The story has been told and retold. Whether fact or fiction, I can vouch for neither. It goes something like this. A man of wealth needed a chauffeur, and he interviewed applicants for the position. The one question he asked them: “If we were on a mountain road alongside a deep precipice, how close would […]
When we still lived in the vicinity of St. Joseph’s Seminary in Grand Rapids, it was not at all rare to encounter the late aging Father Maloney on the street as we were both seeking a breath of fresh air or at the pharmacy where we both had prescriptions filled. He had at one time […]
Dr. Harry Boer submitted to the 1977 CRC Synod a gravamen in which at the outset he states: “I submit herewith for synodical examination and adjudication a gravamen against the Reformed doctrine of reprobation as taught notably in the Canons of Dort, Chapter I, Article 6 and Chapter I, Article 15 . . .” In […]
A CRC synodically-appointed committee consisting of Doctors Henry Stob, Hessel Bouma III, Stephen Monsma, Clarence Vos, and Louis Vos have presented a report on Capital punishment (Acts of Synod 1979, pages 468–508) which report has been referred to the churches for study, reflection and response to the study committee by October 15, 1980 . . […]
The well-being of a church, as well as of a nation, is in jeopardy when, as in the day of the judges in Israel, every man does that which is “right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). The classic passage calling for good government in the church is I Corinthians 14:40, “But let all things […]
So, you are an elder now. Congratulations to you on this truly high honor and the sacred trust to which our Lord has called you! But sympathy to you also in this difficult assignment. If faithful, you will find it exhilerating but also traumatic. Like the ministers’s task, there is no work that affords greater […]
How often we hear it said: What you don’t know won’t hurt you. A dictum that may be true at times but also dead wrong at other times. It all depends on what it is that we don’t know. Take the case of this year 1979 being the “International Year of the Child.” Writing in […]
Twenty–three years ago, the late R. B. Kuiper wrote a significant book entitled As to Being Reformed. Obviously, I am indebted to him for the first part of the title above these lines. If the need for calling attention to our Reformed heritage was urgent in R. B.’s day, today that urgency has become nothing less […]
Although everything on the Agenda for the CRC Synod is significant, not every item is of equal importance. Going through the 568-page Agenda leaves me with the impression that there is one issue of supreme importance and that it should be kept clearly in focus. The purpose of these lines is to zero in on […]
BOOKS RECEIVED (Books received from the publishers for mention and/or review –John Vander Ploeg) DEATH BEFORE BIRTH by Harold O. J. Brown: 168 pages; Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers; $5.95: “a book which looks at all sides of the abortion problem . . . .” THE SHAKING OF ADVENTISM by Geoffrey J. Paxton; 172 pages; Baker […]