For the following reasons I feel compelled to protest against the anonymous article, “I Had a Struggle,” in The Banner of February 24, 1978.

1. First – the article is an open, although anonymous, attack on what the Bible teaches. Note carefully the following excerpts from what the anonymous writer says;

a. As to creation and evolution: “. . . I went through quite a struggle before I stopped considering evolution of any kind as one of the devil’s heresies or realized how the message of the Bible is actually enriched when we understand it in the context of the times in which it was written.”

b. As to the origin of man: “So when I read that there seems to be much scientific evidence that God created the first man by developing him from subhuman forms [italics mine, JVP] and breathing into him the breath of life, I no longer feel threatened. For if God chose this method of creation, why would it be any less God at work in fashioning man from ‘the dust of the ground’ than if He had literally scooped a handful of dust and created him in a flash?”

c. As to the early Genesis account: “Nor am I any longer troubled when I hear someone say that tlle early Genesis account was written in such a way that it telescopes the history of aeons of time into figurative language.”

d. As to the serpent speaking: “Did the snake have a literal serpentine voice box, or was this God’s way of telling us that man disobeyed his Maker and listened instead to the voice of Satan. Either way, God’s message to us is clear . . . .”

e. As to the historicity of Genesis 1–3: “I do believe that Genesis 1–3 is history—but history written so people of that day and all time could understand it because it spoke in the language and thought forms of the day.”

Let’s not be fooled by double talk. This is the so-called “new hermeneutic” a la Lever, Kuitert, Verhey and others.

Note: Be sure to read and reread this article for yourself in its entirety.

2. Next – this article is published in “the Official Publication of the Christian Reformed Church”—as every issue of The Banner tells us on the cover that it is.

I know that in the masthead of The Banner we are told: “The views and opinions of the writers and advertisers herein do not necessarily represent the position of this magazine nor of the Christian Reformed Church.”

However, the “I Had a Struggle” contribution did not appear as a letter in Voices but rather as an article in a series of articles by the anonymous writer or writers. We have no way of knowing whether these articles were planned and solicited by The Banner or whether they were accepted and published at the request of the anonymous writer or writers. However, those in charge of The Banner cannot wash their hands of the responsibility of aiding and abetting the propagation of “the new hermeneutic” throughout the denomination at the very time when this matter is pending in the further consideration of the so-called Verhey case. Instead of disavowing the objectionable contents of this article, those in charge of The Banner provide the writer of it with shelter or refuge in anonymity.

Because The Banner is the “official publication of the CRC, because it is subsidized by a denominational quota, and because we, as members of the CRC have a corporate responsibility in this, a vigorous protest is therefore very much in order.

3. Finally, the publication of this article in The Banner is definitely reprehensible because it appeared anonymously.

With good reason, anonymous letters of articles are considered fit only for “file thirteen” or the wastebasket. In the masthead, The Banner regularly states that “anonymous contributions will not be published.” However, for some reason, those in charge of The Banner do see fit to allow this in the case of this article with the false teaching that it sets forth.

Now it may be that we will be told that the identity of the writer of the article is known to the editor of The Banner and possibly to the members of the Periodicals Committee. But what justification can there be for allowing this attack on Scripture to appear with no one identified as the writer? If the false teaching espoused in this anonymous article is tbe position of those in charge of “the official organ of the CRC” let them say so. The cowardice of hit-and-run drivers makes it difficult, if not impossible, to apprehend them. Let’s at least have the courage to sign our names to what we write and be open and above-board on issues of such great significance to the entire denomination.