What a strange title for a Christmas meditation! Christ the destroyer! The words jolt us. We are unprepared for such a sentiment at Christmastide. Much more congenial to our festive feelings are the oft-quoted references to the Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 and Luke 2:10–14 fit into our Yuletide thoughts much better than the text of […]
John Calvin, whose birth and labors are being commemorated by the Calvinistic world during 1959, made original contributions not only to theology but also to the realm of culture. As a matter of fact, he produced a theology of culture, anticipating Tillich by these four hundred years.1 It is my purpose in this article to indicate something […]
“The only theology which the Bible knows—the Reformed faith.” That trenchant statement is made by Dr. J. I. Packer, English Calvinist of Tyndale Hall, Bristol, in an article in this issue on Calvinism in England: Its Status and Prospects. Let us give some thought to Dr. Packer’s pointed utterance. WHAT IS THEOLOGY? First, it reminds us that the Bible […]
The third commandment forbids the misuse of the name of God. “Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy God in vain.” The teachers of Jesus’ day taught the people that it was a grievous sin to use the name of God in an unworthy manner. They had a deep respect for the names […]
Tho Scribes and Pharisees knew the Old Testament and were able to quote it freely. The words quoted by our Lord at the beginning of this section are not found in the Ten Commandments, but belong in the other laws which God had given Israel. God told them that if one had hurt his neighbor […]
According to Jesus, the Scribes taught the people to love their neighbor but to hate their enemy. In this instance they were not quoting Scripture but added their own views to a Scriptural teaching. The Old Testament had indeed instructed the people to love their neighbor but it did not teach them to hate their […]
In the previous chapter Jesus spoke of the righteousness of the citizens of the kingdom of heaven. That righteousness must be greater than the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees (vs. 20). Our Lord then gives his interpretation of several parts of the law to show what kind of righteousness he has in mind. His […]
The young, weak Reformed churches in Australia and New Zealand are in dire need of ministers. The churches arc most grateful for the ministers they now have, men from Holland, America, Australia, and New Zealand. There is a need for more men; those already laboring cannot do all that requires doing; besides the future has its […]
There has been and there is much difference of opinion about the ecumenical ideas of John Calvin. He has been highly praised as a forerunner of the idea of the World Council of Churches (Dr. Nyenhuis); and he has been heavily attacked as a man of terrible intolerance (Stefan Zweig, Favre-Dorsaz). A sou n d judgment […]
The day of violent opposition to Christian Schools in the Christian Reformed Church is by and large a thing of the past. Among our brethren in the Reformed and Presbyterian churches this is not the case. Recent publications and pronouncements in both of these denominations reveal a violent opposition to the Christian school cause. Generally speaking. […]