All Articles For Walking in the Light

Prof. Hanko is professor of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. Lying is always wrong, and the fierce anger of God rests upon the man who lies. Lying must be cut out of our life, and our children must not only be constantly instructed in their calling to tell the truth, but they must be severely reprimanded and reproved for lying and warned of the wrath of God which comes upon the liar. Lying is rooted in our sinful nature. The depravity of our nature is such that lying is “natural.” It is the natural thing...

Herman C. Hanko is professor of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. When Jesus discussed with His disciples the signs of His coming and of the end of the age (Matt. 24), He mentioned that one of the signs would be that iniquity would abound (Matt. 24:12). The Greek word translated “iniquity” in this passage could better be translated “lawlessness,” i.e., disregard for and contempt of law. The reference is, of course, finally, to the law of God, for all human laws in every sphere of life ought to reflect the law which God Himself gives...

Herman C. Hanko is professor of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. Today’s world in which we live has abandoned almost completely any kind of moral standard for conduct. In the sphere of ethics it is, so to speak, “Every man for himself, and the devil take the hindmost.” Morality is determined today by popular opinion without any regard to the law of God and the objective standard of the Scriptures. Increasingly, every man is given the right to do what he feels like doing, and no one is permitted to pass judgment on his conduct....

Herman C. Hanko is professor of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. My first experience with big-time gambling came as a bit of a shock. I and three friends were on a trip through the West; our journey brought us to the vicinity of Las Vegas on the Fourth of July. Curiosity prompted us to visit the casinos in the city to see for ourselves what went on there. While much of what we witnessed has disappeared from my memory, various impressions linger to this day. I recall that our efforts to enter one casino were...

Herman Hanko is professor in the Church History and New Testament departments at the Protestant Reformed Seminary. John Jefferson Davis, in his book, Evangelical Ethics, begins Chapter 1 with a story, which goes this way: “In some of this research,” noted Dr. Robert Foote of Cornell, “I am reminded of a story where the pilot came on and said, “This is your captain speaking. We are flying at an altitude of 35,000 feet and the speed of 700 miles an hour. We have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that we are lost. The good news...

Herman C. Hanko is professor of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. In our last article we were discussing what others have to say about artificial insemination by husbands (AIH) and artificial insemination by donors (AID). We consider it important to quote extensively from other writers to demonstrate: 1) that the problem is so acute as to require elaborate treatment by many ethicists; 2) that, while there is some disagreement of opinion on these issues, evangelical scholars who condemn such practices are in the majority. Some additional arguments have been raised which we can briefly mention....

Herman C. Hanko is professor of Church History and New Testament departments at the Protestant Reformed Seminary. In our last article we introduced the general subject of medical technology, and gave some idea of the broad range of problems which arise because of the advances which science and medicine have made in the areas of biology and bio-medicine. While it is our purpose to discuss the moral dimensions of these problems in future articles and deal with each problem individually, we want, in this article, to lay down a few more basic and fundamental principles which underlie, in our judgment,...

Herman C. Hanko is professor of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. But in connection with the sin of drunkenness there is a certain anomaly. On the one hand, experience proves that confession and repentance alone do not necessarily free one from the sin; and on the other hand, it is possible, through the work of Alcoholics Anonymous, e.g., to be freed from drinking without actually being saved. That is, one can be freed from his “drinking problem” without confessing his sin and seeking forgiveness in the cross. And in addition to this, it is also...

Herman C. Hanko is professor of Church History and New Testament departments at the Protestant Reformed Seminary. In our last article we discussed some general principles of importance for our treatment of the moral aspects of different forms of medical technology. With this article, we want to begin our discussion proper of this subject. It is probably best to follow a sort of chronological order in dealing with various aspects of this issue: i.e., first of all to treat the moral aspects of medical technology which have affected the conception of a child and its development before birth; and then...

Herman C. Hanko is professor of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. As we noticed in our last article on this subject, abortion has become a national crime of unparalleled proportions. The Supreme Court of our country has legalized abortion completely so that it can be performed legally in this country at any time during pregnancy. In a recent mailing by a pro-life group, the following is stated: Is abortion legal throughout nine months of pregnancy? Yes it is. Contrary to popular belief, the 1973 Supreme Court decisions, (Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton), ruled...