Dear Sir:

Please permit me to comment on the last part of the letter from Rev. J. Tuininga in the July issue of OUTLOOK. In that part Rev. Tuininga laments the fact that OUTLOOK and the Reformed Fellowship do not seem to have too much praise and commendation for such organizations as CLAC or CJL. I am astonished that Rev. Tuininga appears to be ignorant of the fact that the AACS, CLAC, CJL, CSS, CDC, Wedge Publication and Patmos Galleries are about as different in commitment as six is from half a dozen. Each of these are separately incorporated and officially m n by separate boards. Unofficially, how_ ever, personnel from each serve any or all of the other five. The address of all, except two, is the same, and for that reason also it’s easy for those few men who really fun all to keep a finger in the pic. The philosophies of one are the philosophies of the others. None of these organizations fire the philosophies of the others. None of these organizations are really REFORMED, although they claim to be reformational, and thereby confuse a lot of well-meaning people.

Sincerely,

St. Thomas, Ont., Canada

H. NYMEYER

Dear Friends in Christ:

Please allow me to write a few lines, commenting on the “Letter to the Editor” from J. Tuininga in the July issue, “A United Reformed Church?”

I do not agree with J. Tuininga that the churches who received the apostle Paul’s letters may be placed alongside of, and compared as though similar to our Christian Reformed Denomination. Paul was writing to “New” congregations, just recently called into God‘s Kingdom of Light. Paul was urging them on, and was encouraging them to be strong in their new found faith, and to put away the old works of darkness. The description of those churches and congregations can hardly apply to a Denomination that has been grounded in and established upon the infallible Word of God, has in past generations stood the test of persecution and hardship, and has now apparently arrived at a point of great spiritual and material affluence.

Rev. Tuininga’s statement, that the Rev. John Vander Ploeg’s proposal concerning a “United Reformed Church” is “unduly idealistic and largely illusory,” is an indication of negative thinking, to say the least. I have the uneasy feeling that it is this kind of negative thinking which has led us into a “If you can’t beat them, join them” kind of theology. We have only to look at our present tolerant attitude toward divorce and remarriage, our careless, often profane language, and our casual attitude toward keeping the Lord’s Day, to sec how far we have drifted.

We ought to thank our God again and again for the spiritual idealism and the courageous foresight (illusions?) of our forebears, and we ought to be praying that the same kind of God-given courage may be our portion today and in the days allCad. To the Reformed Fellowship, and to editors and staff of THE OUTLOOK: May God continue to strengthen you as you carryon your often difficult and seemingly thankless work.

With Christian greetings,

DONALD BLAAUW

Holland, Mich.