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March 16 : WSC Q. 10

16 March, 2012 in March 2012 by davidtmyers | No comments

This Day in Presbyterian History: 

God’s Crowning Work in creation

With scant information available for this day, March 16, we return to another exposition of the Shorter Catechism. Question number 10 asks and answers, “How did God create man?  A.  God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures.”

We already had a question and answer on the general subject of creation.  That was the theme of February 27 in these historical devotionals.  Our Confessional Fathers gave us another catechetical answer on God’s crowning work in creation, namely, the creation of man.

Man’s nature is distinguished in Genesis chapters 1 and 2.  In Genesis chapter 1, we have the description of man as being “male and female.”  In the summary of creation in Genesis chapter 2, we have the reference to his soul and body.    How contrary to this divinely stated truth is that of humanistic  evolution.  How we need to pray and work for a return in our culture of the majestic truth of special creation.

Notice especially the original character of our created parents as being “after the image of God.” There, of course, is no truth to the popular idea that this image created was some sort of physical resemblance to God.  God is a Spirit and doesn’t have a body like man. Our confession fathers immediately define what they mean by God’s image, by stating that the image consists in “knowledge, righteousness, and holiness.”  Our first parents had a conformity to the moral perfections of God.

Adam had knowledge in his understanding of God’s revelation of His creation.  That was proved when he gave names to all of God’s creatures in Genesis 2:19 and verse 20. Second, Adam possessed righteousness in his will.  Righteousness simply means obedience to God.  Man was capable of this, though also capable of disobedience, as we sadly see in the fall into sin. Last, Adam was holy in his affections.   He could love God and His creation, and especially his soon to be created wife, Eve.

It is true that sin marred that image deeply.  Yet in Christ, that image can be restored by the grace of God.  Paul in Ephesians 4:24 speaks of our new creation in Christ which we have “put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (ESV)  And the same apostle wrote in Colossians 3:10, “and put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of God.” (ESV)   Knowledge, righteousness, and holiness is being restored in the life of the believer.  One day, in our glorification, it will be restored perfectly.

Last, man’s dignity is seen in the fact that he was given “dominion over the creatures.” Since he was God’s crowning creation, he was given the authority over the world of nature, not just animals.  Here is the basis for the cultural mandate, or the view that the Christian  has a mandate from God to bring all spheres of life under conformity to God’s Word.

Words to Live By: “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”  Psalm 8:9 (ESV)  Do you praise God for creation all around you?

Through the Scriptures: Joshua 16 – 18

Through the Standards: Christ Executes the Office of a King

WLC 45 — “How does Christ execute the office of a king?
A. Christ executes the office of a king, in calling out of the world a people to himself, and giving them officers, laws, and censures, by which he visibly governs them; in bestowing saving grace upon his elect, rewarding their obedience, and correcting them for their sins, preserving and supporting them under all their temptations and sufferings, restraining and overcoming all their enemies, and powerfully ordering all things for his own glory, and their good; and also taking vengeance on the rest, who know not God, and obey not the gospel.”

WSC 26 — “How does Christ execute the office of a king?
A. Christ executes the office of a king, in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.”

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March 15 : The Presbyterian War

15 March, 2012 in March 2012 by davidtmyers | No comments

This Day in Presbyterian History:  

A Victory in Defeat

The British Parliament member, upon hearing of the “victory” in the colonies by the British army that day of March 15, 1781 has commented “another such victory would ruin the British army.” What did he mean?

In the southern campaign of the American Revolutionary War, Lord Cornwallis was doing his best to defeat the stubborn American forces.  Specifically, he was doing his best to punish those pesky Scot – Irish Presbyterians who  possessed a fervor of opposition to his military units.  Whenever he found a church building connected with them, the psalm books and Bibles would be burned.  That punishment would extend to the church building as well.  It was very much a battle against Presbyterians in the southern colonies.  In fact, they would meet on many a battle field, and one of the more fiercest times was this battle at Guildford Court House, North Carolina.

It was in the morning of March 15, that nineteen hundred British regulars and German allies attacked 4500 American militia members and seasoned Continental men.  The whole battle was fierce by any man’s standards.

The American commander, Maj. General Nathaniel Green, had positioned his troops in three lines.  First, one thousand militia from North Carolina formed the first line.  They were to fire two shots and retire from the battle field.  One half of the British Highlanders fell from that fire.  Green’s second line was composed of Virginia marksmen, both militia and seasoned Continentals.  They twice checked the British line, but eventually retired as well.  The third line of the Americans were fourteen hundred Continentals.  At this point, the fight grew desperate.  Cornwallis himself said, “I never saw such fighting since God made me.  The Americans fought like demons.”

After two and one half hours, Green retreated from the field, seeking to keep his army intact for future battles.  Cornwallis, on the other hand, lost in his “victory” over 25% of his officers and men.  Here he was, in enemy territory, without supplies, and with heavy loss of men.  He quit the area with the remnants of his army, marching to Yorktown.  Exactly seven months later, he would surrender his army to General George Washington.

The soldiers who composed the American army in the field were the members of Presbyterian congregations in the southern colonies.

Words to Live By:  There is a time when Christians must act their part in defense of truth and righteousness, peacefully if they can, with violence if they must.  In such an endeavor, they can with the help of the Lord win the battle.

Though the Scriptures:  Joshua 13 – 15

Through the Standards: Christ Executes the Office of a Priest, from the Catechisms

WLC 44 — “How does Christ execute the office of a priest?
A. Christ executes the office of a priest, in his once offering himself a sacrifice without spot to God, to be reconciliation for the sins of his people; and in making continual intercession for them.”

WSC 25 — “How does Christ execute the office of a priest?
A. Christ executes the office of a priest, in his once offering up of himself  a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice, and reconcile us to God; and in making continual intercession for us.”

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February 18: Supreme Court Justice William Strong

18 February, 2012 in February 2012 by davidtmyers | No comments

This Day in Presbyterian History: 

 Christian principles should influence American society

William Strong was no mere cultural Christian. Listen to how he answered the question of what he thought of Christ. He said, “He is the Chiefest among ten thousand, and altogether lovely — my Lord, my Savior, and my God.” Far from being a cultural Christian, William Strong was a committed Christian, and a Presbyterian as well.

The son of a Presbyterian minister, William Strong was born in Connecticut on May 6, 1808.  After graduating from Yale University in 1828 with honors as a Phi Betta Kappa, he then moved to Reading, Pennsylvania to begin his legal practice. In 1846, he became a Congressman, serving as an abolitionist Democrat in the House of Representatives. Serving two terms, he did not seek reelection in 1850, but returned to his private practice.

Seven years later in 1857, he was elected to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania as a Democrat but switched to the Republican party soon afterwards. He would serve eleven years on that state bench before returning to a lucrative law practice in Philadelphia.

On February 18, 1870, he was nominated by President U.S. Grant to the United States Supreme Court. Among his many important votes was the resolution of the disputed election of 1876, when the Court ruled in favor of Rutherford B. Hayes, the Republican candidate, thus ensuring his presidency. He served ten years, and then resigned even while he was in good health, believing that justices should not serve when they are infirm. William Strong would go to be with His Savior on August 19, 1895.

All of the above facts are about his service to the nation. And while true, yet they do not get to the character of this Christian Presbyterian. Listen to his words on what he thought about the Bible. He said, “It is the infallible Word of God, a light erected all along the shores of time to warn against the rocks and breakers, and to show the only way to the harbor of eternal rest.” With such a high view of Holy Scripture, there was no problem for Justice Strong to believe that biblical Christian principles should govern many facets of United States society. In fact, he would even go so far as to declare and work for a constitutional amendment declaring our blessed country to be a Christian nation. This in no way in his own mind meant that an established church or denomination was to be the sole church of the land. He was opposed completely to that idea. He believed in the separation of church and state, but he affirmed the connection between the God of the Bible and our nation. He desired a formal acknowledgement of the Christian foundation in American society.

During his long practice both privately and publicly, he served in many Christian organizations, among them, the American Bible Society and the American tract Society. He is buried in Reading, Pennsylvania.

Words to Live By: As   was   his life   long   commitment  to both the living Word and the written Word, so all Christians today in whatever sphere they are in life, are to have the same commitment to Christ and His Word. Let us press today toward the goal of placing Christ and His Word into those areas into which we live, and move, and exist.

Through the Scriptures: Numbers 4 – 6

Through the Standards: The Nature of Sin in the Catechisms.

WLC 24 — “What is sin?
A. Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, any law of God, given as a rule to the reasonable creature.”

WSC 14 — “What is sin?
A. Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God”

WLC 15 — “What was the sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created?
A. The sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created, was their eating the forbidden fruit.”

Image source: Nevin, Alfred, Encyclopedia of the Presbyterian Church. Philadelphia: Presbyterian Encyclopedia Publishing Company, 1884. Page 873.

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January 31: R. B. Kuiper [1886-1966]

31 January, 2012 in January 2012 by archivist | No comments

This Day in Presbyterian History: 

Distinctive Calvinism

The wording of the postal telegram in 1933 was simple enough to Rienk Bouke Kuiper, who was president of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan.   Printed in all capital letters, it said, “UPON THE UNANIMOUS RECOMMENDATION OF THE FACULTY AND THE TRUSTEES OF WESTMINSTER SEMINARY IN SESSION MAY NINTH BY A UNANIMOUS VOTE HAVE ELECTED YOU TO THE CHAIR OF PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.  THE SECRETARY OF THE BOARD WILL SEND YOU FULL INFORMATION.  WE HOPE AND PRAY THAT YOU MAY BE LED TO ACCEPT THIS POST.  (signed) C. E. MACARTNEY, SAMUEL CRAIG, T. EDWARD ROSS, (for the board).

R. B. Kuiper was not unknown to the faculty and trustees of this new Presbyterian seminary in Philadelphia.  He had served the first year of its existence as professor of Systematic Theology, but then had left it to become the president of Calvin College.  Now he was being asked to return two years later to become the professor of practical theology.  The prospective teacher had all the spiritual gifts necessary for such a post.

Born January 31, 1886 in the Netherlands to a ministerial father, the family had emigrated to the United States so the father could take a congregation in Michigan of the Christian Reformed Church.

Later, R. B. Kuiper was educated at the University of Chicago, Indiana University, and with a diploma from Calvin Theological Seminary, he  finished up his training at Princeton Seminary in 1912.

After this latter instruction from some of the finest minds of the Presbyterian world, such as B.B. Warfield, R.B. Kuiper began his ministry in the pastorate, serving several congregations in Michigan. He would have all that was necessary to be a pastor of practical theology from that experience.

Below, the Westminster faculty as composed upon Kuiper’s arrival, 1933-34.

R.B. Kuiper answered the telegram’s invitation in the affirmative  and went to Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia, where he taught for 20 years.  One of his students remarked that he had the gift of making the profound simple as he proclaimed the whole counsel of God.

Among that broad span of the whole counsel of God, and one which seminary professors and students often fail, is the area of Reformed  evangelism.   Listen to his words in his book “To be or Not to Be Reformed.”  He wrote “May God forbid that we should become complacent about our progress in evangelism!  Our zeal for evangelism is not nearly as warm as it ought to be.  Our evangelistic labors are not nearly as abundant as they should be.  Our prayers for the translation of souls from darkness into God’s marvelous light must become far more fervent.” (p. 77)   What R. B. Kuiper wrote fifty years ago is no  less true in our day.   Ask yourselves the question?  Am I a zealous evangelist?

Words to Live By:  “And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the LORD, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.” The apostle Paul, Acts 13:48 (ESV)  “Divine election, and it alone, guarantees results for evangelism.”  R.B. Kuiper

Pictured above: Some of the courses taught by R.B. Kuiper in his first year at Westminster.

Through the Scriptures: Exodus 11 – 13

Through the Standards:  Creation, according to  the catechisms

WLC 15 “What is the work of creation?
A.  The work of creation  is that wherein God did in the beginning, by the word of his power, make of nothing the world, and all things therein, for himself, within the space of six days, and all very good.”

WSC 9  “What is the work of creation?
A. The work of creation is, God’s making all things of nothing, by the word of his power, in the space of six days, and all very good.”

Photograph source: The Presbyterian Guardian 5.3 (March 1938): 50.

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