2017. Speaking about Simeon in Luke 2, Don gives an emphatic “no” to the idea Simeon was anticipating the cross when he told Mary, “A sword shall pierce through thy own soul also.” How come? Surely the mystery of the incarnation and death of the Son of God was known to him from the Old Testament Scriptures? He knew Isaiah 53 and Psalms...

In reaction to the article “The Error of Eternal Functional Subordination” of Rev. McGeown in the SB of 1 February 2017, page. 201, I think that the problem is not with “eternal” or “functional” or “ontological,” but with something different. From the Canons of Dordt is the clear fact of God’s sovereignty in predestination as well the fact that man remains responsible. In our human minds, these two facts are mutually exclusive. When we try to reason out how these two facts can stand together, we invariably will emphasize the human responsibility at the expense of the God’s sovereignty in...

In light of the continued defense of the revision of the Psalter I share the following observations with the reader. Any thoughts of changing the music of the Psalter weigh heavily on my heart. If I may, I would like to share some of the things that I have witnessed and observed during my membership in our denomination: After 60-plus years of instructing the Psalter in our elementary grade schools, we finally have generations who know and love the Psalter. We have been blessed with singing churches. Rewriting music in different key signatures than they are presently written will hamper...

Although not usually inclined to express written comment, I do feel constrained to endorse Prof. R. Cammenga’s concluding paragraph to “Believing and Confessing” (March 1, 2017): “Away with these images and icons! God will have His people taught, not by dumb images, but by the lively preaching of His Word.” To which I say—Amen! Alan J. Best Cardiff, South Wales, UK  

Psalter Revision and More The work undertaken by the PRC to revise the Psalter we all recognize to be a very important work, because it involves changes to the songbook we have used to worship God for ninety-plus years in the PRC. While I do not disagree that improvements can be made to the Psalter, my concerns and apprehensions about the project rest upon the scope and magnitude of the changes made, so that the revised edition may no longer be very familiar to myself and my children. As decided by the 2015 PRC Synod, a newly formed Interdenominational Psalter...