January 1979

“Much of today’s evangelical lawlessness seems to be the fruit of an evangelical aimlessness.”

Christianity Has a Moral Backbone Klaus Bockmuhl

“In many cases it’s not hard to determine what the Bible actually says, but it’s another matter whether we really want to communicate what the Bible says to our modern world.”

Rejecting the Doctrine of Hell Jelle Tuininga

February 1979

“It is possible, of course, for the purpose of analysis and theorizing about the path to confessional declaration to distinguish the two strands of Bible and confession. But after such analysis, when the practice of teaching, preaching, believing, evangelizing, etc. is undertaken, such distinctions have no functional significance.”

Creed in Crisis Nelson D. Kloosterman

March 1979

“It is a fallacy to try to educate anyone to be an intelligent viewer of filth.”

Is It Right to Sin? Cecil W. Tuininga

April 1979

“Marrying a partner without a common faith in Christ … means that one places his marriage outside the only saving fellowship. Apart from Christ your only fellowship is with the first Adam, which is a fellowship of sin and death.”

The Wedding Feast At Cana John H. Piersma

“Unless we clear up our view of inspiration, and once again become like children in our approach to Scripture, we are not going to solve the problems facing us today, but will instead be faced with more such problems in the future.”

The Bible’s Inspiration Jelle Tuininga

May 1979

“Reformed churches have always upheld the right and duty of believers to secede from a ‘church’ when it no longer manifests clearly the marks of a true church.”

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“The church which refuses to distinguish between truth and error has already in principle surrendered to the devil.”

Secession: Sin or Christian Duty? Peter De Jong

June 1979

“There are limits to the tension that a denomination can bear without coming to the breaking point. Important and precious as they may be, if peace and unity can be maintained only at the cost of compromising the authority of Scripture as our only rule for faith and practice, their price is just too high.”

CRC Synod of 1979 John Vander Ploeg

December, 2003

“In an era when amorality, immorality, secularism, sensuality and humanism are rampart and we all have become more liberal in ourpersonal behavior and manner of living (there is no sense in trying to deny it) we are petitioned to lower the bar still more and approve morally questionable entertainment.”

An Alarming Trend Henry Baker

July 1979

“Christians must show a great love for the Muslims. The legacy of mistrust and misunderstanding must be replaced by respect and concern for their spiritual welfare.”

What Do You Say to 120 Million Muslims? Bassam Madany

October 1979

“The crux of the matter is, of course, that if we would stop allowing the world to write the agenda of the church in the first place, we would be way ahead of the game. But the church still likes to swing with every new fad that comes along in society – and then try to baptize it with “Christian principles.”

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“We would be much better off if we were not so much enamoured by the spirit of the age, but more governed by the Spirit which is from above.”

Reactions to the Synod Jelle Tuininga