Dutch theology during the present century has been subject to various influences. Its character has been molded in turn not only by Calvinism, which has always continued to live among the people, but also by the Swiss Reveil; both by the German Vermittelungstheologie and by Greek philosophy.
How are we to read the book of Revelation? What does the Bible say about the future of Israel? Are we to await a millennial kingdom or thousand year reign of Christ? Answering these questions will at the same time show us how to respond to Lindsey’s writings.
The writer of this book became rather intimately acquainted with its heroine, Miss Johanna Veenstra, in the capacity of Director of Missions of her and his denomination. As such he traveled with her considerably, addressing various meetings of the Women’s Missionary Unions of the Christian Reformed Church.
As has often been remarked, there is between Christianity and all other religions one prominent characteristic and real difference. Christ is, as it were, Christianity. He is the living Lord who now sitteth at the right hand of God and continues the work of redemption through His Word and Spirit. No other religion can compare.
In spite of two influential groups of Churches in the Netherlands, both originating in a secession from the Established Church, the one in 1834, the other in 1886, being brought together and holding their “First General Synod of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands”, the model of reformation remained in contention.
The centuries preceding the French Revolution (1789) are in many ways different from the epoch that followed. The radical change of direction introduced into the life and thought of the nations by this tremendous event shattered the continuity of history and impacted the matter of our faith.
When a person looks at the world round about him for the first time, a multitude of questions throng in upon him from all sides. For the questions that we are concerned with in our lives are innumerable and most of them are so insoluble that, after once having come to grips with them, we seem to feel unable to withdraw from the contest.
Relentless consumerism characterizes the First World today. If Jesus is right that we cannot serve both God and mammon (Luke 16:13), it follows that Jesus’ followers today simply must examine their priorities in life lest we unwittingly take on the spirit of our age.
Often we face the dilemma of having to choose between the privatism of those who do not see why they should apply their faith to social and political questions and the radical views of others who are certain they ought to apply faith to society in socialistic ways. Harry Antonides finds fault with both these perspectives.
For anyone who has ever taken part in the battle to preserve something of a meaningful social structure in Canada, who has tried to live up to the promise of our history, there is no lack of awareness of how great the odds are against winning such a battle.