January 1971

“We need make no apology for our avowed intention to continue to engage in controversial writing as the need arises. The church on earth, in as far as it is a true church, is militant and not yet triumphant, always in tension, and constantly not yet able to be at ease in Zion. Controversy merely for controversy’s sake is reprehensible to be sure, but compromise and hush-hush when the truth is attacked and the church is in jeopardy is cowardice or even treachery.”

We’ve Changed Our Name John Vander Ploeg

“…in the Installation Service…we are being reminded of our needs. We are being told that Christ cares for His Church. We are being instructed that these men, earthen vessels like us, have a tremendous God-given task. And seeing all this, we should bow our heads and hearts in gratitude to the Lord.”

On Special Assignment Jerome M. Julien

March 1971

“It is both interesting and instructive to note how our Lord repeatedly directed critics and questioners back to the Bible for them to know the truth of a matter and what is right. And, however unschooled and unsophisticated we may appear in doing so, so often the only way out of our maze of questions, problems, and difficulties is to do just as Jesus did.”

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“It is disturbing to become increasingly aware that the religious and theological milieu of our time is so greatly characterized by problems instead of solutions.”

“Have Ye Not Read?” John Vander Ploeg

“There can be no true understanding of history nor can there be a true evaluation of historical process without that tremendous ‘I’ at the center – I am the light, I am the bread, I am the door, I am the way!”

The Harvest of Calvary Leonard Greenway

“Everyone who deplores the present fragmented existence of the Reformed family of churches can only dread the prospect of further fragmentation.”

News of the Dutch Churches Martin H. Woudstra

April 1971

“When the Word of God is no longer the basis for theological reflection, then there is room for every wind of change and one throws open the doors to every new cultural phenomenon which pops up. Then men stand above the Word instead of being subjected to the Word.

Does Theology Still Have a Future? Johan D. Tangelder

May 1971

“Whoever gets off the track of divine revelation in Genesis had better beware lest he lose all sense of direction as he stumbles from one error to the next, further and further away from the ‘Thus saith the Lord’ in the rest of the Bible aswell.” Another Look at LeverJohn Vander Ploeg “Have we the right to stigmatize brothers and sisters, who have withdrawn from a denomination out of love for Jesus Christ, as being schismatic?”

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“…a schismatic is one who tears the Church apart by repudiating the doctrines of the Church, and one who uses foul means to draw many others from the Church with him. If a person or group of persons withdraws from our Church peacefully and starts a new Church with the three forms of unity as the foundation stones of their ecclesiastical structure, can we say that they have torn the Church apart and are therefore schismatics? Is the unity of the Church found in its structure, or is it found in the spiritual life which the Church expresses by virtue of a living faith in Jesus Christ?” About “Schism”: Another Point of View Cornelius J. Van Schouwen “It has become a growing conviction with this observer that disruption of unity within the church is caused not so much by the conservative’s lack of understanding of the nature of the church as by the dishonesty of members of the church who remain within it although they can no longer accept the interpretation of the Word or the confessional standards founded upon it held by the church.” Dishonest Church Members Arthur Besteman

June 1971

“If we speak out to the best of our ability, each with the talents the Lord has entrusted to us, in the Lord’s strength – and then, in spite of all our efforts, the church and our institutions go the wrong way, we shall be clear before God! If for fear of the adverse reaction of certain people, we keep silent, the Lord will indeed hold us accountable.”

Preachers Without Fear John G. Kruis

July 1971

“…our synods, at times, act more like a people’s court than like an ecclesiastical body.”

Commends Articles Peter J. Sluys

August 1971

“We can never expect to promote the Christian faith by attacking the Scriptures. One can never lead men to believe in Christ by saying He was mistaken in what He taught. Faith in Him doesn’t permit attacking His authority.

The Problem Isn’t Science but Unbelief Peter De Jong

September 1971

“…let’s never get the silly notion that young people are doing God, the elders, and the minister a favor when they are in church. The privilege is theirs. Which, of course, is true of us their elders also. To be allowed an audience with the Lord of lords and the King of kings well, there are just no words to really say how unworthy every sinful mortal is of an honor as great as that.”

Going to Church? Watch Your Step! John Vander Ploeg

December 1971

“God had a purpose in making us channels of His grace, and that purpose is to forward obedience to the Lord among men.”

Evangelism – Sideline or Lifeline? Garrett H. Stoutmeyer

“…is it not true that ‘your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour’? (I Peter 5:8). Of course it is, but lions do not roar as they stalk their prey out in the wilderness. They roar when they are brought in cages to the arena, as they were in Peter’s day, in order to kill and eat for the entertainment of spectators. These lions that Peter and his readers knew were still controlled by their lion trainers. And Satan is controlled by God today.”

Millennialism and Missions Timothy Monsma

“This world needs more Christians to enter the many spheres of the Kingdom, with fewer church pronouncements. The church is not fulfilling her mandate when she enters upon territory not belonging to her; we do not live under a theocracy.”

About “Synod’s Right to Speak” Peter Sluys