January 1957

“It has pleased God to build His Church out of the church. This is one of the great blessings which God has given His people.”

* * * * *

“There is sometimes the tendency on the part of parents to entrust this training to the school and to the church. But if the parents do not instruct the child in these things, neither the school nor the church will be able to supply what is lacking.”

Profession of Faith William Kok

“[T]he Christian school is for some an appeaser of a conscience that feels somehow a weakness of the Christian influence in the home life.”

* * * * *

The very forces that seek to undermine our deep consecration to God and His Kingdom are the forces that threaten the Christian school. They are the forces of materialism, worldliness, and secularism.”

The Pillars of Our Church The Christian Reformed Church and Christian Education and Secondary Education Cornelius Jaarsma

February 1957

“We must remind ourselves time and again, when Christian action comes to the fore, that we serve a King whose only weapon is the Word, the sword of the Holy Spirit.”

* * * * *

“In the world Christ is King, even though the demons oppose Him and the people reject His kingship. He rules over them, strictly independent of their will.”

Sharpening Our Meanings Francois Guillaume

“[A]t no place do heaven and earth come closer together than at the Lord’s Supper.”

* * * * *

“The celebration of the Lord’s Supper is a celebration by the congregation. This is as it should be. It is especially at the table of the Lord that the unity of believers comes to expression.”

The Celebration of the Lord’s Supper William Kok

March 1957

“The reason for the decay of the home as a Christian institution is that we lose sight of the principle taught in the Holy Bible that Jehovah God must be the Master Builder.”

* * * * *

“The home is not held together by good meals, comfortable beds, adequate pay-check, or a color TV set. The Christian home is held together by thankful devotion to God, by respectful loyalty to His law which demands that we love Him and one another.”

* * * * *

“Our heroes are no longer those listed in Hebrews 11. They have become the false heroes of show business.”

* * * * *

[W]e may expect that the emphasis today which teaches thatthere are other ways to God than through Jesus Christ, God’s Son, will eventually lead to the rearing of a generation which worships other gods.”

Building Sound Homes John W. Visser

“Lest the very elect be led astray, every minister of the gospel must warn the people committed to his care against wolves in sheep’s clothing that would devour the flock. And a school which prepares men for the gospel ministry is under solemn obligation to fit them for that part of their task. To that end the mere refutation of error will not suffice; truth must be set forth in contrast with error.”

* * * * *

“Militancy is the price which a church must pay for its continuance as a true church.”

The Pillars of Our Church Calvin College and Seminary R. B. Kuiper

April 1957

[I]t should not be denied that when a church or denomination actually proclaims salvation through the shed blood of Christ and is orthodox in that sense, elect of God may be assumed to be among its membership.”

The Pillars of Our Church Confessing a Holy Catholic Church Nicholas J. Monsma

May–June 1957

“Unless we put safety first we shall not be safe. That slogan, as far as traffic is concerned, does not interfere with traffic. On the contrary, it serves to expedite traffic because it tends to prevent carelessness and accidents. Similarly, making the safety of the Church, the preservation of its rich heritage of truth, our primary concern need not in any way interfere with its true progress.”

* * * * *

“We must bring the pure, unadulterated gospel to the nations. We must also preach it to our people and teach it to our youth. But it will be impossible to do all this unless we retain our heritage.”

* * * * *

[T]here is no promise that our denomination or any other will prove to be impervious to corruption.”

Safety First! H. J. Kuiper

July–August 1957

“Man had the tremendous gift of language; he was given that most wonderful science and art; it flowed from that image in man which is of God, and was in response to God’s prior communication to him.”

* * * * *

“Only one animal, the serpent, did use language – and very powerfully. How strange that it should have usurped man’s prerogative and so tragically misled him with his own gift.”

* * * * *

“Man had some of the attributes of God and so in the garden of Eden he wanted to be as God. He forgot about the tremendous gulf between man and God in the essence of their beings. The animals show a similarity to man in physical and anatomical properties but that does not mean that the animal should be as man.”

The Great Barrier Between Man and Animals Jacob Heerema

[T]here can be no genuine theological advance if we are unsuccessful in preserving and conserving our spiritual heritage.”

* * * * *

“There can be no progress in the knowledge of the truth if the Church fails to do its utmost to preserve its creedal heritage and to cling to the faith with undiminished tenacity.”

The Safety-First Principle Tested Henry J. Kuiper

“It is not sufficient to acknowledge the we commit sin; we must know ourselves as being sinful.”

* * * * *

“The true self-examination does not consist in putting our sins on one side of the balance and all the good we can find on the other side. We should come in the knowledge and with the conviction that in ourselves we are accursed by God, the Judge of heaven and earth, and that His judgment is right.”

Self-Examination and the Lord’s Table William Kok

September 1957

“The Church today must again study and practice the implications of the great fact that Christ’s people died in His death, rose with Him from the grave, and now are seated with Him in the heavenly places.”

An Apostle of Jesus Christ Leonard Greenway

[T]he ideal of those who publish Torch and Trumpet is to enlarge our subscription list until this journal is self-supporting. Dear Reader, if you think well of our paper, will you please recommend it to your neighbors and friends? Also send us the names and addresses of those in your church or among your friends who might be inclined to subscribe. We shall be glad to send a sample copy to all for whom or by whom the request is made.”

Changes in Torch and Trumpet Henry J. Kuiper [Almost fifty years later we are still trying to make the magazine self-supporting. The offer made by Rev. Kuiper in 1957 still holds today. –The editor]

“In every period of life there is danger of forgetting that our time is not our own but God’s. But the temptation to squander or misuse it is particularly great in youth and old age.”

“My Time is My Own” Henry J. Kuiper

“The results of the gospel certainly will transform all of life. But the power that does the transforming is the Word of God and His Spirit. We have too often handicapped our missionary effort by letting our attention be diverted from the preaching and teaching of God’s Word to trying to do for people things that they can do much better for themselves when the gospel takes control of their lives.”

Pillars of the Church Mission Work in the Christian Reformed Church Peter De Jong

October 1957

“Our Christian institutions are a favorite target of the evil forces of our day. But the bull’s eye in that target is the Christian home. When Satan hits it he rejoices, for he knows that he has scored a perfect hit.”

* * * * *

“Schools cannot do a great deal for the child that has been thoroughly spoiled at home.”

* * * * *

“There are thousands of Christian homes today in which practically nothing can be seen or is done that makes them distinctively Christian. The magazines on the table, the music on the piano, the pictures on the wall, to programs on radio or television – all is non-religious.”

The Bull’s Eye in Satan’s Target Henry J. Kuiper

“Membership in the church is not a human right; it is not a matter of social acceptance. It is a privilege conferred by none other than God Himself. Therefore church membership requires a mode of life in keeping with that high privilege.”

The Pillars of Our Church Pastoral Care in the Christian Reformed Church Edward Heerema

[T]he world’s nations shall have the opportunity at one time or another during the course of history to hear the gospel. This gospel proclamation, moreover, will be a testimony: its acceptance or its rejection will be decisive.”

Outlines on the Doctrine of the Last Things William Hendriksen

“Seeds of delinquency thrive in the soil of idleness.”

Our School Year Joanne De Jong

November 1957

“The thing that counts in most classrooms is getting ahead and doing well in this life. The here and not the hereafter receives the attention. That is all wrong according to the apostle Paul. The Christian’s chief good is his spiritual bounty in Christ. That is where his happiness lies.”

* * * * *

No love was more ancient than God’s love for His people. It was placed upon His people before time began.”

Blessed Be God! Leonard Greenway

“The Church needs two kinds of laymen: those who work and those who think. Naturally, this is no hard and fast line of distinction. The best Christian workers are men and women who think, and laymen who think but refuse to work are in danger of becoming captious critics.”

* * * * *

“[N]o one can be a fruitful thinker unless he is a persistent and careful reader.”

* * * * *

‘[N]o member should be considered eligible for nomination as elder who has not formed the habit of reading and giving serious thought to the teachings, government, and practical problems of the church.”

Laymen Who Think Henry J. Kuiper

“[I]t is foolish to speak of man returning to barbaric animalism. That was not his beginning. His sin is not a return to but a turning away from his original condition.”

Are You a “Rational Animal”? Walter A. De Jong

“[M]any of those who have fallen away will still wish to pass as Christians. But their very manner of living will show that they are not true believers at all.”

* * * * *

“[T]his man is called Antichrist, not simply because he will be a person who opposes the Christ, but because he will be a rival Christ, that is, a person who arrogates to himself the honor that is due to Christ alone.”

Signs of the Times William Hendriksen

“Every Christian, no matter what his task or station in life may be, must, of course, make a total commitment to Jesus Christ.”

The Christian Student at a Christian College William Spoelhof

December 1957

“We are astounded at man’s folly when we consider that as he inspects the vast workshop of the infinite and almighty God he fails to see his Maker. The reason is that, even though he can see inconceivably far into almost endless space, he has lost his spiritual eyes, the eyes of faith.”

* * * * *

“The salvation of man does not lie in his upward reach to the visible heavens but in the downward reach of our gracious condescending God.”

Not Sputnik but Christ Henry J. Kuiper