The author’s narrative recounts the reformation of the church in 1834, when Hendrik de Cock witnessed against the false doctrines and unspiritual character of the state Reformed church of the Netherlands. After having been unceremoniously suspended and deposed from office, he led his congregation to return to the biblical worship of God in Christ Jesus as set forth in the Reformed creeds, which represents the faith of God’s saints throughout the ages. His courageous testimony has inspired the witness of hundreds of thousands of people throughout the world until this day.

This book therefore recounts one man’s struggle against the perversions of Scripture by the vast majority of ordained pastors in the state Reformed church with its million or more spiritually sleeping members. Contra mundum was the character of this struggle for the truth. De Cock’s witness therefore was a trumpet blast in the night of spiritual darkness that awakened God’s people at the morn of a new day, while at the same time it angered and galvanized the unfaithful ecclesiastical administrators in opposition. De Cock gave witness to the sole authority of sacred Scripture and to the binding authority of the Reformed creeds, which for Reformed believers is derived from the binding authority of the Bible.

“If first impressions count for anything, this book is a winner from the start. It has a sharp, handsome look and feel. From front to back, it’s been professionally produced and that made this reviewer favorably inclined from the start. The Reformed Free Publishing Association has done justice to the subject by packaging this substantial volume with great care. The subject is a compelling figure from our Reformed church history in the Netherlands: Rev. Hendrik de Cock. He was a leader in the Secession (or ‘Afscheiding’ in Dutch) of 1834. The Lord worked through de Cock to recover the Reformed faith in the Netherlands after a period of great darkness and decline. This book traces his story in great detail. There is no other book like this in English—it is truly one of a kind … 1834 is a masterpiece of Reformed church history.  Well-written and the product of countless hours of research, it was a delight to read” (Clarion and Una Sancta).

“This book will prove to be enjoyable for the average reader. It was written in a well-organized format and uses clear language which avoids highly academic terms. It is also illustrated with several pictures … The author explains the grounds for the Secession in a very carefully reasoned, but also a very sympathetic manner. Kamps defends his thesis as one who also takes very seriously the marks of the true and false church as confessed in the Belgic Confession (Art. 29). He demonstrates that these marks were central in the mind of Hendrik De Cock. The Secession was a reformational movement calling believers back to the Scriptures and thus returning to be a true church. The assertion that the Secession was intended as a return to the Scriptures has been readily defended by Kamps. As we see departures from Scripture characterizing some of today’s churches, this book is recommended to all students of our Reformed history who have a burden for Biblical faithfulness in our Reformed churches” (Messenger).

Prof. Engelsma: “This is a book about a spiritual hero. One day, God will honor him before all humans, especially before his contemptible enemies—ostensibly colleagues in a Reformed church—who persecuted him, and before the scarcely less contemptible ‘friends,’ who nevertheless refused to join him in his separation from the false church, which would have meant sharing his reproach—the reproach of Christ. The hero was an otherwise very ordinary preacher in the Reformed Church in the Netherlands in the early 1800s, Hendrik De Cock. His heroism was his lonely act of separating from the state Reformed Church, which had become apostate, and with his loyal congregation in Ulrum returning to the true church manifesting the marks of the true church as delineated in Article 29 of the Belgic Confession of Faith. Emphatically, as the instrument of the act declared and as the title of Kamps’ book expresses, the act of De Cock and his congregation was return, not only or even mainly separation, but return—return to the truth of the gospel, return to the true church, return to Christ Jesus the head of the church. This was the everlastingly worthy heroism of the reformation of the church in the Netherlands in 1834, as it is wherever and whenever reformation takes place. For this act of courage in the fear of God, a courage that despises the fear of man, the hero suffered greatly, as such heroes always do. He was fined, abused, and imprisoned by the state. He was maligned, disciplined, and deposed from office by the church. By all, he was defamed. By avowed friends in high places in the state church he was abandoned.”

“What a wonderful reference book to have. So glad the RFPA took this one on.” – Illinois, USA

“As I began to read this book, I must say that I increasingly looked forward to the time, after the house was quiet at night, when I could sit down and read it. Living in a world where good is called evil and evil is called good, where godliness of life and a sanctified walk are slandered, and where the place of the Reformed believer in this world gets smaller and smaller, it is good to sit down in the quiet of one’s home, close the door on the world and read an account of church history like this. The experience of Hendrik De Cock was the same as all faithful saints of God throughout church history who boldly and without compromise confessed the truth. It is encouraging to read of the mighty work of God in His despised and persecuted saints so that they are able to confess, ‘Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven’ … There is one aspect of the book that I would like to emphasize in this review. It is the author’s insight into how false teachers and heresy soon come to dominate the church and how the false and apostatizing church works to threaten and intimidate the faithful into silence. This was the situation in De Cock’s day and whenever there is apostasy in the church. In contrast to this, the author points out the only way that God preserves to Himself a remnant that continues to confess the truth, and that is in the way of a sharp, uncompromising condemnation of the lie and a clear and zealous confession of the truth.” –  Michigan, USA

BOOK REVIEW by Rev. Clayton Spronk

1834, the title of the book, is the year sixty-eight members of the Reformed congregation in Ulrum signed a document entitled Act of Secession or Return. By this act these Reformed believers separated themselves from the government sanctioned Reformed Church in the Netherlands and formed a new congregation that was (re)committed to the principles of the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation. In the first 239 pages Marvin Kamps deftly explains and analyzes the events that resulted in faithful Reformed believers’ leaving a false church in order to begin a new true church of Jesus Christ. Kamps appropriately focuses on Hendrik de Cock, the pastor of the Ulrum congregation in 1834, whom God used almost singlehandedly to spark a momentous Reformation of the church commonly referred to as the Afscheiding in Dutch or Secession in English. The last 251 pages contain seven very valuable appendices, which would be worth purchasing and reading on their own. These appendices contain important historical documents that Kamps translated from Dutch into English.

The value of the first part of the book is that Kamps accurately explains the doctrinal significance of the Secession. In the preface Kamps explains that doctrine is his main concern. He writes, “In my recounting of the Secession of 1834 and the reformation of the Reformed church by Hendrik de Cock on the basis of the sole authority of the Bible, I will limit myself to the doctrinal issues of that reformation” (xvi). Because of this doctrinal concern Kamps does not focus on the historical question, how did the Secession come about? Rather the focus is on the weightier question, in what ways was the Session a true and necessary Reformation of the church of Jesus Christ? Kamps’ explanation is that the Secession was a true and necessary Reformation because it involved a rejection of false doctrine and a return to right doctrine as set forth in the Reformed confessions.

Kamps implies that his analysis of the issues involved in the Session is controversial. He writes, “The reformation of 1834 is often viewed superficially as a controversy about the “hymn question” and the error of baptizing children whose parents were not members of de Cock’s church in Ulrum” (152). Kamps recognizes that de Cock ran afoul of the state Reformed Church’s officials because he vehemently opposed the hymns that the state church adopted and because he agreed to baptize the children of parents who were not members of the Ulrum congregation. Kamps admits that these two actions contributed to the state church’s decision to discipline de Cock and finally depose him; and the deposition of De Cock eventually convinced members of the Ulrum congregation to secede from the state church in 1834. But Kamps rightly explains that the Secession involved other more central doctrinal issues than the “hymn question” and De Cock’s act of baptizing the children of parents who belonged to other congregations.

The Secession of 1834, Kamps explains, was a true and necessary Reformation because of the deep doctrinal division that developed between the state church and de Cock and his followers. The division was not the fault of de Cock. The division was the fault of the state church that for decades prior to 1834 allowed doctrines to be taught that contradicted the Reformed confessions. This animosity toward the Reformed confessions resulted in a very sad and important decision by the state church’s synod in 1816 to replace the Formula of Subscription adopted by the Synod of Dordt in 1618–19, which when signed constituted an oath to uphold and defend the confessions, with a new Formula. With this new Formula the state Reformed church rejected the Canons of Dordt! It referred only to the Belgic Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism. But this new Formula used language that did not bind the signatories to uphold and defend these two confessions. The new form “opened the way for the approval of all manner of unfaithful preaching in the churches … so that in the state church preachers were permitted to deny total depravity, sovereign election, the eternal divinity of Christ, the reality of hell, and even the doctrine of the Trinity” (19).

The state church had fallen away from the Reformed confessions, and therefore from the truth of scripture which they set forth. The Arminianism that the denomination rejected at the Synod of Dordt as the enemy of Reformed truth had come to dominate the denomination. De Cock grew up and entered the ministry in the state church oblivious to its apostasy. Kamps provides an excellent account of de Cock’s discovery and then heartfelt conviction of the Reformed faith.

Although it is true that de Cock is the central figure in the Secession’s break from false doctrine and return to Reformed orthodoxy, you will find in Kamps’ account a description of how God used many influences to help him along the way. Kamps explains how de Cock was helped by his wife, John Calvin (by reading his Institutes for the first time during his ministry), Rev. Dirk Molenaar, Rev. Cornelius Baron van Zuylen Nijevelt, and the faithful consistory members of the Ulrum congregation. God graciously opened de Cock’s eyes so that he understood the truth and could see the apostasy of the state church.

Kamps highlights de Cock’s witness to the Reformed truth, especially to the doctrines of election and regeneration. In the state church the doctrine of election was rarely taught. Those who did speak of it openly taught the Arminian view of election condemned by the Canons of Dordt. And at least one minister was bold enough to reject the doctrine of reprobation. Over against this de Cock witnessed to the truth of unconditional election and reprobation (139–45, 274, 289–90).

Many in the state church also denied the necessity of regeneration. This included a rejection of the doctrine of total depravity. Sinful man does not need the Holy Spirit to sovereignly regenerate him, many taught, because man has the natural ability through moral persuasion and encouragement to choose to believe. Over against this de Cock witnessed to the truth of man’s natural total depravity and complete dependence on God to sovereignly bestow upon him new life in order to be saved (146–52).

Kamps, to his credit, is favorably disposed toward de Cock and portrays him as an imperfect sinner that God was pleased to use as a hero of the Reformed faith. After his conversion de Cock energetically promoted the truths of the Reformed faith in his preaching and writing. With his own money he published the Canons of Dordt for distribution. He was faithful not only to teach the truth but to condemn heresy. He was not afraid to name names and to use appropriately sharp language. He publicly charged Rev. Brouwer and Rev. Reddingius with the sin of oath breaking because these older pastors had signed the 1618–19 Formula of Subscription and failed to do anything to refute false doctrines that contradicted the Reformed confessions de Cock willingly stood up for the truth against friends, which is evident in the correspondence between de Cock and P. Hofstede de Groot that Kamps provides in the appendices. De Cock defended the genuine faith of the poor and uneducated people who separated themselves from the state church after they were unfairly disparaged by the educated elites of the state church. Noteworthy too is de Cock’s respect for church government. Even though he was unjustly suspended and then later deposed from office in the state church, de Cock submitted and patiently pursued every avenue of protest available to him in the state church where church government was thoroughly corrupt. And de Cock, along with his wife and many other saints, willingly suffered persecution for the truth’s sake.

After all of the avenues of protest were closed and the state church had shut de Cock out of the office of the ministry, De Cock agreed that separation from the state church was necessary. Thus began, as Kamps explains, a reformation of immense significance (see especially chapter 9). For first, this was indeed a doctrinal reformation. Kamps explains this well throughout his explanation of the history and provides ample evidence of this in the appendices. De Cock and his followers started a church that would no longer allow denials of the Trinity, of the divinity of Jesus Christ, of the doctrine of predestination, of the necessity of regeneration, or of any other doctrine taught in the Reformed creeds. The binding authority of the Reformed confessions was re-established, which created true unity in the truth. The restoration of right doctrine helped bring about a restoration of the pure preaching of the gospel and the proper administration of the sacraments, two marks of the true church of Jesus Christ. And by breaking away from the state church the Secession restored proper church government, freeing the church from improper intrusions by the civil government, and establishing the proper rule of elders (the importance of this cannot be overstated, for this marks the first time that a Reformed Church in the Netherlands would be completely free of the intrusion of the civil government, at least regarding the spiritual rule of the church). Included in this restoration of church government was the exercise of Christian discipline, the third mark of the true church, that was so lacking in the state church that de Cock was advised that nothing could be done to discipline those who openly denied the truth or taught false doctrine opposed to the truth (see appendix B and compare 254 and 259).

We should thank God for de Cock and his role in the reformation of the church that began in 1834. As a true Reformed movement the Secession churches continued to grow and develop in the Reformed faith. And Kamps explains that de Cock received great help from other men in this work of continuing Reformation. Some of their names are probably familiar to you—Scholte, Van Velzen, Brummelkamp, Meerburg, and Van Raalte. Thankfully the Lord used these men even to prevent de Cock’s wrong view of baptism from being adopted by the young Secession denomination. It is quite remarkable that these younger men stood up to the man most responsible for the formation of the denomination. It is probably even more remarkable that de Cock had the humility to admit his error and apologize in writing to the synod of the churches. But most importantly God ensured that the Secession denomination would uphold the right view of the sacrament of baptism. You can read about this fascinating and important history in chapter 8. There are many reasons 1834 is worth the investment it takes to buy it and read it. It is written in a way that is accessible to most readers, including teenagers and maybe even preteens. For Reformed Christians who are the spiritual descendants of the Secession the history is vitally important. Reading this book will make you appreciate anew the truths of the Reformed faith, especially the truth of salvation by God’s sovereign grace. And reading this book will increase your gratitude to God for delivering our forefathers from apostasy and thus delivering us; and for returning them and us to the true church.

Finally, I would like to mention that the book is also available in both the epub and mobi digital formats. I read the hardcover edition but used the mobi format on my Kindle Fire tablet to write this review. The ability to search the book electronically is especially useful. For example, my tablet tells me that the word election appears 98 times in the book, and it allows me to scroll through a list of every use of the word within its context.

In either the hardcover or electronic format, I highly recommend the book.

BOOK REVIEW in the English Churchman

I first came across de Cock some years ago when I found an English translation of his work against hymns. Here at last is an excellent biography of the man, his life and legacy. It is a big book which it needs to be in order to present a comprehensive picture of De Cock.

In all there are 9 chapters followed by 7 Appendices and Bibliography. Regrettably there is no Index. In Chapter one Kamps describes the background to De Cock’s life under four headings – his National, Ecclesiastical, Social and Familial Circumstances. What surprised me, because I knew so little of the Ecclesiastical Dutch history, was the usurping of the Reformed Church by the State in 1813-1816. As Kamps puts it, there was effectively a coup d’état. The outcome of this seizure of the Church was a rewriting of the Formula of Subscription. No longer was there any reference to the historic creeds of the Church, rather ministers were merely to promote the ‘interests of Christianity in general.’ Subtlety and craft became the new ethos. Creedal confession was pushed into the background. The outcome was inevitable. As Kamps puts it, the Church acted dishonestly. Unsurprisingly there were dissenters to all this – the Reveil Movement and the Conventicles. Into all of this was De Cock, born in 1801.

Chapter 2 covers De Cock’s ministry in the State Church. It is fascinating to see how liberals used, for example, the Belgic Confession (Art. 7) to overthrow all Confessions. Their fundamental problem was a disbelief in the final authority of Scripture hence the dismissal of Creeds as worn out useless statements. With a sleight of hand the liberals constantly deflected focus from Scripture and Creeds to the more nebulous object of ‘the spirit of Christianity.’ Liberal attitudes ranged from studiously avoiding any debate with De Cock, tolerating him (presumably hoping he would go away), ignoring him but, ultimately, they charged him with failing to understand that appeal to outdated creeds was no longer relevant. De Cock, according to liberals, was simply ignorant of what constituted true, living Christianity. Meanwhile De Cock continued to preach the old faith which was drawing a lot of attention from the people.

Chapter 3 examines De Cock’s spiritual awakening. For many years in the State Church, liberalism was the main ideology espoused. The struggle over orthodoxy is exemplified in the debate over the First Table of the Law and God’s revelation of himself. The liberals rejected Scripture (as the final revelation) and the miraculous. It was this that led to the Secession of 1834. In that year an exposition of the Belgic Confession by Reddingus was published which explicitly denied the core doctrines of the historic Christian Faith. It was also the year of De Cock’s conversion. Kamps explains in detail the factors which brought that about.

In Chapter 4 & 5, Kamps outlines the contours of De Cock’s theology, in particular his witness to the truth of Scripture, the Canons of Dordt and the doctrine of God’s sovereign grace in election and regeneration. Kamps gives an interesting evaluation of the issues of 1834 reminding us that it was more than hymns and baptism, rather at the core were the issues of sin, grace and salvation thus demonstrating that nothing less than the heart of the gospel was at stake underlining the true significance of 1834 and therefore of vital importance to all who love these precious truths. In other words, the very essence of Christianity was in peril.

The climax of the struggle is dealt with in Chapter 6. Here we come to the cost of standing for truth. De Cock’s witness brought upon him all kinds of charges, slander and misrepresentations. In due time, De Cock was disciplined. It seemed that everything he did was a just cause for allegations, charges and discipline. After a long and tiresome process, without receiving any justice, the consistory adopted the Act of Secession on 13 October, 1834.

Interestingly, Kamps examines the role of De Cock’s wife in Chapter 7. It is both fascinating and appreciated. Too often the sacrifice of wives is overlooked. Kamps has done the reader a service in presenting to us her faithfulness, support and courage in the face of the most dreadful slanders.

What happened after the Secession? That is dealt with in chapter 8. It is refreshing to note the growth and development of the Secession. Ministers from the State Church joined De Cock. Congregations sprang up. By April 1835, there were sixteen congregations represented at the first meeting of the Secession Ministers. The first Synod was held in March 1836. Kamps helpfully describes the discussion within the Secession over two issues (Church Membership and Baptism) that were to define the direction of the Secession. There was further discussion over Church Order that was equally significant for the new body.

De Cock in God’s providence was to die in 1842 but he was preserved long enough to see a solid foundation laid and the beginnings of a return to a robust adherence to The Faith. By 1854 membership of the Secession stood at over 42,000, increasing by 10,000 in 1858. In 1870 membership reached 100,000 with 300 congregations and 270 ministers. This was the Lord’s testimony to the truth of the Secession.

The significance of 1834 is described in detail in chapter 9. This is a vital part of the history without which 1834 would be meaningless. As Kamps states, “it restored to the Reformed believers in the Netherlands the gospel of salvation in Christ Jesus by faith through grace alone.” That one statement is enough (though Kamps proceeds to spell out the full significance in some detail in a number of areas) to demonstrate that every believer has an interest in this. It is not an abstract history but one that is continually repeated through time. This is the spiritual legacy that we are required to know, subscribe to and defend, and if necessary to suffer for.

What follows are a series of documents that are crucial to a full understanding of 1834. They should not be neglected but read carefully, besides they are full of fascinating details, arguments and insights that remain relevant to our day.

This is an excellent work and given one’s interest in De Cock it is difficult to say anything negative. One suggested area that a future edition might revise is the use of polemical observation. It may of course be argued that they are essential to a fuller grasp of what is at stake.

Overall, an excellent book, worth getting and keeping. Here is a glorious history that will make every British believer rise up and give thanks to God. Further, it will encourage and embolden modern Christians that with such a legacy and heritage they can do no less that publicly adhere to the same truths that De Cock lived and suffered for. May this book be widely sold and read requiring further editions to be printed.

BOOK REVIEW by Dr. Eugene P. Heideman, professor emeritus, Western Theological Seminary, Holland, MI, USA

As the “Father of the Secession of 1834” in the Netherlands, Hendrik de Cock is a crucial figure not only in the history of Reformed churches in the Netherlands, but also in the history of Dutch Reformed denominations in North America. Marvin Kamps writes that “The significance of the Secession is that it restored to the Reformed believers in the Netherlands the gospel of salvation in Christ Jesus by faith through grace alone. The significance for us in North America is that through our fathers who immigrated to this continent, we are instructed in the same confession of faith on the basis of God’s Word. All true Reformed believers [in North America—EPH] are the heirs of the saints of the Secession of 1834” (231-232).

Because Hendrik de Cock and his writings are largely unknown today by the majority of the members of the Dutch Reformed denominations in the English speaking world, this book is important for making available to English readers a brief biography of Hendrik de Cock and his role as a leader of the Secession of 1834. It is especially valuable because approximately one half of its pages consist of Kamps’ translations of key writings by de Cock and several of his defenders and opponents. He writes that the translations are included because “they will give the flavor of the controversy and testify to the serious nature of the apostasy in the state church, while describing the determined, godly witness and pleas of the humble Secessionists” (xvii).

In his “Preface,” Kamps evaluates the place of de Cock and the Secession of 1834 in the various Dutch Reformed denominations since 1834 and the present. He writes that each of his readers will have to answer for himself the question, “Am I truly a spiritual son of this reformer of the Reformed Church?” (xii). Although this book is published by the Reformed Free Publishing Association, Kamps intends it to be read by all those who in one way or another trace their roots back to de Cock as their spiritual father (xii).

This book is helpful in tracing de Cock’s conversion from the liberalism of the the faculty in the University of Groningen to the Reformed orthodoxy of the Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic Confession, and the Canons of Dordt. Inclusion of a translation of the text of “Reformed Doctrine” by C. Baron van Zylen of Nyevelt frames de Cock’s conversion in the context of the theological defense of Reformed orthodoxy that others in the national Reformed church were fighting for after King William I promulgated the new church order in 1816 (82-93).

Kamps must also be commended for informing his readers about the circumstances that brought de Cock to republish in 1833 the Canons of Dordt and the Compendium that were being suppressed by the Directorate of the Netherlands Reformed Church. In the same year he produced his notorious attack on the unorthodox teachings of the “two wolves,” G. Benthem, Reddingius and L. Meijer Brouwer, pastors who had departed far from the faith as defended by the 1618-1619 Synod of Dordt. Inclusion of de Cock’s introductions to the “Decisions of the National Synod of Dordrecht” (117-126) and the “Compendium of the Christian Religion” are conveniently available for the first time to English readers (129-133). Equally valuable for an understanding of the significance of the Secession of 1834 is Kamps’ translation of his defense of Reformed doctrine against the teachings of Reddingius and Brouwer (313-365).

The leaders of the Secession of 1834 maintained that the Formula of Subscription signed by ministers in the Netherlands Reformed Church had to be interpreted to mean that they were loyal to the doctrines in the three Confessions because they are fully in accord with Scripture, not in so far as they are in accord. De Cock charged that pastors were breaking their oath when they openly deviated from the doctrines of the Trinity or original sin and taught an Arian Christology in place of the Christology of the Nicene Creed. Kamps enables his readers to judge whether de Cock was fair to the pastors when he includes both his translation of Groningen professor Pieter Hofstede de Groot’s defense of the pastors and the Reveil attorney C. M. vander Kemp’s response to Hofstede de Groot (366-450). Along with the inclusion of Hofstede de Groot’s defense of the pastors, Kamps’ translation of the correspondence between de Cock and Hofstede de Groot, who were close friends in the University and thereafter (de Cock succeeded Hofstede de Groot as pastor in Ulrum) until de Cock’s conversion, adds much to the value of this book.

Kamps traces the growth of tension between de Cock and Hendrik Scholte about matters of church order, the baptism of children of non-communicant members of the church, and the relation of church and state. He sides with de Cock for being a strong defender of the old Church Order of Dordt in opposition to Scholte who proposed a more radically congregational polity. De Cock opposed Scholte who insisted on restricting infant baptism to children of parents who had openly confessed their faith before the elders of the church. On this issue of infant baptism, Kamps sides with Scholte and Van Velzen against de Cock. He also takes the side of Scholte against de Cock on the separation of church and state. He criticizes de Cock for still holding to remnants of a “Volkskerk” tradition of church-state relationships, while Scholte is commended for his acceptance of the American distinction as understood at the time of the Secession.

In contrast to Hendrik Scholte who had secession in his blood and left the Netherlands Reformed Church without looking back, de Cock withdrew from it reluctantly. His “Act of Secession or Return” was written in the hope that the Netherlands Reformed Church, even though it was a false church, could still be brought to repentance and “return to the true service of the Lord” (246). On this point, Kamps stands closer to Scholte than to de Cock. As Miskotte pointed out in his 1934 centennial address on de Cock’s role in the Secession of 1834 (K. Miskotte, Korte Nabetrachting, 1834, p. 83), de Cock still held high regard for God’s faithfulness to His people unto the third and fourth generation, with the result he was ready to baptize children of non-communicant members. He still retained remnants of hope that the term “false church” was not the last word for the national “volkskerk.”

Kamps recognizes that there were ministers in the Netherlands Reformed Church who remained true to the faith and manifested true faith and godliness. One such was Dirk Molenaar, whose correspondence with de Cock is translated and included in the book. Scholte recognized the true witness of Molenaar, but accused him of cowardice when he bowed to the pressure of King William and the church Directorate to keep silent. Kamps uses a harsher term when he writes that Molenaar was “disobedient” by remaining in the Netherlands Reformed Church (251). Kamps is more positive toward the “Seven Gentlemen” in the Hague, including C. M. vander Kemp, who did not withdraw from the national church but remained within its fellowship and fought from within for the reform of the church (407-409).

We owe a great debt to Marvin Kamps for making available to English readers his biography of Hendrik de Cock in the context of the Separation of 1834. We have here in English a number of translations pertaining to the Secession that are essential for understanding what happened in the Netherlands in 1834 and in the emigration movement led by Hendrik Scholte and Albertus Christiaan Van Raalte beginning in 1847. It is unfortunate that no index is included in this important book.

With the insight of a theologian, the heart of a pastor and the clarity of a preacher, Herman Hoeksema expounds key sections of the epistle to the Hebrews, especially the much loved eleventh chapter. The glory and work of the author and finisher of our faith, Jesus Christ; the biblical saints of the Old Testament and their victories by faith; the beauty of the prize at the end of the race that is set before us—these are the main themes of A Cloud of Witnesses, a book that will encourage its readers to press on in their pilgrimage toward that city whose builder and maker is God Himself.

Amongst the 38 short chapters of this book are the following: “The Tyrant of Death is Destroyed,” “Christ Learning Obedience,” “After the Order of Melchizedek,” “Faith: The Secret of the Christian’s Life,” “Sarah’s Faith: The Medium of Her Strength,” “Moses’ Preparation as a Deliverer of God’s People,” “Rahab the Harlot Saved from Destruction” and “Going Forth to Christ without the Camp.”

“Often it is the case that we read the theology of a great churchman like Herman Hoeksema and so call him a theologian. But in reading his sermons, we are reminded that his first job and calling was to preach. Students of theology might be better served reading more sermons than works on theology. Thankfully, in this volume the reader gets both.” – Douglas J. Douma, pastor of First Presbyterian Church (Unionville, NY), author and founder of Sola Appalachian Christian Retreat

“There is something reminiscent of the preaching style of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones in the meticulous and practical way that Herman Hoeksema expounds the biblical text. A Cloud of Witnesses is a powerful collection of sermons that speak right into the situation that we find ourselves in today.” – @biblebookstheology

The statement in Belgic Confession 28 that all believers are “in duty bound to join and unite themselves with” an instituted church that has the three marks of a true church has proved to be controversial with some in North America and Europe, as Prof. Engelsma’s recent book, Bound to Join, has been fiercely attacked by both expected and unexpected critics.

This book answers those critics, by defending the doctrine of church membership and demonstrating that love for the universal, invisible church invariably expresses itself by love for the manifestation of this church in the church institute. This new book also examines the “house church” movement and the claim by such men as Harold Camping that the church age has ended. A must-read on biblical and Reformed ecclesiology!

Contents
Preface
The Reformed Confessions on the Necessity of Church Membership
Chapter 1: Criticism by Those at Ease Outside of Zion
Chapter 2: Criticism by Presbyterian Kevin Reed: Distorting Calvin
Chapter 3: Criticism by Presbyterian Kevin Reed: Neglecting the Creeds
Chapter 4: Postscript: Promotion of Reed’s Criticisms by EPC of Australia Minister Rev. C. Connors
Chapter 5: Attack of the “Red Beetle” (a.k.a. Monty Collier)
Chapter 6: Review by a Reformed Pastor (Rev. John Bouwers)
Chapter 7: The Judgment of Harold Camping

Click here for a review of this book.

To watch the video of the author interview concerning this book, click here.

“I just got Defense of the Church Institute yesterday morning and am more than half way through already. Prof. Engelsma’s defence is excellent; it demolishes the opposition … I didn’t know Kevin Reed was a house-church man. Life is full of surprises.” – England

In his first epistle, Peter writes to the saints in Asia Minor from the perspective of their lives as pilgrims. As sojourners in a strange land, they are on a journey through this world toward their eternal home.

How must these pilgrims (and how must we), torn between this world and the next, walk in all the relationships of this life? Peter’s answers this question in his letter which serves as a pilgrim’s manual.

Believers will find A Pilgrim’s Manual to be full of instruction, comfort and hope as they wend their way toward their eternal home.

Epistle to Diognetus (2nd century): “For the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor employ a peculiar form of speech, nor lead a life which is marked out by any singularity. The course of conduct which they follow has not been devised by any speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men; nor do they, like some, proclaim themselves the advocates of any merely human doctrines. But, inhabiting Greek as well as barbarian cities, according as the lot of each of them has determined, and following the customs of the natives in respect to clothing, food, and the rest of their ordinary conduct, they display to us their wonderful and confessedly striking method of life [or citizenship]. They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all [others]; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death, and restored to life. They are poor, yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all; they are dishonoured, and yet in their very dishonour are glorified. They are evil spoken of, and yet are justified; they are reviled, and bless; they are insulted, and repay the insult with honour; they do good, yet are punished as evil-doers. When punished, they rejoice as if quickened into life; they are assailed by the Jews as foreigners, and are persecuted by the Greeks; yet those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred.”

REVIEW

by Charles Terpstra

Protestant Reformed Seminary Professor Emeritus, Herman Hanko, has done it again! He has penned another fine exposition of a portion of Holy Scripture, this time on the book of I Peter. As he did with The Mysteries of the Kingdom (on Jesus’ parables) and Justified unto Liberty (on Galatians), so now with A Pilgrim’s Manual, Hanko has given us a rich exegetical commentary on a precious New Testament book. He has captured the heart of this epistle and woven its theme throughout this work. He will not have us forget that I Peter is indeed a pilgrim’s manual, inspired by the Holy Spirit and inscribed by Peter to guide God’s pilgrim-stranger people through this world on the way to their heavenly home.

Hanko is a skilled exegete in his own right (gifted by the Lord, of course). Having preached through the epistle in his early ministry, and having taught New Testament Greek for many years in the Protestant Reformed Seminary, Hanko develops the concepts and truths of this letter even further. In fact, Hanko is not afraid to differ with Herman Hoeksema and others at points. The result is a commentary that is fresh, deep, and rich in doctrinal teaching.

Still more, because Hanko writes as a churchman who is bound by and faithful to the Reformed creeds, his work breathes the beautiful truths of the Reformed faith, especially the sovereignty of God and the sovereignty of his grace to his people in Christ Jesus. And because he writes as a Protestant Reformed churchman, he emphasizes especially God’s sovereign, particular grace and his unconditional covenant with his elect people in Christ. For the same reasons, Hanko exposes the heresies and errors of our time, with clarity and compassion.

Nor does Hanko avoid the “difficult” doctrines presented in this epistle, such as Christ’s being the chief cornerstone of his church while also being the “stone of stumbling” and “rock of offence” to the wicked unbeliever—and both aspects being according to God’s sovereign predestination (election and reprobation, 2:4–9). Or the tough practical issues involving the true Christian’s persecution by this ungodly world (chaps. 2, 4) and the callings of the Christian wife and husband in marriage, even mixed ones (3:1–7). In the face of ecclesiastical mushiness on doctrine and outright wimpiness on morality, Hanko issues a clear sound of faithfulness to the text of Scripture, letting God’s word speak plainly and powerfully for the instruction, correction, and guidance of God’s people (II Tim. 3:16).

Yet this new work is also more than rich in exegesis and doctrinal commentary. Warmly dedicated to his wife “Wilma, my fellow pilgrim,” A Pilgrim’s Manual is also rich in devotion and practical application. Hanko writes this commentary as a redeemed and devoted Christian pilgrim, himself making the journey from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City. And because he is a mature and experienced pilgrim, filled with the light of God’s word, he is able to provide us, his fellow pilgrims, with wise counsel for our journeys. In reading this commentary you will not lack for comfort and hope.

We sincerely welcome and heartily recommend A Pilgrim’s Manual to Christian readers everywhere. It will serve as a profitable addition to your personal or family library. It will feed your soul and strengthen your faith whether you use it for your group Bible study or for your personal devotions. Above all, this work will confirm you in the one hope we have as believers—the hope of our everlasting home with the Lord. By all means get this book, study the manual, and then press on, pilgrim!

Mr. Terpstra currently serves as the librarian and archivist (among other responsibilities) at the Protestant Reformed Seminary in Grandville, MI, and is the book review editor for the Standard Bearer.

“Thank you for Prof. Hanko’s commentary on I Peter. I think the older one gets—at least for me—the more one feels like a stranger, an alien, in this world and that even the longest life is very short. I find it well to be reminded that we as believers are just passing through as it were, all pilgrims on a journey from death into life, from darkness into increasing light, until we live forever in the eternal presence of uncreated light: there is no night there. Such a ‘manual’ that helps answer the question ‘How then must a pilgrim, torn between this world and the next, walk in all the relationships of this life?’ can only be a comfort and a support.” – W. Midlands, England

To watch the video of the author interview concerning this book, click here.

To read an excerpt of this book in Czech, click here.

Translated for the first time from Dutch into English, this is a defence of the power of the gospel against several well-meant offer men, including Dr. Abraham Kuyper’s son. Among other things, this work deals with the subject of Calvin and the free offer.

This book can also be read on-line.

This is the encouraging story of a true church of Jesus Christ with very humble beginnings. The congregation of mostly poor farmers faced and survived many challenges, some due to her isolated location in a hook-like bend in the Grand River. But this one-hundredth anniversary book of Hope Protestant Reformed Church (PRC) in Michigan (1916-2016) is more than a record of Hope’s history. More importantly, it reveals the secrets of her continuance as a faithful church today: biblical and Reformed principles which, if heeded, give Hope and like-minded churches hope for tomorrow.

This centennial book traces Hope congregation’s life from its earliest beginnings, through its various ministers (including George M. Ophoff and Herman Hanko) and periods without a minister, and via interviews with its members, etc. The official work of the consistory (including minutes of interest) and diaconate; preaching, Bible societies, catechizing and congregational worship; mission work in Lansing, Singapore and Myanmar; the establishment of three daughter churches (Faith PRC, Grandville PRC and Grace PRC); hosting young people’s conventions; building projects; Christian education; and even memories of the 1956 tornado—all are treated in this volume. It is packed with photos, maps, letters, etc.

Eschatology or the doctrine of the last things has always held fascination for the child of God. As the end draws nearer, a study of these things becomes even more important. This short book considers various subjects regarding the last times in a clear and simple style. As Rev. Kortering states in chapter 1 on “Try the Spirits,”

When the stormy billows of false doctrine and immorality crash about us, what is our calling? Shall we close the hatch and sink deeply beneath the turbulent surface and find security in isolation? Shall we try to run away from it all and nurse our wounded spirits in the bowels of past glories? No, my friend; that may seem appealing, but that is not the calling of the faithful church. Rather, the church of Jesus Christ is to enter into the storm as a battleship that is anchored firmly to the Rock of Ages, our Lord Jesus Christ as He has revealed Himself to us in His Word. Only then can we oppose the enemies of the truth, and sound forth in clear and certain words the pure preaching of the Gospel and not be dashed to pieces on the rocks of unbelief. When we do this we can be certain that our eye will be focused upon the beacon light of God that directs us safely to the haven of rest.

Chapter 1: Try the Spirits
Chapter 2: Our Life After Death
Chapter 3: Evidence of Our Lord’s Return
Chapter 4: The Four Horsemen
Chapter 5: The Sealing of the 144,000
Chapter 6: The Locusts Out of the Abyss
Chapter 7: The Eating of the Little Book

This book can also be read on-line.

To read this book in Italian, click here.

Under the figure of a well-tended garden (Isa. 58:11), the author tells the history and development of the Protestant Reformed Churches in America. Its roots are traced from the Reformation to reforming movements in the Netherlands, from Dutch Reformed immigrants to its birth as a denomination, and from there to about 1990. Trials and triumphs alike are narrated as God’s gracious care for his people is demonstrated.

Two books on early Protestant Reformed history may be read on-line:

A Study of the Relation Between the Views of Prof. R. Janssen and Common Grace by Herman Hanko (covers two, related, doctrinal controversies in the Christian Reformed Church [1920-1925]: the Janssen controversy over the nature and authority of Scripture and the common grace controversy, shedding much light on PRC origins)

The History of the Protestant Reformed Churches by Herman Hoeksema (covers 1924-1936)

“I’m reading A Watered Garden by Gertrude Hoeksema. This is a very useful book because it gives me an insight into the roots, birth and development of the PRC. A very special and valuable book.” – England

Read on-line.

Jerome Zanchius (1516-1590) created his age-enduring classic in response to the challenges of those who persisted in charging God with being the Author of sin because He says in the Scriptures that He predestinated all things that come to pass. His answer is irrefutable.

The first forty-two pages describes God as He is revealed in His holy Word. He is all-wise and all-powerful. He is perfect and unchangeable. He, being by Himself alone in eternity, determined to create a universe, and to people that universe with being of His own choice. He saw in His mind the entire course of events, and the persons who would act out these events, and having all things completely settled in His mind beforehand, He decreed all things that were to occur. The distinctions thus having been established in His own mind, He at one time, in one act of His will, predestinated all things “according to the counsel of His will.”

The author then takes up the subject of predestination. The word means to “deliberate beforehand with ones’ self how one shall act; and in consequence of such deliberation to constitute, fore-ordain, and predetermine where and when, how and by whom anything shall be done, and to what end it shall be done.” Who else but God is able to both conceive and order all the happenings in time and eternity? This book is not only closely reasoned, but it is backed and proven by Scripture throughout. It is made abundantly clear that men may not absolve themselves of evil because of God’s eternal predestination of all things. God leaves all men with a freedom to will, but in their total depravity all choose to will only what is evil in the eyes of God.

An excerpt from this book can also be read on-line in Portuguese.

Like the first two books in the Reformed Spirituality series, this third book consists of meditations by Protestant Reformed minister and theologian, Herman Hoeksema. The 46 chapters in this volume have in common their living, breathing zeal for the glory of the infinitely good God. God is only good—good in himself, good in creation, good in salvation, good in Christ and good to His elect people.

This set of beautiful meditations demonstrate that genuine spirituality rises from and ends in the glory of God, for the zeal of the soul for God’s glory is the most profound spirituality. Because the Spirit works true, healthy spirituality by sound doctrine, spirituality exists and flourishes by means of faithful instruction in biblical, Reformed doctrine.

“I have been much blessed by All Glory to the Only Good God.” – W. Yorkshire, England

“Thank you for the book All Glory to the Only Good God. What a remarkable read! I have been overwhelmed with the beauty and depth of what Hoeksema writes concerning our Triune God. I’ve never read a book quite like it. It is such a blessing. It is a transport of joy and truly humbling.” – England

“A church reformed and always reforming, according to the word of God” means that a truly Reformed church continues to live by the word of God from age to age, applies it to every aspect of her life, maintains the sound doctrine of the creeds from generation to generation, resists every threat to the Reformed faith and develops the truth of the holy Scripture.

Always Reforming shows how the Spirit of Christ has carried on the reforming work of Christ in the sixteenth century in one particular branch of the church of the Reformation. A successor to The Sixteenth-Century Reformation of the Church, this book traces the continuing reformation in the Netherlands in the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries and in the Protestant Reformed Churches in North America in the twentieth century. The fivefold division of this book recognizes the ongoing reformation of these Reformed churches as having taken place in the five distinct and doctrinally significant controversies, including sovereign grace (the Synod of Dordt, 1618-1619), uncommon grace and God’s unconditional covenant.

Amongst the highlights of the 35 short chapters of Always Reforming are “The Poisonous Petals of the Arminian LILAC” (ch. 2), “The Afscheiding and Christian Education” (ch. 12), “The Covenant Doctrine of the Fathers of the Secession” (ch. 14), “Dr. Abraham Kuyper, Politician—A Critique” (ch. 21) and “The Split of 1953: Reflections” (ch. 35). This fine book will be of interest to all who enjoy reading the history of the church and who are seeking church reformation in our day.

Written by various authors including the editor, David Engelsma

“… a thorough, solid, scholarly, and wide-reaching panorama of theological themes … Have we given as much thought as we should to the place of the covenant in Christian theology? Arminianism, particular grace, common grace, regeneration, the promise and command of the gospel, church government, the place of children in the covenant, commitment to Psalm singing, Christian education, and the well-meant gospel offer of the ‘apostate’ State Church of Holland, which, along with other contentious issues, led to the secession in 1834, are discussed at considerable length. These, and a whole plethora of mind-stretching, biblically-challenging themes, are brought forward for consideration. The book ends with a ringing challenge—’Is there among us today a lack of interest in sound doctrinal preaching? Do we clamour for less emphasis on doctrine and more emphasis on daily living? Is there a trend among us towards worldly-mindedness, even though we may not be aware of it? Have we become lethargic? …’ [This book is] of great interest to the student and scholar, worthy of a wide academic readership, and an important contribution to areas of considerable ongoing discussion” (English Churchman).

This excellent booklet presents the Reformed and Presbyterian position on baptism by setting forth the various passages of Scripture dealing with this important and controversial subject. It is essentially a detailed Bible study, though the writer has drawn on a number of commentators and theologians. After considering the meaning of baptism, the main part is a thorough examination of the texts relating to mode. Not one clear example of baptism by immersion is found in the New Testament. Indeed, the circumstances of text after text point to affusion or aspersion as the only possible way in which baptism could have been administered. This conclusion is strengthened by the fact that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is spoken of in terms of coming from above in pouring, and that affusions and aspersions are frequent in the Old Testament. Baptism: Meaning, Mode and Subjects concludes with a brief treatment of the covenant position of believers’ children.

Baptism: Meaning, Mode & Subjects, by Michael Kimmitt. 48 pages. [Reviewed by David J. Engelsma]

In six, brief chapters, this booklet treats of baptism’s meaning, mode, and subjects, as well as three main objections against infant baptism and certain implications of the study.

The short study of the biblical doctrine of baptism is especially helpful regarding the mode of baptism, whether immersion or some other mode, e.g., sprinkling. Mr. Kimmitt takes a “scientific approach” to the subject, examining all of the references to baptism in the New Testament, in order then to draw the conclusion demanded by the evidence. His study shows that not only is there a complete lack of evidence in the New Testament for the dogma of immersion, but also in most of the instances of baptism immersion is improbable and often impossible. “… there is not a single certain case of immersion in the New Testament and that the probability in case after case is that Baptism was administered by sprinkling or pouring” (p. 33).

This bears, of course, on the issue of the baptism of the infants of godly parents, since immersion rules out the baptism of infants.

A scientist himself, Mr. Kimmitt has the scientist’s appreciation for mathematics: “Mathematics is a marvellous science; the one exact science we have” (p. 15). A theologian may be forgiven for demurring at this point. Nevertheless, Kimmitt intriguingly employs mathematics in the service of demonstrating that John the Baptist could not have immersed all those who came to him (pp. 14, 15).

Brief as it is, the chapter on the subjects of baptism is also very good both to confirm the faith of the Reformed Christian that infants of believers are to be baptized and to reprove the Baptist of his sin of excluding the children of the godly from the covenant and church of God.

The author carries on a controversy against the Baptists with a good spirit. But he does not minimize the seriousness of the issue: “… we invite them (all Baptists—DJE) to abandon their schismatical divisions and return to the Reformed Faith” (p. 33).

There is the greatest need for such a witness to the truth of infant baptism in the British Isles. Those with some reputation for Calvinism—the “Calvinistic Baptists”—deny infant baptism altogether, thus forfeiting the right to the name “Reformed.” Ian Paisley’s Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster has all but abandoned infant baptism, thus making a mockery of its own name. And, of course, the Anglican Church has turned infant baptism into the superstition of “christening.”

This booklet can be read on-line.

This booklet can be read on-line in Dutch, Italian and Polish. An excerpt of this booklet can also be read in Portuguese.

The Battle for Sovereign Grace in the Covenant recounts much of the gripping history of the schism of 1953 within the Protestant Reformed Churches (PRC), the culmination of the hard fought battle for sovereign grace in the covenant. The book includes new, important details that have not been previously published and also provides the history of the controversial adoption by the PRCA of the Declaration of Principles, the document that in some ways occasioned the schism of 1953. In the appendices of the book, Engelsma gives a brief, valuable commentary on the Declaration, the first commentary to be written. Photos of the key figures in the controversy are also included.

Click on the links below for a review of this book on the Young Calvinist Blog.
Part 1    Part 2    Part 3

To watch the video of the author interview concerning this book, click here.

“Be Ye Holy is the best book I have ever read on sanctification and is as confessional as you could get.” – Republic of Ireland

“Be Ye Holy has been a great resource to pass out to visitors, and to mail to prisoners and others who are eager for doctrinal dispute, but need better to understand the calling to holiness.” – USA

Herman Hoeksema preached often on Revelation, even preaching through the entire book more than once—not to mention the numerous Bible studies he led on it. Behold He Cometh is thus the fruit of several decades of teaching. This essay-style commentary on the book of Revelation is written from the Reformed, amillennial viewpoint. In clear, concise language, the author sets forth rich biblical teaching concerning the end times.

Dr. William Hendriksen (renowned expositor of the Book of Revelation and minister in the Christian Reformed Church): “The treatment of the text is definitely Reformed in character in that it always ascribes all the glory to God and traces his way in history … I warmly recommend the book” (The Banner).

“We highly recommend this volume … Every pastor should own a copy, and it would serve as an excellent text for Seminary, Bible School or Bible class study groups” (The Gospel Witness).

“A new and solid commentary has been added to the list of the Reformed expositions of the last book of the Bible” (Calvinist Contact).

“A refreshing feature … was that the author showed great insight into the Scriptures” (Australian Baptist).

“… anyone who wishes to make a thorough study of Revelation owes it to himself to work through Hoeksema’s Behold He Cometh” (Wisconsin Lutheran Journal).

“It is the kind of book I would like to see in every library and in every home. I heartily recommend it” (Westminster Theological Journal).

“It is the best work on Revelation known to this reviewer (bearing in mind the excellent works of Hengstenberg, Durham and Hendriksen, to name no others) … Its lucid, simple style is admirably calculated to demonstrate just how perfectly the message of this final book of the canon accords with everything else in Holy Scripture … Hoeksema’s treatment of the Final Judgment of the ungodly and the blessedness of the New Jerusalem is a joy to read. May this superb work goad us to long, pray and work for the second coming of our Saviour, when the cosmic conflict shall end, when Christ shall yield up the kingdom to His Father, and God shall be all and in all” (Peace and Truth).

Rev. Jerome Julien (United Reformed Churches in North America): “Rev. Hoeksema preached through the Book of Revelation twice in his ministry, once soon after World War I and the second time during World War II, the latter time to very large crowds of hearers. The series of messages in this volume—fifty-three in number—thoroughly expounds the comforting truth in this last book of the Bible … A student of the Book of Revelation can hardly do better than this! … by all means get a copy of it” (The Outlook).

Joel R. Beeke: “Where should you begin [the study of eschatology]? Read the book of Revelation again. While doing so, consult Herman Hoeksema’s Behold He Cometh” (in Joel R. Beeke and Sinclair B. Ferguson [eds.], Reformed Confessions Harmonized [Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1999], p. 271).

Rev. Charles Roberts: “Rev. Hoeksema’s exposition of Revelation is a priceless tome of pastoral insight and scholarly wisdom. A superb, user friendly, amillennial analysis of one of the most important books in the canon of scripture.” – South Carolina, USA

“[My wife’s mother] was blessed to read Herman Hoeksema’s Reformed Dogmatics and Behold He Cometh. She has particularly found the latter very edifying in recent times and has revisited it often.” – W. Yorkshire

“Thank you very much for the book by Herman Hoeksema, Behold He Cometh! This is a wonderful and very useful book. Herman Hoeksema is superb in his writings! … Out of all the interpretations of the book of Revelation his is the most comprehensive and beautiful, and also tactful, without direct negative pointing to any particular group or denomination” – Kazakhstan

“I have almost finished reading Behold He Cometh, a wonderful and helpful read. Most illuminating and relevant; I had puzzled long about Rev. 17:9-13, Herman Hoeksema has clarified much for me. I find myself in total agreement with him in his methods and interpretation of the prophetic and apocalyptic literature of the Bible in the context of all of Holy Scripture. He is obviously familiar with the interpretative methods of others … and shows up their interpretation for what they are. Since the book was first written, events in the church and the world confirm Hoeksema’s understanding.” – Wolverhampton, England

“I’m reading a wonderful book I got from [the CPRC], Behold He Cometh, a commentary on Revelation. This has been a real help, although I only can work about 20 minutes a day on it [because of my serious health problems]. I have found it a real blessing.” – Co. Antrim, N. Ireland

“I was speaking to a believer on Saturday and during our conversation he mentioned Hoeksema’s Behold He Cometh and what a wonderful book he had found it.  So today I have had a look on the internet and begun reading it on line. The world is growing worse and worse. It’s so easy to become caught up in things and to begin to get fearful. How good it will be to be given an understanding of our great God and Saviour’s sovereign purpose in all the things He is bringing to pass before He comes back to judge the world in righteousness.” – Berkshire, England

“The commentary on Revelation is easily the best I’ve come across and Herman Hoeksema’s interpretation is so accurate, looking at the events that are developing in the world today.” – Essex, England

Click here to read a review of this book by one of our readers!
Click here to read a review of this book in the Standard Bearer.

Click here to read a review of this book in Korean.

Some chapters of this book have been translated into Polish.
Excerpts from the book on “The Binding of Satan”  and on Revelation 14:4-5 can be read on-line in Portuguese.
Chapter 7, “The Church With a Mystic Tendency” can be read on-line in Spanish.

This three-volume art curriculum set, Behold the Beauty, is designed to be used by teachers or homeschooling parents for kindergarten–6th grade. The ultimate objective of every lesson is exactly as the title implies: to behold the beauty of creation and to praise God in doing that. As students learn to more closely observe creation while rendering what they see in pencil, paint, or other artistic media, they will be trained to meet that objective. In serving that goal, the lessons teach how to use the elements of art, such as line, shape, and color, while introducing the principles of design, such as unity, variety, and focal point. Not only do students learn to behold the evidence of God’s glory all around them by these means, they also learn to make objects of beauty in order to communicate that glory to others. The curriculum is based on the infallible Scriptures, and the twelve lessons of each grade level comprise a thorough, biblical, and systematic art education.

Behold the Beauty was also written with practical considerations in mind: to assist instructors who have had little or no training in art. The lessons are clear and easy to use, requiring minimal supplies without compromising objectives.

The author, Connie Meyer, is a wife and mother of five children and is a 1982 graduate of Calvin College with a BA in art education. She has used the lessons with her children and has helped teachers teach art in their classrooms.

“This book has been a great introduction to art for my son. We’ve been using it for over a year now and have made many wonderful art projects. I even have his 2 yr. brother participate and he has fun. It teaches great art concepts and includes godly wisdom alongside.”

“This is a great book. There is a small amount of prep (little more than making sure you have the materials), and no special skills required. I have been working through this with my 6 year old (started when she was 5. Her little brother also tries to do the projects (and is successful for the most part). Highly recommended.”

Believers and Their Seed is not a book designed to prove infant baptism over against the baptist position. It is a book for those already convicted of the truth that “The baptism of young children is … to be retained in the church, as most agreeable with the institution of Christ” (Article 24 of the Thirty-Nine Articles). Herman Hoeksema grounds infant baptism in the covenant of grace with believers and their seed which in turn is rooted in the covenant life of the Triune God, “a life of the most intimate communion of love and friendship, resting in the unity of God’s Being and living through the personal distinction[s]” of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (p. 61).

As well as grounding infant baptism in God’s covenant, Hoeksema draws out the relationship between infant baptism and election and the doctrines of grace. Thus he opposes a “conditional” covenant (chs. 1-2) and baptismal regeneration (chs. 3-4) and deals with the difficult pastoral issue of covenant children who die in infancy (ch. 11).

Believers and Their Seed has helped a lot of people understand infant baptism more deeply and been of great comfort to believing parents. The proper understanding of the covenant also helps to preserve Reformed, Presbyterian, Anglican and Congregational churches from the incursion of baptistic thinking (pp. 4-5) and the modern practice of infant “dedication” services. For those less familiar with some of the controversies between paedobaptists (chs. 1-4), it may be best to read the positive treatment of God’s covenant and infant baptism first (chs. 5-11).

This book can also be read on-line.

Click here to read this book in Dutch.
Click to read chapter 5 and chapter 6 in Italian.

REVIEW

Believers and Their Seed: Children in the Covenant, by Herman Hoeksema. Grand Rapids: Reformed Free Publishing Association, revised edition, 1997. 166 pages (hard cover). [Reviewed by Rev. D.H. Kuiper.]

There are really only two views of the covenant of grace. One view holds that the covenant of God is unilateral. The other view is that it is bilateral. That the covenant is unilateral or one-sided means that God is sovereign in every aspect of the covenant: He conceived of it, established it, maintains it, and perfects it. There are not two parties in the covenant, but one, and that is God. There are two parts to the covenant, God’s and man’s; but God performs His part, and also works man’s part by the power of His grace. The other view of the covenant, bilateralism, has God and man in contract or agreement. Each has a work to perform. When God does His part and man does his part then the covenant is successful. In this book Herman Hoeksema argues successfully that the covenant is unilateral. And he shows that all other views are essentially bilateral, and as such partake of Arminianism to one degree or another.

From a certain point of view, Believers and Their Seed is Hoeksema’s most important book, for it sets forth his greatest contribution to Reformed theology. At the same time, the view of the covenant developed here sets forth the heart of Protestant Reformed theology; if anyone wants to know what these churches stand for, in distinction from other Reformed denominations, this book will make that clear. As the sovereignty of God is the great truth that underlies and unifies the five points of Calvinism, so the sovereignty of God is the basis of Hoeksema’s understanding of the covenant. God is God! Salvation is of the Lord alone! And salvation, the covenant, and the grace of God revealed therein, are only for the elect whom God has chosen in eternity and unconditionally.

Because Hoeksema was intellectually honest and thoroughly committed to Holy Scripture and the Reformed confessions, it is safe to say that his insistence on particular grace assisted him in developing a view of the covenant that was biblically grounded and in harmony with the genius of the confessions. It is striking that in 1927, only three years after he was expelled from the Christian Reformed Church for opposing the theory of common grace, he set forth his covenant view in eleven editorials in the Standard Bearer. Those editorials form the contents of this book, first published in the Dutch language, then in an English translation in 1971, and now in this attractive reprint. This volume also contains a twenty-six page preface by Prof. David Engelsma which gives a biography of Hoeksema and a thorough introduction to the book itself.

As Prof. Engelsma points out, the significance of the book is that it makes six points about the covenant, points we believe Reformed churches need badly to hear today. 1) The essence of the covenant is friendship, friendship between God and His people through the work of Jesus Christ. And this friendship is to be traced back to the triune life of God Himself. God is the covenant God because He enjoys a life of friendship, first within Himself, and then with His people. 2) Included in this covenant life are the children of believers, for God saves His church in the line of continued generations. And for this reason infants are to be baptized. 3) There is one church throughout the ages, one covenant under Old and New Testament forms. Baptism has replaced circumcision. Infants must receive the token of the covenant. 4) The covenant is established only with the elect. Here we see Hoeksema faithful to the Canons of Dordt as he applies the doctrines of grace to the covenant. Because believers bring forth a twofold seed, the elect and the reprobate, it is necessary to distinguish the covenant from the sphere of the covenant. Only elect children of believers are in the covenant of grace. The Esaus in the church are not in the covenant, but are merely in the sphere of the covenant for which they are judged the more strictly. 5) The doctrinal struggle of 1953 must be seen as a controversy over the covenant: Would the Protestant Reformed Churches remain faithful to her historical moorings, or would she adopt bilateralism as regards the covenant? Hoeksema shows that the Christian Reformed view of the covenant was basically the same as that espoused by Dr. K. Schilder and the Liberated Churches, and therefore must be rejected. And 6) Hoeksema rejects the Kuyperian notion of presupposed regeneration as the reason for the baptism of infants. It is a mystery of modern church history that time and again Hoeksema and the Protestant Reformed Churches are charged with maintaining presupposed regeneration.

I have used the book to study the doctrine of the covenant twice, once with the adult members of a small congregation and once with older young people and young adults. Both times the experience was profitable and enjoyable for all concerned. We encourage others to study this important book, either personally or in society. Such a study will send us to Holy Scripture to learn what it means that God is the covenant God, and why the covenant is called the covenant of grace. Such a study, humbly and prayerfully undertaken, will be an act of friendship.

Many years ago an older pastor advised me to read Chapter 5 of the book before all the other chapters. In Chapter 5 the “Meaning of the Covenant” is set forth. With that in mind the other chapters are more understandable. We found that to be true, and pass the suggestion on for your consideration.

“I found Believers and Their Seed by H. Hoeksema really lovely.” – Yorkshire, England

“I finished reading Herman Hoeksema’s Believers and Their Seed a couple of days ago and found it helpful as well as food for the soul.” – Co. Antrim

The Belgic Confession is a beloved Reformed summary of the Christian faith—for the building up of the church of Christ and to the glory of the Triune God. But the Belgic Confession is not only a statement of faith. The theological depths and the personal character of this beloved document make it a more-than-suitable resource to which the believer can turn for the daily practice of personal devotions. 

Each day the 365 meditations in this book will guide the reader toward a better understanding of and love for those scriptural truths for which the author of the Belgic Confession (1561), Guido de Brès, lived as a pastor, a husband and a father, and died as a martyr.

This book began as devotional articles written by ministers of the Protestant Reformed Churches in the US and Canada for the edification of the saints in the Covenant Evangelical Reformed Church in Singapore.

Look inside this book.

“My wife and I are currently enjoying the edifying blessings from the book containing 365 meditations on the Belgic Confession.” – W. Yorkshire

In seven succinct chapters, the author brings to both single and married believers, in a straightforward way, the intensely practical instruction of the apostle Paul on sex and marriage.

In what calling am I to please God—in marriage or single life? How can I please my husband or wife sexually? If I have an unbelieving or miserable spouse, what does the Lord require of me? What is the relationship of the children of believers to the covenant of grace? How am I to rear my covenant children? As well as answering such questions and many more, this book also exposes the evils of a “Joseph marriage,” requiring “unmarried priests,” divorce for any ground other than fornication, and remarriage of both the guilty and the innocent party while their spouse is still living.

Added as an appendix is “The Remarriage of the ‘Innocent Party’—A Sermon,” a careful explanation of Matthew 19:9.

To watch the video of the author interview concerning this book, click here.

This book can be read on-line in Dutch.

“Just finished reading Better To Marry by David Engelsma, This book is very helpful and practical. Fornication is a soul destroying sin, and keeping company with fornicators is as bad as keeping company with drunkards because bad company corrupts.” – England

REVIEW

Better to Marry, by David J. Engelsma. Grand Rapids: Reformed Free Publishing Association, 1993. 105 pp. (paperback). [Reviewed by Rev. Audred Spriensma.]

Prof. David Engelsma has written another small book (105 pages) on the subject of marriage. His first book, Marriage: the Mystery of Christ and the Church, was first published in 1975 and has been reprinted several times. It is a fine book on the nature and demands of marriage based upon the teaching of God’s Word from Ephesians 5. The Christian couple in their marriage relationship are to be a picture of the glorious relationship between Christ and His church. As a pastor I was happy to give that book to all the young couples I married in my previous churches.

Now we have another book from the able hand of this writer and pastor. This book is not to replace the first book but to supplement that teaching. Now Prof. Engelsma draws from the teaching of God’s Word as it is found in that classic passage of marriage, I Corinthians 7. Here God’s Word gives us the very practical and earthy basis for marriage and the answers to problems in marriage.

We need this. Too often God’s people listen to the wisdom and advice of the world concerning sex and marriage, advice not based upon God’s Word and therefore advice that leads the saints astray. Prof. Engelsma writes, “It becomes increasingly rare that the churches and their teachers base their instruction and guidance squarely on the Word of God … the churches are ready to give counsel that deviates from, and even plainly contradicts Holy Scripture. In the end, there is no difference between the advice of the unbelieving counsellor and the advice of the supposedly Christian counsellor.” Or again he writes, “Either the churches officially adopt reports that sanction the sexual activity of the unmarried, the unbiblical divorcing and the remarrying of the married, and the homosexual lust and conduct of married and unmarried; or the churches preach a grace of God in Christ that approves all this wickedness by tolerating it in the lives of professing Christians and in the fellowship of the congregation.” Prof. Engelsma, correctly I believe, lays the blame of much of the sin where it belongs, i.e., on the church. Office-bearers will have to give an account to the Head of the church in the Judgment Day for having caused these little ones to stumble.

The theme of the book is that it is better to marry in order to flee fornication. Fornication was common in the pagan world of the apostle Paul’s day, as it is also in our day. We live in a sex-saturated society. As Prof. Engelsma points out in regard to fornication: “It is no different from eating, except that more effort is put forth to stir up the appetite for fornicating than for eating.” In this age the church must speak plainly and unashamedly about sex in the single life and in marriage.

The author can be thanked for his careful exegetical treatment of I Corinthians 7, pointing out how modern translations have corrupted the teaching of God’s Word. At the end of each chapter Prof. Engelsma sums up the teaching of God’s Word and lists implications of this teaching for the conduct and attitudes of believers and the church. And coming through loud and clear, as must be the case, is the gospel to those who have sinned, or are struggling with homosexual feelings: “It (the Gospel) forgives all past sins of fornication, including homosexual sins … and it breaks the ruling power of the sin of fornication. Whether the gospel has the power to deliver those who have the perverse desire for people of their own sex, so that they crucify this desire and resolutely refuse to practice it, is not even a question in the church where the gospel is known” (p. 10). Again, “… for those who have already broken God’s law concerning marriage, whether by fornication, by an unbiblical divorce, or by remarriage, there is a way of escape from condemnation. This way is by repentance. Repentance finds forgiveness in the atoning death of Jesus Christ. There is abundant mercy in the Saviour to blot out the guilt of fornication, desertion, divorce, and remarriage. But repentance breaks with the sin and walks henceforth in obedience to the .ordinances of God, regardless of the cost” (p. 87).

The book contains a nice section on the single person. Single life is often neglected or looked down upon. But God’s Word shows that the single life is honourable and even beneficial for the Kingdom of God. Personally I would like to see the author write a separate book on this important topic. Or perhaps we would be better served with a different title to this present book, such as “Serving the Lord in Single or Married Life.” Singleness as a lifelong state is honourable.

Christians who desire to live for God’s glory and in obedience to God’s Word whether single or married would do well to read and apply the down-to-earth practical instruction that one finds in this book.

Prof. Engelsma concludes the book with a sermon in an appendix regarding the sin of remarriage. It is well that the book ends with a sermon. It shows that not only is it possible for the church to preach these practical truths but also necessary, for preaching is the means of grace that God uses and blesses to lead His church in the truth.