January 1988

“I’m not afraid of the charge: You preach the Catechism, not the bible. Proper preaching of the Catechism is biblical preaching through and through.”

The Catechism as Text Jelle Tuininga

March 1988

“It is so abundantly clear from scripture and our confessions that coming to the Lord’s table involves a confession on our part. It is itself a confession of our faith.”

Children at the Lord’s Supper Jelle Tuininga

April 1988

“As the authority of the Bible is increasingly coming under attack in our denomination and as some lose confidence in the power of the Word preached to attract sinners, we find some preachers becoming more and more enamored with innovations and novelties. This often takes place at the expense of the proclamation of the Word which alone can fulfill the need of the seeking sinner.”

Our “Famine of the Word” Arthur Besteman

“Not one Reformed church, ancient or modern, has ever diluted or abandoned its Calvinism through a knowing decision based on scholarly dispute.”

“Christian” TV: A New Challenge John D. Teague

“Synod of ‘87 appointed still another committee to study the matter again….We ‘study’ things until we get our way.”

Obey God Rather Than Men Jelle Tuininga

May 1988

“We should never justify evil by citing its prevalence, nor should we declare our intention to violate the law in the absence of its enforcement.”

Signing the Form Norman De Jong

“Those who place the Heidelberg Catechism so high up that it even has sermon text status (just as the Bible does for the other Sermons each Lord’s Day), will only succeed in undermining what they seek to uphold.”

Catechism Preaching G. I. Williamson

June 1988

“I have difficulty thinking that God would lead us into thinking of 24-hour days if they really had been long periods of millions and billions of years. God is a God of truth and He does not mislead.”

Whose Word Must We Accept? Al Menninga

July 1988

“The Belgic Confession must be not just the BELGIC Confession. It must be OUR confession.”

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“It must be a living statement of faith. It cannot function as OUR confession if most of us do not even know what it says.”

The Belgic What? David A. Kloosterman

“The problem with Calvinism is not that is has been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.”

A Crisis: “Commercial” Calvinism John D. Teague

September 1988

“True unity is only by discipline which is focused on who is truly listening to God’s Word. True Christians believe the same things and that makes them one.”

What Is Our Bible? Robert Grossman

October 1988

“Although churches which have had to break away from unfaithful denominations may have to become independent as a temporary policy, independency is no cure-all for the abuse of church power, but is exposed to its own variety of abuses.”

Biblical Reformed Churches: Neither Hierarchical nor Independent Peter De Jong

November 1988

“To vigorously defend the Scriptures is to run the risk of being labeled a ’Biblicist.’ This is the rhetoric of unbelief. Far better to cultivate a childlike faith, than a perverse skepticism.”

Questioning the Scriptures Richard Blauw

“Those who have retained their belief in the historical trustworthiness of an inerrant Bible have time and time again lived to see their own position vindicated rather than that of the ‘scientific’ higher critics.”

The No-so-Hard ‘Facts’ of Man’s Evolution David A. Kloosterman