He has been called “the great reformer of theology at the beginning of the nineteenth century”1; he has also been called “a philosophic enemy of the faith of the church.”2 After his death he was praised by his colleague Neander who declared: “With him will once begin a new period in the history of the church.” This […]
He died as he had lived, trusting the promises of the LordI Three weeks before his last day he wrote these words to his old comrade-in-arms, Farel: “It is with difficulty that I draw my breath, and I expect that every moment will be my last. It is enough that I live and die for Christ, […]
In the first article I attempted to demonstrate, by an appeal to various decisions and documents, that the creeds have always occupied a clearly-defined position within a confessional Reformed church which takes seriously her task of confessing in the world. It was further noted that recent discussions within several of these churches demonstrate the presence of […]
What is the character of the standards of a Reformed church, a church which aims at being confessing church in the world by proclaiming the truth of God’s Word? This question demands a composite answer. Such an answer has been provided by the late Prof. P. Biesterveld in his Schets van de Symboliek. He defines […]
From the point of view of a historical observer the idea and the growth of the World Council of Churches might be considered under the aspect of a historical necessity. Two motives, two trends which should be sharply distinguished from each other, lead in the same direction from the beginning of the days of the great […]
In explanation of the title of this article, we refer to last month’s contribution by the same writer on: The Man of the Confession. Like all other Confessions, the Confession of Guido de Bres has its own history. In discussing the history of this Confession, the very first question to be answered is this: Was de […]
This contribution will be followed in the December issue by a second article, also by Dr. Praasma, on: The Confession of Man. These articles are written in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the preparation of the Belgic Confession by the Christian martyr, Guido de Bres. This year we celebrate the fourth centennial of the […]
In the year 1842 an address to the General Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church was adorned with the names of seven gentlemen from The Hague, but written mainly by the famous Christian statesman, Groen Van Prinsterer. In this address they expressed their deep concern about the situation in their church, in which the forms of unity […]
TWO KINDS OF OBSERVERS There have always been two kinds of Calvin-biographies, and since the 19th century there have also been two kinds of observations on Calvin’s use of Scripture. Historians, investigators in the broad field of history, never are quite unbiased. They always approach the facts as children of their time and as men […]
It was Carlyle, in his famous book “On heroes and hero-worship”, who described his heroes as being first of all men of sincerity. “I should say sincerity, a deep, great, genuine sincerity, is the first characteristic of all men in any way heroic.” He meant by it “not the sincerity, that calls itself sincere”; hut that sincere conviction […]