Headship The understanding of the Biblical teaching on headship is crucial to the formulation of a position on women in ecclesiastical office. A number of questions surround the subject of headship: 1. What is headship? 2. Does headship imply authority of one human being over another? 3. Or, is headship a term of convenience used […]

As a preface to our discussion of women in ecclesiastical office we want to look briefly at the Biblical concept of “office” itself. When a surveyor prepares to set the boundary lines on a piece of property it is crucial t hat he establish an exact point of beginning. If his point of beginning is […]

Introduction About two years ago I wrote about a most vexing problem in the CRC: women in ecclesiastical office. I entitled the article “The Watershed” (Outlook, June, 1981 , p.8). It began, ‘Watershed’ has been defined as a ‘critical decisive point; a turning point.’ If that definition is true, then we may have before us at […]

There was a time when articles on “church music” would be automatically bypassed by most laymen of the church because such a topic seemed to lie outside the area of their interest or understanding. But times have changed. Many laymen of the church have been captive participants in worship services where a variety of unsettling, sometimes […]

In recent years a number of issues have come up in the CRC which have generated division of opinion in the church. Quite consistently, the conservatives have stated that, what is at stake in these issues is not just the issue itself, but the whole doctrine of Scripture. It has been implied and even stated […]

“Watershed” has been defined as a “critical decisive point; a turning point.” If that definition is true, then we may have before us at the Christian Reformed Synod of 1981 a “watershed.” After eight years of tossing the ball called “Women in ecclesiastical office” into opposing courts, the CR denomination must at last settle the […]

The Equal Rights Amendment has attracted national attention in recent days. The Republican Party at its National Convention removed from its platform support for the ERA. Presidential candidate Ronald Reagan made it clear that the GOP was not thereby removing its support for women’s rights, but was, in fact, promoting women’s rights by protecting women […]

There has never been a time in world history when people in developed countries have been so carefully and well fed physically. Nutrition is a subject which fills pages of every homemaker’s magazine and captures the spotlight of many television ads. Careful studies and experiments have been conducted by experts in many professions and a […]

There was a time when grandpas and grandmas would point to the little red or white schoolhouses which dotted the countrysides of this great land and say, “That‘s where I learned my three R’s.” By “three R’s” they meant reading, (w)riting and (a)rithmetic. These three processes were considered to be the essential equipment to get […]

Image-Bearing When white light is passed through a transparent pr ism, the light is refracted into the many colors of the rainbow. It is an impressive demonstration of the beauty of God‘s design in creation. Similarly when the Light of the world, Jesus Christ, shines through the life of a spiritually dead man, the image […]