One of the most momentous decisions facing Our church this year is the one we must make regarding the training of ministers in Africa. The possible consequences of that decision for the future of the church in Africa arc beyond our ability to measure and its implications for our churches at home are no less […]
MAY WE BELONG TO THE JOHN BIRCH SOCIETY? Questions such as this come to n pastor often in the course of a year’s experience. There are an increasing number of organizations and associations open to Christian Reformed people nowadays, and our membership. attendance and contributions are being solicited. Many of us find this a most […]
A MISSION PRINCIPLE One of the most difficult lessons that the Western Christian Churches have had to learn in their missionary practice has been that they must treat the converts and the churches whom the Lord has raised up through their witness as equals. Our churches have been earnestly trying to put that lesson into […]
One notices with keen regret that the General Synod of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands has decided by an overwhelming majority vote (64 to 2) to set aside the historic decision of 1926 against the views of the Amsterdam dominic, Geelkerken. and others who held that the accounts in Genesis 1–3 need not be […]
In spite of coup d’etats, rioting, and civil war, the Church of Jesus Christ is growing in Nigeria. During the last ten years attendance at Sunday morning worship in the Tiv Church has grown from 23,000 to 163,000. In this same church the number of communicant members has risen from 1,700 to 10,500 in ten years. […]
PAYING THE BUDGET When is the Christian Reformed Church going to rid itself of the unbiblical term and thought of “paying the church budget”? In most cases, the use of this term does not reflect the sacrificial, gracious giving of its members. When we consider how many hundreds of dollars most members give for Christian education […]
Over four years ago Professor Harold Dekker began a controversy in our church circles by publishing an article in the December, 1962, Reformed Journal under the title, “God So Loved—All Men!” The ensuing discussion led eventually to the appointment by the Synod of 1964 of a “Doctrinal Committee” which presented its report to last year’s synod. That […]
The Bible credits Solomon with being a very wise man. Yet his wisdom, wealth, power and prestige brought temptations which overcame him. An Oriental king must have a harem and the greater the king, the greater should be the harem. With the adulation that came to him from every quarter as his reputation grew, especially these […]
Abraham Kuyper and other Calvinist leaders in the Netherlands who shared his views and followed his lead have recently come under sharp criticism for continuing the mistaken medieval tradition of trying to achieve or maintain the ideal of a single religious-political community. They have been called “Christian sacralists.” Our immigrants who have come especially to Canada in […]
The Anabaptist Problem The recent appearance of Rev. L. Verduin’s book, The Reformers and their Stepchildren calls our attention to the problem of evaluating the 16th Century Anabaptist movement and its significance for the Reformed faith. Unfortunately, that book as I observed in a review of it in the October TORCH AND TRUMPET, despite the impressive amount […]