VALUABLE REPRINTS

REFORMED DOGMATICS, SEVENTEENTH CENTURY REFORMED THEOLOGY THROUGH THE WRiTINGS OF WOLLEBIUS, VOETIUS, AND TURRETIN. Edited and translated by John W. Beardslee M. Grand Rapids, Baker, 1977. 471 pp., paperback, $6.95. Reviewed by Rev. Jerome Julien, pastor of the First Christian Reformed Church of Pella, Iowa.

Baker Book House is to be congratulated for making available many of the helpful and oftentimes out-of-print volumes included in the Twin Brooks Series. This volume is especially welcomed.

The material included is the full Compendium Theologiae Christianae of Johannes Wollebius, short portions of Gisbert Voetius’ Selectae Disputationes Theologicae (concerning practical theology), Locus IV (regarding God’s decrees and particularly predestination ) from Francis Turretin‘s Institutio Theologiae Elenchcae, together with a lengthy introduction by Beardslee.

These three theologians represented the Reformed thinking of the period around and immediately after the Synod of Dordrecht. They all condemn Arminianism. This is systematic theology in early form and it is well worth our reading. The simple style makes this work the more useful. Reading it may correct much of today‘s fuzzy thinking about the decrees of God.

Turretin’s complete work in translation may become available through the labor of the Protestant Reformed Theological Seminary of Grandville, Michigan.

THEREFORE STAND: CHRJSTIAN APOLOGETICS, by Wilbur M. Smith. Grand Rapids, Baker. Paperback edition 1974. 614 pp., $7.95. Reviewed by Rev. Jerome Julien, pastor of the First Christian Reformed Church of Pella, Iowa.

This is the thirteenth edition of this popular and thorough dassic in apologetics. It has been around since 1945.

Anyone who has read Wilbur Smith knows that he is thorough, interesting and devout in his work. Among the eleven chapters fire these: ‘“The Forces and Agencies Engaged in the Modern Attack Upon Evangelical Christianity,” “Some Reasons for the Unbelief of Men and Their Antagonism to God” (named are the darkness of natural man’s mind, the pride of man, find materialism, among others), “St. Paul’s Address to the Athenian Philosophers” (he answers the question; did Paul fail in Athens?), “Suggestions for an Immediate Vigorous Offensive in the Defense of Christian Faith,” and “The Creation of the World hy God; the Apologetic for Our Era of Scientific Emphasis.”

Smith writes that the outstanding work on theology published during this century was that of Louis Berkhof. From it he takes a definition of creation. This chapter on creation is full of valuable thoughts, quotes and insights.

The dispensationalism of Smith comes out in his chapter on the Judgment. 111is book, like others, must be read with discrimination.

In his last chapter, which concludes with the challenge “Therefore Stand,” he chides the ministers of today for not proclaiming the truths of Scripture from the pulpit. If that was true in 1945, how much more is it true today!

GOOD MORNING, LORD – PRA.ISE FROM THE PSALMS by Nelle A. Van der Ark, 60 pp. GOOD MORNING, LORD – DEVOTIONS FOR SHUT-INS by Patricia Van Dalfsen, 52 pp. GOOD MORNING, LORD –DEVOTIONS FOR GIRLS by Greta Rey, 60 pp. Published by Baker Book House, 10 19 Wealthy, S.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan. Price $2.45 each. Reviewed by Hester Monsma.

Each of these devotional books is a gem in its own way. Written by different authors, for different purposes, they nonetheless all focus on one basic need: that of enriching the Christian life of the reader. All are highly recommended.

Good Morning, Lord – Praise from the Psalms. In this booklet the author makes the Psalms live for for today in a very effective way. Through her selection of various Psalms and her treatment of them, she succeeds in inspiring, instructing, comforting, or even correcting the reader. Everyday things are made special and one is made acutely aware of the God who stands behind and directs all of life. The use of this book would provide an excellent way to begin—or end—the day.

Good Morning, Lord – Devotions for Shut-ins is written by one who herself is a shut-in and who puts into words what many in a similar position must feel. It is a very personal testimony of the pain, the loneliness, the discouragement, and even the misunderstanding which shut-ins may experience. But the reader is also challenged to rise above these afflictions and to let God’s strength take over. A valuable booklet, not only for shut-ins, but for anyone who desires to understand our shut-ins better.

Good Morning, Lord – Devotions for Girls. These devotions, again often drawn from personal experience, will speak effectively to every adolescent girl. The author shows she understands well the moods and problems, the ups and downs which a growing girl faces. She combines this understanding with an appreciation for the ordinary, common things of life, and offers many helpful and practical suggestions. Through it all she points the reader to the God who created us and who controls us and who controls our lives. Short prayers are included, as well as appropriate Bible passages to be read, thus making this an excellent help for our young girls in their daily devotions.

WHEN I SURVEY . . . Herman Hoeksema. Free Reformed Publishing Association, Grand Rapids, Michigan. 1977. 538 pp., $9.95. Reviewed by Rev. Henry Vanden Heuvel, pastor of the Bethel Christian Reformed Church of Sioux Center, Iowa.

This is a reprint in one volume of six lenten studies written during the course of Rev. Herman Hoeksema‘s ministry. They are here put together under the title, “When I Survey. . .” and edited by his son Rev. Homer Hoeksema.

At the outset it should be said that this material is an excellent work on the topic of the suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ. The six individual works which together comprise this edition were all messages preached by Rev. Hoeksema while serving as minister of the First Protestant Reformed Church of Grand Rapids. Many also were given as lenten messages on the radio program of the Protestant Reformed Church. The meditations are filled with a God-centered, God–glorifying emphasis which is refreshing in a day of man-centered theology. And when this emphasis in the sovereignty of God’s grace is found in the subject of Christ’s suffering, it is doubly to be appreciated.

Each of the six books views the suffering of Christ from a slightly different perspective. Book One is “The Amazing Cross” in which the author examines the amazing judgment and the amazing obedience of Christ. In a perceptive treatment of the suffering of Christ, Hoeksema confronts the world, the church, the people, and the government with the question, “What will you do with Jesus who is called the Christ?” And then, considering the obedience of Christ, he shows how He came executing the plan of the Father to save the elect. “Father, glorify Thy Name” is the great purpose of Christ’s obedience.

Hoeksema’s treatment of the pasage in John 12 from which the words, “Father glorify Thy Name” are taken, is questionable. He feels that when Jesus said, “Fathcr, save me from this hour,” He was referring to His resurrection by which He is saved through His suffering. William Hendriksen in his commentary on John‘s Gospel is closer to the correct interpretation when he says that these words of Christ show the human nature of Christ shrinking from the error of the cross and its suffering. Obviously, both writers say the words do not speak of the disobedience of Christ to the plan of God for the salvation or His people.

In “The Royal Sufferer” which is Book Two, Rev. Hoeksema considers Christ’s suffering as the suffering of the King, the Lord Jesus Christ. The author examines the various texts dealing with the suffering of Christ as King. Texts such as these about the crowds desiring to make Christ King in the account of the feeding of the 5,000 in John 6; the devil’s temptation of Christ offering to give all the kingdoms of the world to Him in return for His worship. These meditations are balanced by an examination of the victory of the Christ as King over death and the grave in His resurrection.

In Book Three, “Rejected of Men,” Hoeksema traces the sufferings of Christ from the point of view of His being denied and scorned by men. The theme is taken, of course, from Isaiah 53. The various chapters in this third book are based on such texts as John 15:25, “They hated me without a cause”; and Psalm 69:8, “I am a stranger unto my brethren.”

The Fourth Book is called “The Power of the Cross.” In it the author concentrates on passages of Scripture that speak of the effect of the cross and the power of the redemption of Christ to change the lives of God’s people. He deals in this part of the book with such passages as I Corinthians 1:18, Hebrews 2:14, 15, and others. What is particularly noteworthy in all of the meditations of the book is that even though the primary emphasis is, of course, on the Suffering of Christ, every section of the book has a strong emphasis on the resurrection of Christ. And this is not done without careful thought. The author is firmly convinced that one cannot consider the suffering of Christ apart from the resurrection. To separate these two great events is to deny the central scope of Scripture.

The Fifth Book is entitled, “. . . And Jesus in the Midst.” The title is taken from John 19:18, “They crucified Him, and two other with Him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.” Rev. Hoeksema looks at the events of the cross, several of the words of the cross, and concludes with the victory of the resurrection. His treatment of the first word of the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,” deserves comment. There is no doubt that this first word of the cross is the most difficult of the seven to interpret. What did Jesus mean by this prayer? Hoeksema rejects the interpretation favored by some commentaries that the idea of forgiveness is postponement of judgment until they do know what they do. Rather he believes the prayer refers to full forgiveness, but only for the elect who do indeed repent and believe. Thus, says Hoeksema, Christ was praying for all the elect who shall ever live, for their sins nailed Christ to the cross. It seems to me that this is an example of reading into the text something that is not there. To suggest that Christ was praying only for the elect whose sins nailed Him to the cross is to ignore the plain and obvious meaning of the words of the Lord which one would have to see as referring to those who were actually perpetrating the crucifixion.

The last section of the book follows the sufferings of Christ through the prophecies of the hook of Isaiah, especially chapters 50–53.

The emphasis in this book on God-centered theology, on the antithesis, on the centrality of Christ is much appreciated. The Biblical exposition is wenderful. Hoeksema’s books all show an excellent grasp of Scripture, and a clear awareness of the Bible as God’s infallible Word. And this hook is surely no exception. Although one misses the warm gospel invitation that should be present in such a work as this, the over all emphasis in this book of meditations on the suffering of Christ is excellent. The book is highly recommended as beautiful lenten meditations. Ministers looking for help with lenten sermons will find a fruitful source of ideas here. The book is modestly priced, and the format of the pages makes it easy reading.

OUR REASONABLE FAITH – A Survey of Christian Doctrine by Herman Bavinck. 568 pp., $6.95. Reviewed by Rev. Sy Voortman, Dorr, Michigan.

This book is a monumental work, dealing with eternal truths, that comes to us from the dawn of this century and, for the most of us, from another tongue. It was written by the late Herman Bavinck in the Dutch language—coming out in 1909. The translation is by Henry Zylstra and thus in clear, precise readable English.* The current paperback edition was issued by Baker Book House.

Though this is a theological work by a scholar of considerable erudition, I found it to be inspiring as devotional reading and, in a somewhat profound sense, practical. Its special value though is as background reading and resource material for sermon preparation and Bible teaching.

II would hardly do to pick out chapters as being exceptional. There are good chapters on creation, art, man, eternal life -but then they are all good. Current doubts and distortions with respect to the extent of Scripture’s authority lends importance to the excellent chapter on “The Holy Scriptures.”

On one occasion when I was a student and had picked up my copy of Berkhof’s “Systematic Theology,” I noticed that my father, then an emeritus pastor, had written on the inside cover, “study this book through and through.” The book under review is also a classic. It stands as a bulwark against the itching ears, the turning from truth to myths, and the indifference und hostility to doctrine so characteristic of our age. I recommend that especially pastors and teachers obtain a copy and that then we “study it through and through” and know it from cover to cover. This would most certainly be a real aid and blessing in our ministry.

*Someone once observed that this book is even better in translation than in the original language! – the Editor