NEW HORIZONS in the ORTHODOX PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

8 Two Resources on Trans- 21 K. Scott Oliphint’s Thomas October 2018 genderism // by David Aquinas // by Benjamin W. VanDrunen Swinburnson

A FIERY GOSPEL THE BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC

RICHARD M. GAMBLE // 3 VOLUME 39, NUMBER 9 CONTENTS New Horizons in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church Editor: Danny E. Olinger Managing Editor: Judith M. Dinsmore FEATURES Editorial Assistant: Diane L. Olinger Proofreader: Sarah Pederson 3 A Fiery Gospel: The Battle Hymn of Cover Designer: Christopher Tobias Editorial Board: The Committee on Christian the Republic Education’s Subcommittee on Serial Publications By Richard M. Gamble © 2018 by The Committee on Christian Education of 6 The Christianity of Woodrow Wilson The Orthodox Presbyterian Church. All rights reserved. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are By Danny E. Olinger from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. DEPARTMENTS All rights reserved. (We use the 2011 revision.) Articles previously published may be slightly edited. New Horizons (ISSN: 0199-3518) is published 8 Christian Education monthly except for a combined issue, usually August- September, by the Committee on Christian Education Two Resources on Transgenderism • Our of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, 607 N. Easton Road, Bldg. E, Willow Grove, PA 19090-2539; tel. 215- Membership Vows 830-0900; fax 215-830-0350. 10 Letters to the editor are welcome. They should deal Foreign Missions with an issue the magazine has recently addressed. Educating “Third Culture” Kids Their language should be temperate, and they may not charge anyone with an offense. They should be brief, 12 Home Missions and they may be condensed by the editor. Send inquiries, letters to the editor, and other corres- Meet the New Church-Planting Interns pondence to the editor at [email protected]. 14 Send address changes to [email protected]. Allow six 2018 Short-Term Missions weeks for address changes. Focus on Menominee and Montevideo The digital edition (PDF, ePub, mobi) and an archive of previous issues are available at www.opc.org. 16 Stewardship Views expressed by our writers are not necessarily those of the editors or official positions of the Presbyterians and Giving Orthodox Presbyterian Church. 17 Copies are distributed free to members and friends Prayer Calendar of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Nonmembers are asked to donate $20.00 for an annual subscription 19 News, Views, & Reviews (USD $30.00 if sent to addresses in Canada; $40.00 elsewhere abroad). A free e-mail PDF subscription is also available. Requests for a subscription should be sent to [email protected] or the address below. Periodicals postage is paid at Willow Grove, PA, and at additional mailing offices.Postmaster: Send address changes to New Horizons in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, 607 N. Easton Road, Bldg. E, Willow Grove, PA 19090-2539.

On July 15, Knox OPC in Silver Spring, MD, celebrated with much joy its first baptism of triplets. Elise, Rose, and Julia Rueger were born on December 2, 2017, to Paul and Abi Rueger, but their baptisms were delayed for several months while Julia underwent a series of major surgeries to address a congenital heart defect. She is recovering well, and the Ruegers and Knox OPC rejoice in the Lord’s faithfulness. (left to right) Pastor Tom Martin, elder Jim Van Dam, elder Karl Schneider holding Elise, deacon Paul Rueger holding Rose, and Abi Rueger holding Julia.

2 / NEW HORIZONS / OCTOBER 2018 A FIERY GOSPEL: THE BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC

RICHARD M. GAMBLE // The new Trinity Psalter Hymnal in- cludes only two hymns under the topic “The Nation.” The first is national only by implication. It pleas for “God the all-terrible” to have mercy and grant “peace in our time.” The second appeals to the “great King of nations,” again to show mercy to a repentant, humble, and needy people. Neither is the issues at stake in the Civil War, Ma- famous poem, but by his adding that specific to America. Both can be sung chen wrote, “One thing is clear—a fiery these kinds of hymns could be “found by Christians in any land. war song like that has no place in the in the back part of the hymnals,” alert The OPC/URC psalter-hymnal worship of a Christian congregation.” readers would have known that that is takes an appropriately cautious ap- Machen had already criticized the exactly where the PCUSA had placed proach to the nation’s place in public Battle Hymn a decade earlier in his the Battle Hymn during World War I. worship. But that caution has not al- landmark Christianity and Liberalism. In the spring of 1917, just weeks ways characterized Presbyterians in the In the closing paragraphs, he noted the after Congress declared war on Ger- United States. A century ago, songs sorrow that overwhelmed anyone who many, the General Assembly of the about America and America’s wars entered the modern American church PCUSA approved the Committee on provoked controversy among Presbyte- seeking “refreshment for the soul” and Publication’s recommendation to adopt rians, in part due to the nation’s inter- heard instead “only the turmoil of the “The Supplement of 1917.” The Sup- vention in World War I and the desire world”—a sermon consisting merely plement comprised Francis Scott Key’s evident among many pastors and con- of “human opinions about the social “Star-Spangled Banner” (without the gregations to mobilize themselves for problems of the hour” compounded by ferociously anti-British third verse sure earthly warfare. “one of those hymns breathing out the to offend America’s new ally), Rudyard J. Gresham Machen still had one of angry passions of 1861, which are to be Kipling’s “Recessional,” and Howe’s these hymns in mind in 1933 when he found in the back part of the hymnals.” Battle Hymn. At the head of the Battle reviewed the new hymnal of the Pres- What cost did Machen see in political Hymn, in the place typically reserved byterian Church in the United States of preaching and militant national hymns? for a Scripture text, appeared Woodrow America (PCUSA). Never one to hold Nothing less than this: instead of a ref- Wilson’s pledge that “the world must be back, Machen charged “that the book uge, hungry souls find that “the warfare made safe for democracy.” Rarely had does in rather clear fashion reveal the of the world has entered even into the religion, politics, and war been so per- drift of the times” away from doctrinal house of God.” fectly synthesized. clarity and orthodoxy and into modern- Apocalyptic Anthem Editors Louis F. Benson and ism. Nevertheless, he found something Franklin L. Sheppard produced the good to say about it: Julia Ward Howe’s Machen’s reference to “the angry Supplement. Benson was a distin- “Battle Hymn of the Republic” had been passions of 1861” might seem like a guished hymnologist with a degree removed. Whatever one may think of cryptic allusion to Julia Ward Howe’s from Princeton Theological Seminary.

NEW HORIZONS / OCTOBER 2018 / 3 Sheppard composed hymn tunes Gridley Howe, was a member of the have done to and with the Bible is at (among them the familiar setting of “Secret Six” that helped Brown fund his least as important as what the Bible “This Is My Father’s World”) and raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859. (Anoth- has done to America. It may reveal served as president of the Board of er member of the Secret Six always in- much about our faith and nation. It’s Publication. These two opinionated edi- sisted that Brown was the “Hero, born tempting to imagine a museum with tors might have disagreed about details, of woman” in the Battle Hymn’s third an exhibit called “What America Did questioned each other’s musical judg- stanza.) to the Bible.” From John Winthrop to ment, or debated the merits of Kipling’s Howe wrote the Battle Hymn on Tom Paine, from Abraham Lincoln to poem, but they never doubted that the a visit to Washington, DC, in Novem- Franklin Roosevelt, from Ronald Rea- Battle Hymn was appropriate for public ber 1861. She made the most of her gan to Donald Trump, that is a story worship or that the church should be time in and around the capital by vis- worth telling. The Bible’s mobilization mobilized for war. Together, the editors, iting the Union officers and soldiers of for the purposes of politics, war, and the Board of Publication, and the pas- the Army of the Potomac. Inspired by the culture wars is the very essence of tors and elders of the General Assembly a troop review and by her brush with civil religion. And never has the Bible gave congregations the means to inter- a Confederate raid and skirmish, she remained unscathed as it has been pret the new war using Howe’s apoca- awoke early on the morning of Novem- snipped into pieces and reassembled for lyptic anthem and to imagine that they ber 19 with lines of poetry crowding her the purposes of the City of Man. too saw the glory of the Lord coming mind. She found some paper and wrote Like most of her generation, even on the battlefields of their day. out the stanzas that begin, “Mine eyes among the liberals and skeptics, Howe The Hymn-Writer have seen the glory of the coming of the knew her King James Bible, and she Lord.” The lines fit the cadences of the could count on a Bible-reading Amer- Julia Ward Howe was reared in “John Brown Song” she had heard the ica to recognize what she was doing a pious evangelical household of the soldiers sing the day before. and what she meant to convey about Protestant Episcopal Church. She was Bible Hymn of the Republic? America and Christianity. Her ser- baptized, confirmed, and received into mons, lectures, essays, and poems reflect communicant membership in that de- The original manuscript of the her mastery of the pages of Scripture. nomination. In moments of crisis, she Battle Hymn of the Republic sits on While she filtered the Bible through sought out revival meetings in the city display at the new Museum of the Bible the mesh of her radical theology and and turned to her Bible and trusted in Washington, DC, just a few blocks philosophy, and misapplied fragments family friends for consolation, and yet from where Howe stayed in Novem- in every way imaginable, she neverthe- her search led her far beyond the bounds ber of 1861. Museum board chairman less had the text of the Bible readily at of historic Christianity. Steve Green paid near- her command. Yet the Battle Hymn of After her marriage and ly $800,000 for Howe’s the Republic’s extensive use of the Bible move to Boston, she manuscript at a Chris- doesn’t make it biblical. joined the most radi- tie’s auction in 2012 It is not necessary to match the cal Unitarian churches as one of many pieces Battle Hymn word for word to verses of in the city. She never amassed by the Green Scripture in order to understand what looked back. family and Hobby Howe was attempting to do. In some Well educated and Lobby’s millions in or- cases, her language merely suggests the fluent in several lan- der to show how much sound and weight of the Bible without guages, Howe as a the Bible has influenced being an actual quotation. Her opening young wife and mother American history, poli- line provides a good example: “Mine managed to read deeply tics, and culture. It now eyes have seen the glory.” These words in Spinoza, Kant, Swe- lives on the museum’s echo Simeon’s prayer of thanksgiving denborg, and many second floor, a perma- when Mary and Joseph presented Jesus other philosophers, nent exhibit on “The at the temple: “Mine eyes have seen thy mystics, theologians, Julia Ward Howe Impact of the Bible.” salvation” (Luke 2:30). Howe’s tech- and historians. Kant re- Evidence for the nique may have simply evoked Holy mained her favorite. She took her place Bible’s impact on America, from the Writ in the same way Abraham Lincoln easily in the popularized German Ideal- colonial era to the present, is hard to did with his biblical-sounding “Four ism of New England Transcendental- miss, especially if we are familiar with score and seven years ago.” Or she may ism. Most famously, she became active in the language and rhythm of the King have launched her battle anthem with a the abolitionist movement. She admired James Version. But looking for that quotation from Isaiah the prophet’s vi- John Brown as a Christlike hero raised one-way impact uncovers only half the sion of the Lord enthroned in his tem- up for the times. Her husband, Samuel story at best. The story of what people ple. A man of unclean lips, Isaiah cries

4 / NEW HORIZONS / OCTOBER 2018 out in woe “for mine eyes have seen the a rational appeal to action, and they denial of every fundamental doctrine King, the Lord of hosts” (Isaiah 6:5). spoke beyond the confines of the Civil of the Christian faith. He could have Most of Howe’s biblical appro- War, as they were meant to. Indeed, the pointed to Howe’s misapplication of the priations concern the impending day Battle Hymn has been used to explain vineyard imagery from Isaiah and Rev- of the Lord. Isaiah 27 speaks of God’s and justify every subsequent war in elation. He could have raised all these punishment of Leviathan, the dragon, American history. Part of its durability problems with the Battle Hymn, but he wielding his “great and strong sword” as comes from the fact did not. Instead, he protects his “vineyard of red wine”— that Howe never he objected to it images central to the Battle Hymn. mentions North because anthems Isaiah 63 asks, “Wherefore art thou or South or even like these bring red in thine apparel, and thy garments slavery by name. “the warfare of like him that treadeth in the winefat?” In 1863, Lincoln the world into The answer comes, “I will tread them achieved similar re- the house of in mine anger, and trample them in my sults with his Get- God.” fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled tysburg Address, an Some might upon my garments, and I will stain all even more famous counter that my raiment.” Even the rhythm matches appropriation of perhaps the Howe’s verses. the Bible—or more Civil War was These Old Testament images reap- specifically, of the still too recent pear in the apostle John’s vision, again language of Chris- for Machen to associating God’s day of judgment with tian redemption— overcome his the harvest of ripe grapes, the treading for war. scruples. Perhaps of the vintage in the winepress of his Read alongside time will rescue wrath, and the blood flowing out from the Battle Hymn, Front page of The Atlantic , February 1862 the Battle Hymn the press (Rev. 14:17–20). For centuries, the passages from from its associa- Catholic and Lutheran art depicted Genesis, Isaiah, and tions. Once the Christ himself standing in that wine- Revelation make quite clear what the Battle Hymn no longer “breathe[s] press, being pressed under the weight poet was up to. She claimed that with out the angry passions of 1861” in any- of the Cross, bearing God’s wrath, his her very eyes she had witnessed the one’s mind, then congregations might blood pouring out of the vat for man’s coming of the day of the Lord in the sing it in good conscience as a worthy redemption. campfires of the boys in blue in north- hymn “baptized” for the use of Christ’s Howe’s more obvious use of the Bi- ern Virginia. Whether Christians in church. ble appears in the Battle Hymn’s third the twenty-first century realize it or But a further question has to be verse. There the poet sees a “fiery gos- not, the Battle Hymn of the Republic asked: Can any element of worship be pel” glinting in the Union soldiers’ bay- is a celebration of bloody and violent “baptized” by theological and histori- onets. She claims she witnesses nothing divine justice enacted in the here and cal ignorance? Stripped of its context, less than the fulfillment of God’s prom- now as if the end of the ages had come the Battle Hymn still appropriates the ise of redemption after the Fall. “Let the on an earthly field of battle. More than Bible for political purposes in ways Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent that, it ties the messianic hope and alien to the gospel and to the church’s with his heel,” she writes. In her hands, Christ’s triumphant reign to a war of calling. What Machen said in 1933 still God’s pronouncement to Satan that the man against man where the stakes, holds: it “has no place in the worship of woman’s seed “shall bruise thy head, and however great and however urgent, are a Christian congregation.” thou shalt bruise his heel” (Gen. 3:15) not the fulfillment of God’s plan of re- If the Battle Hymn endures in is imagined as being fulfilled in the demption. public worship, it will not be for its epic clash of army with army. One side Separate from the Warfare of the fidelity to the Bible but because it has fought as God’s “contemners”; the other World become the quintessential expression of received his grace. American civil religion and the gospel Howe used her knowledge of the When Machen complained of the of nationalism. Bible to mobilize a nation for a pro- Battle Hymn of the Republic, he could tracted war of unification and eman- have objected to it for any number of The author, a ruling elder at Hillsdale cipation. To do so, she wrote a poem reasons. The Baltimore native could OPC, is professor of history at Hillsdale and not a theological treatise. She spun have taken pride in his Southern heri- College and author of the forthcoming A images and not arguments. Her poetic tage and been loath to sing the songs Fiery Gospel: The Battle Hymn of the imagination borrowed biblical images of the victors. He could have criticized Republic and the Road to Righteous meant to inspire rather than to make Howe’s radical Unitarianism with its War (Cornell University Press, 2019).

NEW HORIZONS / OCTOBER 2018 / 5 THE CHRISTIANITY OF WOODROW WILSON

DANNY E. OLINGER // Woodrow Wilson, the twenty-eighth president of the United States, was also a ruling elder in the Presby- terian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA). In fact, for a seven-year period, Wilson served on the session at First Pres- byterian Church in Princeton where J. Gresham Machen attended.

Sadly, however, Wilson left be- This did not stop Wilson from pastor’s job was to prepare his flock for hind the doctrinal content of the his- claiming that he embraced historic community service. Hankins explains, toric Presbyterianism that Machen Christianity. “Unorthodox in my read- “When [Wilson] said that Christ had embraced, as Barry Hankins, professor ing of the standards of the faith, I am come to ‘save the world,’ he meant it in of history at Baylor University, demon- nevertheless orthodox in my faith,” he the social and collective sense. And de- strates in his short biography, Woodrow said (52). The intellectual difficulties of mocracy was the means for this social Wilson: Ruling Elder, Spiritual President. maintaining such a position were not salvation” (105). Hankins examines the impact of Wil- troubling for Wilson because, for him, President of Princeton son’s progressive ideology, supported by Christianity was primarily a religion of his liberal theological convictions, on doing. As Hankins details, when Wilson American culture and the Presbyterian Despite his doctrinal indifference, as president of Princeton (1902–1910) Church in the early twentieth century. Wilson did not bypass elements of the implemented this philosophical ap- Making of a Statesman faith in his personal life. As a father, he proach, Princeton ceased being Chris- helped his three daughters memorize tian in any meaningful sense. Wilson’s Wilson’s father, Joseph, was a Pres- the Westminster Shorter Catechism. predecessor, Francis Patton, had sought byterian minister who served from 1861 He practiced daily Bible readings and to maintain an evangelical orthodoxy at to 1898 as the permanent clerk of the prayer with his family. During the the school. Wilson recounted his own Southern Presbyterian Church. Wilson Great War, Wilson nightly read a chap- student days when revivals would break himself studied for gospel ministry at ter of the Bible aloud to his second wife, out at Princeton, then known as the Davidson College in 1873 but with- Edith. “Ivy League Bible School.” Students drew and enrolled at Princeton. When At the same time, Wilson be- who were trying to study would be con- he graduated from Princeton in 1879, lieved that the Bible was flawed in its stantly interrupted by those concerned he no longer sought to be a Presbyteri- presentation of historical fact. This did about their spiritual condition. One of an minister, but a Christian statesman. not bother him because he believed the Wilson’s peers finally put on his door, “I From that point forward Wilson rarely historical and doctrinal portions of the am a Christian, but studying for exams” agonized or even quibbled over doc- Bible did not affect its teaching on how (6). trine. “Doctrine was only important,” to live a moral life. Saving faith was Wilson, however, desired to change Wilson explained, “to the extent that it meaningless unless it could be translat- Princeton into a modern research uni- could be translated into action” (135). ed into social activism, which is why the versity. He believed that Christian

6 / NEW HORIZONS / OCTOBER 2018 presuppositions and supernaturalism Confession’s sense of the fall of human- It never seems to dawn upon them needed to be removed from the intel- kind into sin” (202). that this was no sinful man, but the lectual work of the school. That is, A Holy War Lord of glory who died on Calvary. academic excellence trumped doctrine. If it did dawn upon them, they could Hankins rightly asks how Princeton As president, Wilson viewed the gladly confess, as men used to confess, could retain Christ at its center under nation as a vehicle for righteousness, that one drop of the precious blood such a program. “The answer had to do which meant that patriotism was akin of Jesus is worth more, as a ground with how Wilson redefined Christian- to Christianity, particularly when the for the hope of the world, than all ity in the university setting. Essentially, United States entered World War I in the rivers of blood which have flowed he meant morality; the role played by 1917. He declared that the war was a upon the battlefields of France. (J. this broad, non-sectarian religion in the holy war in which one had to choose Gresham Machen: Select Shorter Writ- university was moral, not intellectual” whether to fight for God (America) or ings, P&R, 2004, 378) (89). Satan (Germany). Accordingly, Wilson Machen’s remarks came a week be- President of the United States believed that the American soldiers who died fighting against the Germans had fore the beginning of the 131st (1919) Having modernized Princeton, shed “sacred blood” (157). In Hankins’s General Assembly of the PCUSA, Wilson moved to public office to ful- words, “Social Gospel became redeemer which considered Wilson’s League of fill his life’s credo: to make the United nation” (138). Nations proposal. In promoting the States a mighty Christian nation and to proposal, Wilson said, “I believe that the Christianize the world. In his inaugu- solid foundation of the League of Na- ration speech as president on March 4, tions is to be found in Christian prin- 1913, Wilson promoted a civic religion ciples and in the sustaining sentiment that would restore the nation for the of Christian peoples everywhere” (198). purpose of correcting evil and purifying On May 15, 1919, the PCUSA General humanity. Borrowing from the rhetoric Assembly officially endorsed the pro- of Social Gospel preachers, Wilson de- posal. Many shared Wilson’s conviction clared this would not be a cool process that America had been Christ’s army in of mere science but a shared living-out the war, and now America needed to be of justice and brotherhood as if in God’s Christ’s instrument of peace after the presence. Hankins explains, “Liberal war. Protestants sought to reconcile En- Wilson campaigned in the summer lightenment reason with theology, but and early fall of 1919 to gain popular they also retained a romantic experience support for the League of Nations pro- with God as the centerpiece of lived re- Woodrow Wilson posal, but on October 2 he suffered a ligion. Wilson sought here to tap into devastating stroke. The US Senate voted that intuitive spirit” (123). This mentality is what so disturbed against it, and Wilson lived out the rest The day after the inauguration, Machen who had served in the YMCA of his life never fully recovering from a New York Times editorial stated that on the front lines in France. In his May his physical and political setbacks. Wilson’s words implied a belief that 6, 1919, address at Princeton, “The Hankins concludes the book by during his campaign and since his elec- Church in the War,” Machen main- stating that Wilson was a man of his tion Americans had become regenerate. tained that there was some plausibility times, living in an era when Christians The editorial predicted that by the end to the judgment that the church had believed that their good works could of the Wilson administration “the na- failed during the war. Soldiers who went usher in God’s kingdom. When the war ture of man here and elsewhere will be bravely over the top were regarded in a came, Wilson spiritualized it, so that very much what it is today, and what it messianic fashion, their sacrifice paying optimism about humanity’s progress has been in the past” (123). the price of sin. Machen explained, this would not be curtailed. The war became Throughout the book, Hankins did not mean that these men were op- a war “fought for the salvation of all.” pinpoints where Wilson’s exalted view posed to Jesus. Rather, they were eager But all Wilson’s spiritualizing could of man was at odds with biblical an- to admit Jesus into the noble company not account for the fact that the war thropology. He writes, “One might ar- of those who had sacrificed themselves changed nothing about the basic nature gue that Wilson’s Reformed sense of in a righteous cause. Such an attitude, of mankind. calling, combined with the Progressive which was built upon a profound satis- The author is editor of New Horizons. Era’s heightened sense of confidence faction with human goodness, was as far Woodrow Wilson, by Barry Hankins, in the human ability to remake the removed as possible from the Christian is published by Oxford University Press world, overwhelmed the Westminster attitude. Machen declared: (2016). Hardcover, 256 pages, $38.95.

NEW HORIZONS / OCTOBER 2018 / 7 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION TWO RESOURCES ON TRANS- GENDERISM // DAVID VANDRUNEN

Became Sally isn’t the stereotypical culture war manifesto. I should also note that Anderson means to stir up opposition ransgender” refers to identifying with a gender differ- to activists, not to the people who suffer from gender dys- ent from one’s biological sex—ordinarily a biologi- phoria. He expresses warm concern for them, especially for “Tcal female who identifies as a male or vice versa, although the children, who are increasingly encouraged and enabled to some people now claim there is a spectrum of genders. Many begin “transitioning” at early ages. Christians were alarmed by the sudden emergence of trans- Chapter 4 (“What Makes Us a Man or a Woman”) is genderism as a cultural and political cause just a few years perhaps the most helpful part of the book. It presents the ago, but found relatively little literature to help them think core of Anderson’s case for why gender matches biological about these issues. It’s not surprising that such literature has sex and why men cannot really become women or women, begun to appear. men. Although it is not theological, it is likely to resonate Ryan Anderson’s When Harry Became Sally and Andrew with readers who hold a Reformed anthropology, and may Walker’s God and the Transgender Debate both reject the views help them better understand how a biblical anthropology of transgender activists and argue that a person’s gender is corresponds to biological facts. the same as that person’s biological sex and cannot truly be Anderson’s work unfortunately invites the criticism that changed. Yet these are two very different books. Both have he has not been as objective or fair to his opponents as he real strengths, but neither is the book that Christians need. could be. Although at places he claims simply to “report what Readers of New Horizons may find help from both, but they activists say” and let them “speak for themselves,” Anderson should not expect everything from either. cannot seem to resist inserting his own critical comments When Harry Became Sally even in these “largely descriptive” sections of the book. This is too bad. It is almost always best to describe other people’s Anderson’s volume is philosophical and political in fo- views with rigorous objectivity before beginning one’s own cus, not theological. It is a culture war book, seeking to call polemics. and equip people to fight transgender ideology in the public God and the Transgender Debate square. In part, it does this by telling stories about the outra- geous things radical activists have done and the harm they’ve In contrast to Anderson, Walker seems to go out of his caused. As such, it’s almost certain to rile up readers and way to tamp down a culture war mind-set. His work address- make them angry—either at these activists or at Anderson es how Christians should think and speak truthfully about for opposing the transgender movement so strongly. transgenderism, but repeatedly emphasizes the love they Yet When Harry Became Sally is also a sophisticated vol- ought to express toward those struggling with their gender ume. Anderson writes clearly and engagingly, but at a fairly identity. He engages in no polemics against transgender ac- high intellectual level. It requires readers to reflect seriously tivists and makes no forays into politics. If Walker is critical about the biology, metaphysics, psychology, politics, and of anyone, it’s of himself, other believers, and the church for jurisprudence of the transgender controversies. Anderson has often not showing the compassion they should. done his homework and is able to synthesize many different While Anderson’s book is philosophical and political, strands into a coherent argument. In this sense, When Harry Walker’s is theological and pastoral. While Anderson’s book

8 / NEW HORIZONS / OCTOBER 2018 may make you angry, Walker’s may make you humble and OUR MEMBERSHIP VOWS remorseful. Another difference, however, is that Walker’s contribu- In Christ Alone tion is not nearly as wide-ranging or sophisticated as Ander- son’s. Walker’s style is simple and homey. He provides a basic Glen J. Clary introduction to theological themes such as divine authority, creation, human nature, sin, and salvation. Readers with a Repentance and faith are two sides of the same coin. When modest knowledge of Reformed theology will probably find the Holy Spirit changes our hearts, we repent of our sin and these discussions agreeable but may not learn much that is put our faith in Jesus Christ. We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ; that is, we trust in him for salvation. We do not new. trust or depend on ourselves for salvation, but we trust in In addition to its emphasis on love, compassion, truth, Christ alone. and humility, a real strength of God and the Transgender De- The third membership vow of the OPC recognizes this bate is its wise discussion about the difficulty of the Chris- connection between faith and repentance, and it requires us tian life. Although I doubt his view of “bearing one’s cross” to confess that we trust for salvation in Christ alone. “Do in Matthew 16:24 is correct, Walker helpfully explains that you confess that because of your sinfulness you abhor and those who trust in Christ and repent of their sins cannot humble yourself before God, that you repent of your sin, expect to experience perfect wholeness and peace in this and that you trust for salvation not in yourself but in Jesus present age. That awaits the new creation. People struggling Christ alone?” with gender dysphoria may continue to struggle with it after Jesus alone can save us from our sins. Jesus is the only turning to Christ. The Christian walk requires patience and Savior. We cannot save ourselves. We cannot remove sin waiting upon the Lord. from our hearts. We cannot change our sinful nature. We cannot change our guilty status. We cannot pay for our own In a way, Walker’s book isn’t about transgenderism as sins. But Jesus has already paid for our sins in full. He has much as it is a basic statement and defense of divine and bib- done everything that was needed to secure our salvation. lical authority, the goodness of creation, the Fall and salva- That’s why we trust for salvation in him alone. tion, and a Christian life marked by love, truth, compassion, The Shorter Catechism defines faith in Jesus Christ as: and patience—with application to transgender issues. But a saving grace, whereby we receive and rest upon him some of these applications get rather specific. Walker briefly alone for salvation, as he is offered to us in the gospel. addresses issues such as how the church should respond to (Q. 86) a transitioned person who wishes to become a member, how The Bible repeatedly identifies Jesus Christ as the sole to discuss transgenderism with children, how to deal with a object of saving faith. One of the most well-known passages child who claims to be transgender, and how churches might of Scripture is John 3:16, which teaches us that eternal life respond to state bathroom laws. comes through faith in Christ alone. “For God so loved the Conclusion world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Reformed Christians looking for resources on transgen- Likewise, when the Philippian jailer asked Paul, “What derism to help them think and act well in all areas of life— must I do to be saved?” the apostle responded, “Believe including family, church, and the public square—will find in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your helpful material from both Anderson and Walker, although household” (Acts 16:30–31). Hence, Scripture teaches that neither is a comprehensive resource. Perhaps it is best to see salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ alone. them as complementary. When Harry Became Sally provides a much more thorough intellectual study of transgender is- sues, but the pastoral exhortations of God and the Transgender Debate wouldn’t be bad for any Christian to hear. Congratulations The author is an OP minister and professor of systematic theology The First Catechism has been recited by: and Christian ethics at Westminster Seminary California. • Leon Korkie, Providence OPC, Pflugerville, TX When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgen- der Moment, by Ryan T. Anderson, is published by Encounter, • Marguerite Korkie, Providence OPC, Pfluger- 2018. Hardcover, 408 pages, $20.75 (Amazon). ville, TX God and the Transgender Debate: What Does the Bible • Talitha Clary, Providence OPC, Pflugerville, TX Actually Say About Gender Identity?, by Andrew T. Walker, • Grace Clary, Providence OPC, Pflugerville, TX is published by The Good Book Company, 2017. Paperback, 174 • Sophia Clary, Providence OPC, Pflugerville, TX pages, $11.61 (Amazon).

NEW HORIZONS / OCTOBER 2018 / 9 FOREIGN MISSIONS

EDUCATING “THIRD CULTURE” KIDS

// T. D. T. D. interacting with local children

children in the way of the Lord (Deut. 4:9–10, 6:7, 11:19, 32:46, Joel 1:3, and Eph. 6:4, just to name a few). I took for ow do we learn things? I don’t mean just being able to granted the training I received from my parents, grandparents, remember something in order to put it on paper and Sunday school teachers, and extended church family. Now, I Hget a good grade for it. I mean putting information into our give thanks for how God used their faithful and consistent long-term memory and being able to apply it to our day-to- teaching to draw me closer to him and to show me what it day lives. It wasn’t until I seriously started studying a second means to live for him. For all those who take time to care for language in another country that I was really able to answer children, know that your work is being used mightily by our that question. Father, even though you may not see immediate results or re- Learning Is Work! ceive public recognition. Challenges of Bridging Two Cultures I found that I needed to listen and observe the language over and over, then start mimicking it. The more I practiced, In some parts of Asia, however, the lack of this kind of the better I became at it. The hard part can be having the pa- godly community is a great concern for missionary and local tience to really listen, observe what is happening, and then Christian families as they raise their kids. Their community of practice until it becomes automatic. believers is often very small and changes frequently. Too often we assume that if we do something correctly Our missionary children also wrestle with the questions once, we must be a master—just to make a mistake the next of “Where do you come from?” and “Who are you?” Many of time or not do as well as we did before. It takes time and dili- us would answer these questions without thinking too much— gence to learn something well, so therefore many never re- we would just give our name and then the city in which we ally learn! We live in a world live. However, these ques- that wants instant results and tions become much more where we learn that if some- difficult to answer when thing takes us a long time, it your passport says you are is too hard. Not only that, but from the United States, many think that if a task is but you are growing up in hard, it must be bad, and they another country. choose to not even try. How- The term for this ever, God tells us things over group of children is “third and over again in his Word culture kids”—children and then puts us in situations who spend a significant where we have to practice number of their devel- what he told us. This is his opmental years outside model for our instruction. their country of citizen- One of the things God T. D. with her students at a park ship. They tend to take tells us to do is to train our part of the culture of their

10 / NEW HORIZONS / OCTOBER 2018 country of citizenship and part of the culture of their coun- and to be godly husbands, wives, parents, and friends. How- try of residence and blend them together into a third culture. ever, they are often unable to observe the lives of experienced Working with these kids over the last nine years in Asia has Christians around them because they are the first Christians truly taught me what it means to be in the world, but not of in their area. In my opinion, this is where missionary families the world. make a big difference that often goes unnoticed. New local Learning Whose We Are believers watch what the missionary family does and then try to do the same, applying the faith to their day-to-day lives. One of the biggest lessons I have learned through work- The heart of what I share with new believers is that their ing with these families is that none of us truly understand who children will learn first from them, and, second, from the com- we are until we come to understand whose we are! Paul tells munity around them. Local believers are realizing that they us in Ephesians that we are God’s workmanship created for must raise their children in the home and church community good works. Genesis tells us that God desires, which tests their that we are created in God’s cultural assumption that children image. 1 Peter 2:11 and He- must go to local schools in order to brews 11:13 tell us that we be successful. are just pilgrims on earth This applies to Christians in waiting to go to our eternal every part of the world. We all have home. a role to play in raising the children Children of missionar- in our churches, whether at home, in ies are faced with these reali- Sunday school, or at VBS. It takes ties early in life. Some make work, time, and energy. But God close local friends in the graciously uses that work (no matter country in which they live, how small it may seem to us) to train so they learn how to speak a others—making disciples. second language quickly and Please pray for these new be- fluently and enjoy local cus- lievers in Asia as they seek to live toms. At the same time, they T. D. teaches the children of Mr. and Mrs. M. M. out their faith in God and teach it are often aware that they are to their children. Also pray for the very different from their local friends. Other third culture kids missionary families who not only seek to directly tell people don’t make local friends easily. Therefore, they do not learn the the good news, but also model it in places that often do not language and customs well, and, thinking that their country of feel like home. citizenship is much better, they just want to “go home.” How- ever, when they get back to their country of citizenship, they Tentmaking missionary T. D. is a professional teacher working realize that they still do not fit in. with the children of missionaries on the OP mission field in Asia. I would like to encourage you to try to get to know as many third culture kids as you can. Ask them about what they have learned growing up in a third culture, what activities they What’s New enjoy, what specific prayer requests they have, and how they deal with constant change; but, ask these questions knowing // Appointments that you are going to get very different answers. It is tempting to ask leading questions, which solicit re- Ms. Michaela Sharpshair (Grace Bible Presbyterian sponses that reinforce what we think, or to put up a mental Church, BPC, Sharonville, OH) has been appointed to guard against someone’s ideas when they are different from serve as a missionary associate for one year, begin- ning in October 2018, in Montevideo, Uruguay. our own. However, if you stop to truly listen to third culture kids’ experiences and how they have learned to balance life in Mr. P. F. (First Presbyterian Church of Opelika, EPC, often extremely different environments, I think that you will Opelika, AL) has been appointed to serve as a mis- find yourself learning that your own identity should not be sionary associate for one and a half years, beginning in September 2018, in Asia. found in your culture. As Christians, none of us should ever really “fit in” on earth because our true identity is in Christ // Other News alone. Dr. and Mrs. Flip (Anneloes) Baardman welcomed Local Believers Loïs Danielle Baardman, their first child, on July 12 in Kampala, Uganda. The Lord has also brought me in contact with new Chris- tians who desire to learn how to raise their kids in the Lord

NEW HORIZONS / OCTOBER 2018 / 11 HOME MISSIONS MEET THE NEW CHURCH- PLANTING INTERNS

// JUDITH DINSMORE AND

KATIE STUMPFF Nathan and Anna Strom

and with their encouragement of his gifts, Pavier began to look at seminaries. In 2011, the family moved to Wales where ntensely gripped.” That’s how the bookPlanting an Or- Brock attended what is now Union School of Theology while thodox Presbyterian Church describes a church planter. working full-time as a firefighter. “INot gripped by fame or fear, but by the significance of the He first heard of the OPC from a professor there, Robert message of the church, to the point of being “willing to move Letham. “I soaked up as much as I could from him,” Pavier to a place where he is needed, and to love and serve a group of said. When the Paviers moved back to Canada, Brock became people temporarily as God builds them into a mature body of a member and later a ruling elder at Redeemer OPC in Airdrie, Christ and provides them with their own session and pastor.” Alberta, under the shepherding of Pastor Larry Wilson. “Re- It’s no small call. Last year, a new yearlong OP internship deemer is the only OP church in Western Canada, and I’m was launched to train those considering such a call. This sum- fond of saying that the Lord sent Larry there just for my fam- mer, three men became church-planting interns: Brock Pavier, ily and me!” Pavier joked. serving in St. Augustine, Florida; Nathan Strom, in Andover, Wilson encouraged Pavier to begin taking courses at the Minnesota; and Ben Ward, in Naples, Florida. OPC’s ministerial training institute (MTIOPC). At Pavier’s Prairie to Paradise first one, he met Eric Watkins, pastor of Covenant OPC in St. Augustine, Florida. “As we sat Pavier, newly located to the vacationer’s at lunch, Eric and I connected over paradise of St. Augustine, grew up in Moose our love for evangelism and bibli- Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada. “If that sounds flat, cal theology,” Pavier explained. you’re right!” he said. In Saskatchewan, as the “Later, this meeting blossomed saying goes, “you can watch your dog run away into a church-planting internship for three days.” and a cross-continental, interna- As a kid living and working on a grain farm, tional move for my family and me. Pavier spent plenty of time watching the prairie. I pray that it continues to blossom “I remember chewing on the bits of the gospel I and grow into gospel fruit and the had been given for hours on end with only the increase of the church.” horizon, the hum of the tractor, and the smell As they settle into life in St. of soil being turned over to distract me,” he said. Augustine, Pavier asks for prayer At the time, he promised himself that he would that he would successfully com- never become a farmer, but in hindsight he be- Brock and Jennifer Pavier plete his credentials exams and lieves that the solitude was a blessing—it gave that he would grow in both love him time to think and meditate. for and skill in preaching, evan- That desire to think and meditate on the truth hasn’t gelism, and church planting. He also asks for prayer that his stopped. His wife introduced him to Reformed soteriology, family would enjoy their time in St. Augustine. Brock and his and then R. C. Sproul’s Grace Unknown set Pavier down the “lovely, talented, and very patient” wife, Jennifer, have three trail of theological reformation according to the Scriptures. children: Jack (16), Ella (14), and Bronwyn (10), who “are now After years of faithful service as an elder at a Baptist church, enjoying learning to surf and play beach volleyball as part of

12 / NEW HORIZONS / OCTOBER 2018 their homeschool physical education program,” Pavier con- ability to serve the church, and wisdom in managing the re- cluded. sources the Lord has entrusted to them. “Go Tell Your Friends” Testimony of Grace

Like Brock Pavier, Nathan Strom and his wife, Anna, Ben Ward is serving as a church-planting intern in Na- grew up in rural areas: Anna in southern Minnesota, or corn- ples thanks to the OP church in St. Augustine. After wan- field country, and Nathan up north in Minnesota’s cabin dering from the faith for most of his college life, Ward came country, “where people go on the weekends to hide from the back to Christ and began attending “the most faithful church stress of their weekly life,” he said. Both Baptists, they had I knew of ”—Covenant OPC in St. Augustine, Florida. That’s never heard of the OPC. But when Nathan felt a call to the jumping into his story half-way, however. ministry, they chose Westminster Seminary out of an interest Ward grew up in small-town New Jersey. Although raised in J. Gresham Machen and the other Princeton theologians. in a loving and stable home, by thirteen years old he was ques- There, of course, the OPC was inescapable. tioning what the meaning of life was all about. “I was up for Three months before graduation, Nathan hit a turn- confirmation at my parents’ local church [PCUSA], which ing point. “I went into Vern Poythress’s office and said, ‘Dr. would culminate in making a profession of faith in front of Poythress, I want to be a Presbyterian but I’m not; I want you the whole congregation. As I was going through the class, I to convince me.’” Poythress “graciously dismantled” Nathan’s realized I didn’t believe any of what they were teaching—any- arguments for credobaptism. Eventually, thing about spirituality, Jesus, or God. I Nathan and Anna joined the OPC. found that atheism most closely aligned Another ministry thread traced its with what I believed about the universe, way through the Stroms’ time in Phila- so after ‘professing my faith’ to appease delphia. Although Philly grew on them, my mother, I declared myself an atheist,” it was not love at first sight. Living there Ward wrote in his testimony (published gave them a sense of who they are as on chmce.org). Minnesotans. Although of course open Once he did, Ward was an effective to the Lord’s call, the Stroms feel a strong “evangelist” for atheism and even got his pull toward the Midwest in general and father to dismiss Christianity completely. Minnesota in particular. “My lack of belief in God, though, per- “My sense of call mirrors the demo- haps ironically, left me with a void in my niac’s at the Sea of Galilee,” Strom said. own life,” Ward wrote. As a teenager, “After Jesus casts out the demons, the de- Ward was depressed. Around this time, moniac begs to go with Jesus. But Jesus he discovered Tim Keller’s book The Rea- says, ‘No, go tell your friends and your Ben and Tiffany Ward son for God at the local Barnes and Noble. family what I’ve done for you.’ That’s It didn’t convert him overnight, but it did what I feel the Lord is calling me to do: pave the way. to minister and hopefully bring about health in churches, While living the “unadulterated secular college life,” through his Word, sacraments, and prayer, here in Minnesota.” Ward remained in touch with some Christian friends. When The Stroms began attending Mission OPC in St. Paul, God called him back to faith, it was one of those friendships Minnesota, during the summer of 2014, and then in 2015 they that brought him to Covenant OPC. And it was another started worshiping and serving at Mission’s plant in Andover, friendship, with a godly woman named Tiffany, that became Minnesota. his “greatest earthly blessing.” Tiffany and Ben were married As a church-planting intern, Strom is providing support the summer after he graduated from college. and help to three pastors: Jim Hoekstra, church planter in An- Having completed seminary, Ward is now interning with dover, Minnesota, Shane Lems, pastor of Covenant OPC in church planter Eric Hausler at Christ the King OPC in Na- Hammond, Wisconsin, and church planter Kim Kuhfuss in ples, Florida. “There are many exciting ministries going on at Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin—“some tremendously wise and Christ the King Presbyterian Church, and we cannot wait to gifted men.” Strom has worked on the church websites and be a part of them. Yet we are also very nervous and hope that helped with online outreach for events. He is also laboring on the Lord prepares us for what might be a very trying time,” the beginning stages of a possible new OP group. Ward wrote. Tiffany is combating chronic Lyme disease, a His wife, Anna, serves alongside him, as Strom described, difficult struggle that has caused them both to “seek the joy with a real love for people who are different from her, a readi- found in the Lord rather than in the things of the world.” ness to host despite dust on the ceiling fan, and a growing The Wards ask for prayer for Tiffany’s health, for wisdom comfort with their blue-collar neighborhood in St. Paul. They as they consider adopting children, for growth in evangelistic have two children: Elliana and Noah. They ask for prayer that skill and zeal, and for Benjamin’s increased pastoral and orga- their family would increase their capacity to savor Christ, nizational abilities.

NEW HORIZONS / OCTOBER 2018 / 13 2018 SHORT-TERM MISSIONS

focus on: Menominee Mis- sions, Zoar, Wisconsin

Menominee Missions is an annual out- reach of Menominee OPC in Zoar, Wisconsin, to the children who live on the nearby Menominee Reserva- tion (the mission was previously known as “Venture Missions”). A short-term mission team of OPC youths (ninth grade to young adult) come together to receive education in Menominee cul- ture, invite neighborhood children to Vacation Bible School, and then lead a vigorous few days of VBS in the local park and church building.

A game of “Duck, Duck, Goose” (top) and face-painting (bottom)

Proverbs 3 craft project

This was my fourth year at Menomi- nee Missions, but it was just as spe- cial as my first year. Each time, I feel I grow closer to the children we For More on STM: minister to on the reservation and at OPCSTM.org Menominee OPC. I am so glad that I Visit: “ Email: can serve God by giving them a little [email protected] bit of love. Follow on Facebook: Zoe Meadows, Bethel OPC in OPC Short-Term Missions Wheaton, IL 14 / NEW HORIZONS / OCTOBER 2018 ” In July 2018, members of Little Farm Chapel OPC in Marne, Michi- gan, Holy Trinity PCA in Tampa, Flor- ida, and Spring Hills PCA in Byrnes Mill, Missouri, traveled to Montevideo to lead an English Club for local adults and children alongside missionaries focus on: Mark Richline and Ray Call, and mis- sionary associate Markus Jeromin. English “What a tremendous week of min- istry this has been for our mission!” lub Richline wrote. “We praise the Lord C , for blessing our second annual English Club where a total of forty-four chil- Montevideo, dren and adults practiced their English, listened to gospel messages, and inter- Uruguay acted with our team.”

It was a joy to ‘live’ the missionary life for a week; immerse ourselves in a dif- ferent culture, diet, and language; pour ourselves out in meeting new people and teaching them, despite language “ differences; worship our great Lord in another language; pray for gospel fruit among the people we were serving; and learn to love our new friends in Uru- guay.

Kathryn Brannan (center) and two English Club attendees Kathryn Brannan, Holy Trinity PCA in Tampa, FL Front door of La Iglesia Presbiteri- ana del Uruguay, the OPC mission The mission team in Uruguay with Markus in Montevideo ” Jeromin and the Richline and Call families

NEW HORIZONS / OCTOBER 2018 / 15 STEWARDSHIP

another that we have as Presbyterians. Giving to the World- wide Outreach of the church (Christian Education, Home PRESBYTERIANS Missions, and Foreign Missions) is not mandated in the OPC, and that for good reasons (not least, to preserve liberty AND GIVING of conscience). But by our membership and ordination vows, we have covenanted to be subject in the Lord to one another. One expression of that connectionalism is found in our offer- ings. Every congregation, even ones of the humblest means, // STEPHEN J. OHAREK ought to relish the opportunity to give toward the church. Does your congregation have a line item in your annual budget, even of a small amount, designated to Worldwide Outreach? Does your congregation participate in the OPC’s annual Thank Offering (typically collected in November), the donations of which go to our Worldwide Outreach? If o the disciples determined, every one according to his not, have you asked a pastor or elder why? I have served in ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. And congregations that, in many years, had financial difficulties. I “Sthey did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas have firsthand knowledge of what it feels like for the church and Saul” (Acts 11:29–30). The book of Acts is one of the to struggle to meet the most basic needs in its budget, much most overtly Presbyterian books in the New Testament. Right less give to the broader work of the denomination. But even from its opening pages, after the ascension of our Lord in the in the leanest years financially, my desire has always been for first chapter, the immediate concern of the church is to fill the us to give anything we could as a congregation, just out of vacant apostolic office left by Judas—how very “decently and Presbyterian principle, to keep us materially connected to the in good order” of them! Concern for proper church order is church’s effort in Worldwide Outreach. also a driving force behind the choosing of the seven proto- Praise God that he has not left us as independent congre- typical deacons in Acts 6. Acts is famous among Presbyterians gations tasked individually to execute the Great Commission! for its Jerusalem Council, which seems to resemble our own Our Presbyterian connectionalism allows us to participate in deliberative assemblies where decisions are reached only “after this joint effort, materially and spiritually, to advance the gos- much debate” (15:7). And every Presbyterian loves Paul’s ad- pel of Jesus Christ through the Worldwide Outreach of the dress to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20. More examples could Orthodox Presbyterian Church. be marshaled to demonstrate that Acts is a book simultane- ously concerned about executing the Great Commission of The author is pastor of Reformation OPC in Oviedo, Florida, and Matthew 28 and doing so with proper church order. a member of the Committee on Coordination. One more example proves useful for the purposes of this article. Near the end of Acts 11, we read of Worldwide Outreach Year-to-Date an offering taken that was to be given to the Judean 2018 Receipts with 2018 Goal church as relief for their famine-induced suffering. 5,000 While that offering appears to be specifically of a 4,500 diaconal nature, throughout the book we see the Christian Education deficit: $(17,941) 4,000 Home Missions deficit: (67,936) sharing of resources, material and spiritual, among Foreign Missions deficit: (20,765) 3,500 the churches. The churches were not independent Total YTD budget deficit: (106,642) bodies, each doing their own thing. Throughout the 3,000 book, you see a self-conscious awareness of what 2,500 Thousands today we would term “Presbyterian connectional- 2,000 ism.” The Great Commission wastoo great for any 1,500 one congregation to execute. They needed to work together to fulfill the calling of their Lord to teach 1,000 the commands and to proclaim near and far the ex- 500 cellencies of our Savior. 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec This is the opportunity and obligation to one

16 / NEW HORIZONS / OCTOBER 2018 PRAYER CALENDAR OCTOBER

Pray for Eric and Dianna Tuininga, 6 Mbale, Uganda, as they encour- age the Christian education efforts in the village schools. / The Cavanaughs Charlene Tipton, database ad- The Stumpffs ministrator, and Janet Birkmann, Disaster Response communica- tions coordinator.

Ray and Michele Call, Montevideo, Daniel and Amber Doleys, Spring- 1 Uruguay. Pray for the evangelistic Charles and Connie Jackson, 11 field, OH. Pray that Living Water Bible studies starting in mem- 7 Mbale, Uganda. Pray for Charles’s would use their new building to bers’ homes. / Ryan and Rochelle teaching as he equips men to be bless the neighborhood and share Cavanaugh, Merrillville, IN. Pray for pastors in Uganda. / Larry and the gospel. / Mark Stumpff, Loan Mission Church to find its place in Kalynn Oldaker, Huron, OH. Pray Fund administrator and Kathy Bube, the community. for fall outreach and new families document specialist. at Grace Fellowship OPC. Jeremy and Gwen Baker, Yuma, AZ. Ben and Melanie Westerveld and 2 Pray for Yuma OPC’s relationships 12 missionary associate Janine Eygen- with friends and neighbors. / CCE raam, Quebec, Canada, give thanks Steve (Joanie) Doe, regional home general secretary Danny Olinger 8 missionary for the Presbytery of for the thirtieth anniversary of the as he meets with the CCE over the the Mid-Atlantic. / Army chaplain Reformed Church of Quebec. / next two days, and Katrina Zartman Home Missions general secretary Stephen (Lindsey) Roberts and Navy as she assists them. John Shaw. chaplain John (Linda) Carter.

Mark and Jeni Richline, Montevideo, Retired missionaries Betty Andrews, 3 Uruguay, give thanks for the work 13 Cal and Edie Cummings, Greet of missionary associates and short- Rietkerk, Young and Mary Lou Son, term mission teams. / Pray for David and Rashel Robbins, Flip and and Brian and Dorothy Wingard. / CCE’s Subcommittee on Ministerial 9 Anneloes Baardman, and Mark and Pray for MTIOPC coordinator Pat Training as it oversees the intern- Carla Van Essen-delft, Nakaale, Clawson as she prepares for next ship program and MTIOPC. Uganda. / Pray for the newly month’s training. formed Committee on Ministerial Care and its director, David Haney. Home Missions associate general Matt and Elin Prather, Corona, 4 secretary Al Tricarico. / Pray for 14 CA. Pray that Corona Presbyterian missionary associates Markus would grow in zeal for the glory of and Sharon Jeromin and Michaela God. /Pray for Ross Graham, stated Sharpshair, Montevideo, Uruguay, Ron and Carol Beabout, Mif- clerk of the General Assembly, as as they follow up with this sum- 10 flintown, PA. Pray for God’s he assists presbyteries and com- mer’s English Club contacts. Spirit to direct and empower the mittees with their work. gospel witness of Grace and Truth Presbyterian Church. / Pray for Josh and Kristen McKamy, Cham- missionary associates Leah Hopp, Ben and Heather Hopp, Haiti. Pray 5 bersburg, PA. Pray for Covenant Donald Owen, Christopher and 15 for Ben as he organizes diaconal OPC’s outreach and a good Chloe Verdick, and Angela Voskuil, assistance for church families still relationship with the new staff Uganda, as they assist the clinic. affected by the 2010 earthquake. of the school where they meet. / / New Horizons proofreader Sarah Yearlong intern Christopher Byrd, Pederson and cover designer Chris Knox OPC, Silver Spring, MD. Tobias.

NEW HORIZONS / OCTOBER 2018 / 17 PRAYER CALENDAR OCTOBER

Pray for Heero and Anya Hacque- 21 bord, L’viv, Ukraine, as they disciple the students at their church. / Chris and Grace Ann Cashen, Clarkston, GA. Pray for opportunities to share the good news with Muslim neighbors.

The Farniks Mr. and Mrs. K. and family Pray for the OPC and PCA trustees 22 of Great Commission Publications as they meet today in Atlanta, GA. / Pray for the biblical marriage Mr. and Mrs. M. M., Asia. Pray for Home Missions administrative strength for Mr. M. M. as he helps counseling work of affiliated mis- assistant Katie Stumpff. / Pray for 16 with peacemaking efforts within 27 sionaries Jerry and Marilyn Farnik, coordinator David Nakhla and Di- the local presbytery. Prague, Czech Republic. / Year- saster Response teams as they help long intern Zach (Sandra) Siggins, those in Puerto Rico still struggling

Calvary OPC, Glenside, PA. Bradney and Eileen Lopez, Arroyo, to recover from 2017’s Hurricane 23 Puerto Rico. Pray for the Lord to Maria. open doors for Iglesia Presbiteri- Mark (Peggy) Sumpter, regional ana Sola Escritura to preach the Ben (Tiffany) Ward, church-plant- 17 home missionary for the Presby- gospel. / Pray that OPC.org will 28 ing intern, Christ the King Presby- tery of the Southwest. / David and edify the church and help it com- terian Church, Naples, FL. / Pray for Rebekah Graves, Coeur d’Alene, ID. municate its message to others. Mr. and Mrs. F. and Mr. and Mrs. Pray that God would grow Coeur K., Asia, as Mr. F. and Mr. K. work d’Alene Reformed Church to full with a new pastoral intern at the maturity in Christ. Pray for affiliated missionaries local church. 24 Mark and Laura Ambrose, Cambo- dia, as they learn the language Andrew Moody, OPC.org technical and seek to serve in Bible studies. Pray for Chris (Nancy) Walmer, area home missions coordinator, 18 assistant. / Associate missionaries / Pray for fall MTIOPC students and 29 Octavius and Marie Delfils, Haiti. instructors as they complete as- Presbytery of Central Pennsylvania. Pray for the spiritual growth of the signments this month. / Pray for the Trinity Psalter Hymnal La Gonâve members as they face joint venture and its director Joel economic trials. Pearce as they develop a digital Pray for Mr. and Mrs. J. M., Asia, edition. 25 as they seek more fellowship with local believers. / Kevin and Rachel Affiliated missionariesC raig and Medcalf, Cumming, GA. Pray that Pray that the Lord would bless the 19 Ree Coulbourne and Linda Karner, the Spirit would work mightily in 30 labors of our missionary associates Japan. Pray for the student min- Providence to make disciples in E. C., P. F., E. K., and M. S., Asia. / istries beginning this fall. / Brock Cumming. Yearlong intern Adam (Joy) Harris, (Jennifer) Pavier, church-planting Covenant OPC, Komoka, Ontario, intern, Covenant Presbyterian Canada. Church, St. Augustine, FL. Pray for tentmaking missionary T. 26 D., Asia, as she encourages those trying to homeschool. / Judith Bill and Sessie Welzien, Key West, Dinsmore, managing editor of New Pray for Foreign Missions general 20 FL. Pray that the Lord would bring Horizons, Gregory Reynolds, editor 31 and associate secretaries Mark to Keys Presbyterian many hearts of Ordained Servant, and Diane Bube and Douglas Clawson as yearning for his truth. / Doug Olinger, who assists both publica- they travel to our missionaries. / Watson, part-time staff accountant, tions. Regional Church Extension Confer- and Jan Gregson, assistant to the ence, Orlando, FL. Pray for fruitful finance director. discussions.

18 / NEW HORIZONS / OCTOBER 2018 NEWS, VIEWS, & REVIEWS

TKACH INSTALLED AT RIO RANCHO

On June 29, 2018, Thomas Tkach was or- dained as a minister and installed as pas- tor of Orthodox Presbyterian Church of Rio Rancho, New Mexico. Rev. Mark Sal- lade preached on “A Portrait of Christian Ministry.” Rev. James Cassidy directed the questions, Rev. Adam York gave the charge to the minister, and Rev. Joe Keller gave the charge to the congregation. The newly ordained Rev. Thomas Tkach gave the benediction.

IN MEMORIAM: DOROTHY ANDERSON BARKER At the ordination of Thomas Tkach (left to right): Al Frahm, Mark Moody, Joseph Linda Posthuma Keller, Mike Mahon, Michael Kolysko, Adam York, Terry Neighbert, Jim Cassidy, Thomas Tkach, Greg Thomas, Charles Williams, Mark Sallade, Andrew Moody Dorothy (Partington) Anderson Barker died on Saturday, June 30, 2018, at her residence in Quarryville, Pennsylva- sity. Edmund Clowney noted Dorothy’s he wrote to his family in Greece on No- nia. Born on April 27, 1927, in Newark, gifts as a teacher, writer, and editor and vember 6, 1952, “My joy and gratitude to New Jersey, into a family that would be- enlisted her to assist in writing a Sunday God for the opportunity he has given me come charter members of Grace OPC in school curriculum. Thus began a writing is great. I finally heard a sermon in which Westfield, New Jersey, Dorothy attended career that continued until her retirement the emphasis was given to the work of Wheaton College and later Barnard Col- from Great Commissions Publication in Christ, and the necessity of salvation. I fi- lege, where she earned a BA in English. 1987. nally saw a church full of faithful children While teaching at a Christian school in In 1955 Dorothy married OP min- of Christ.” A year later when the Gro- Massachusetts, she completed a master’s ister Robert W. Anderson, and after be- tenhuis family was hosting OPC young degree in education at Harvard Univer- ing widowed at a young age, married OP people at their home, John met Barbara elder Richard A. Barker, whom she had known as a youth at Grace OPC. After her wedding, she returned to Grace and served as church organist. She is survived by her sons, Jonathan (Leslie) Anderson and Peter (Monica) Anderson, four grandchildren, three step- sons, and six step-grandchildren.

IN MEMORIAM: JOHN SAVVOS DELIYANNIDES

Danny E. Olinger On July 10, 2018, Dr. John Savvos Deli- yannides went to be with the Lord in glo- ry. Born in 1934 in Thessaloniki, Greece, John immigrated to the United States in 1952 and started attending Calvary Com- munity Church in Harmony, New Jersey, Dorothy Anderson Barker at GA in 1987 as a student at Lafayette College. After John Savvos Deliyannides hearing Rev. Lewis Grotenhuis preach,

NEW HORIZONS / OCTOBER 2018 / 19 Ellen Farace, a member of Calvary OPC, Glenside. They were married on July 2, 1955, and were blessed with five children: John Jr., Rebecca, Deborah, Timothy, and Andrew. In 1968, the same year that John earned a PhD from the University of Pittsburgh in engineering, he was ordained as a ruling elder at Covenant OPC, Pittsburgh. For the next half century, John served faith- fully on the sessions of Covenant Church, Fellowship OPC in Lake Worth, Florida, Grace Reformed Church in Walkerton, Indiana, and Hillsdale OPC in Hillsdale, Michigan. Denominationally, he served as president of the Committee for the Historian for nearly two decades, and On Sunday, August 5, Jehoash Presbyterian Church in Catlett, VA, a mission work of played a vital role on the Committee on the Presbytery of the Mid-Atlantic, received its first members. The service included Christian Education in the development baptisms, professions of faith, and the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. of OPC.org.

IN MEMORIAM: STEVEN F. MILLER (RPCNA) in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. died on July 17. Steve is survived by his wife, Mary • Former OP pastor Claude D. DePrine Mark T. Bube Jane, three children, sixteen grandchil- III, 72, died on July 22. Reverend Steven F. Miller was called dren, his mother, and his brother. Rever- home to his Lord on July 17, 2018, at end Brian T. Wingard preached on Psalm the age of sixty-seven, following a three- 16 at Steve’s funeral service on July 21 in year battle with ALS. He never tired of the Metheny Fieldhouse on the campus LETTERS reminding his flock that the core of our of Geneva College. religion is “having Christ, not for what he SECULAR SCHOOL AN OPTION, TOO can give you, but for the wonderful God that he is.” UPDATE Editor: Born in West- In the July issue of New Horizons, field, New Jersey, CHURCHES four post-high-school paths were repre- he attended Cov- sented. I want to add one more big cat- enant College, • Grace Presbyterian egory: state school education. First, to where he met Church in Norman, OK, dispel some of the concerns regarding the his wife of forty- was dissolved on August secular influence, let me point out that eight years, Mary 31. most of a state school’s secular worldview Jane. Steve pas- MINISTERS is taught in general education courses tored Tri-County and that more colleges are now accepting OPC in Lewis- • On July 14, the ministe- CLEP and AP tests, which allow students burg, Pennsylva- rial relationship between to test out of nearly all, if not all, of those nia, and Calvary M. Austin Britton and courses. OPC in Glenside, Calvary OPC in La Mi- Second, for many fields of study, state Pennsylvania, be- rada, CA, was dissolved. schools offer a far better education than any other option. My degree was harp fore he answered • On August 31, the his church’s call performance, and I studied at one of the Steven Miller teaching ministerial relationship two best schools in the nation for harp, al- to missionary between Todd P. Dole service in Eritrea lowing me to hone my skills. Finally, state and Grace Presbyterian schools are significantly cheaper. Not hav- in 1994. In 1998, he took a call to pastor Church in Norman, OK, was dissolved. Nashua OPC in Edinburg, Pennsylvania, ing a huge debt after college allows young and began teaching missions at Reformed MILESTONES people to get married sooner, provide for Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Steve their families better, and have more time • Elder John S. Deliyannides, 84, died on told students, “What is Jesus’s call in mis- and resources to serve their churches. July 10. sions? ‘Come die with me!’” In 2014, Steve Rachel Green accepted a call to pastor First RP Church • Former OP pastor Steven F. Miller, 67, Tucson, AZ

20 / NEW HORIZONS / OCTOBER 2018 NEWS, VIEWS, & REVIEWS Continued

Editor: The book is structured around two or in whole) around the twofold principles I was quite disappointed with “A Case main sections which outline Aquinas’s ap- of “natural reason” (functionally isolated for Christian Higher Education” (July proach to the foundations from the full Christian system of 2018). Not only is the voice of the secular of knowledge (epistemol- truth) and “special revelation.” It institution missing, but this piece also ogy) and existence (meta- convincingly demonstrates the fun- erases the distinction between secular physics). In the first sec- damental failures of this approach, research universities and secular liberal tion, Oliphint draws upon whether as the foundation of epis- arts colleges: much of the article’s praise Aquinas’s primary sources temology and metaphysics, or as the bestowed upon interdisciplinary, holistic to outline his understand- basic structure of a theology of the education at Christian colleges could ing of a twofold way of relationship of the “two kingdoms” likewise be given to the same model at knowing God: (1) natural (i.e., the church and the civil/secular secular liberal arts colleges. To students reason and (2) revelation. spheres)—as attempted by many in considering college as a post-secondary The second section out- the Protestant tradition. Although plan, I would encourage them not to lines and examines Aquinas’s famous “five this book deals directly with a medieval discount secular schools. What a blessed ways” or proofs for the existence of God. thinker, it indirectly gives much food for way to be salt and light! The type of Oliphint finds both foundational elements thought in view of several contemporary institution a believer attends is, in all of Aquinas’s thought to be fatally flawed, theological proposals. likelihood, less important than his or her in that they are an (unwitting) attempt firm spiritual footing on move-in day. to harmonize the antithetical principles Elease Layman Redeeming the Life of the Mind: Essays in of these fundamentally contrary systems. Frederick, MD Honor of Vern Poythress, edited by John Likewise, Aquinas fails to do full justice M. Frame, Wayne Grudem, and John to the biblical teaching on the radical ef- THANK YOU, PAT J. Hughes. Crossway, 2017. Hardcover, fects of sin upon the human mind and 432 pages, $21.75 (Amazon). Reviewed faculty of reason, which is most faithfully Editor: by OP pastor Martin Emmrich. Patricia Clawson’s organizational gifts summarized in the Reformed Standards were readily apparent to me through her (Westminster Larger Catechism 28; Can- Three things cause madness, four things work with MTIOPC (“In Fond Recog- ons of Dordt, Heads 3–4, Articles 1 and despair: violence, oppression, injustice, and nition,” August-September). She also 4). Oliphint’s interaction with the biblical a Festschrift book review. Any attempt at showed her gifts in delivering heartfelt text and the exegesis of Geerhardus Vos is doing justice to all the essays in a short encouragement to those of us fortunate particularly helpful. review is doomed to failure, but I will do to cross her path. Thank you, Pat, for your One might object to Oliphint’s ap- my best to provide a few comments on the service, and you have our prayers for your proach (and Van Til’s) from a historical work as a whole and some of its articles in family. perspective, arguing that Aquinas did not particular. David J. Koenig see himself as trying to reconcile the “un- The editors, each a contributor as well, Dover, NH reconcilable,” and instead viewed natural arranged the selection in six parts, headed reason and special revelation as comple- by rather personal pieces by Poythress’s mentary aspects of knowing the one true children, Ransom and Justin. The open- REVIEWS God. But this objection confuses the dif- ing articles have testimonial character ferent tasks inherent in historical exposi- providing the reader with first-hand evi- tion with transcendental theological dence of the godly life Thomas Aquinas, by K. Scott Oliphint. analysis. Oliphint is not simply trying that Poythress is known P&R, 2017. Paperback, 168 pages, to explain what Aquinas thought he was and loved for. All of us $11.50. By OP pastor Benjamin W. doing, but providing a biblical analysis may be born as liars, but Swinburnson. of the objective failure of his system. there is no better testi- K. Scott Oliphint provides a tremendous Likewise, it is true that in Aquinas’s mony to a man’s charac- service in carrying forward the best of the many commentaries on Scripture, he ter than the word of his theological tradition of the OPC. Leaning does take note of biblical passages re- own children. on the biblical theology and exegesis of garding the effect of sin on the mind. Subsequent parts of Geerhardus Vos and the apologetic tradi- Whether he consistently integrated the book—“Exegesis,” tion of Cornelius Van Til, Oliphint pro- that teaching into the basic structure of “Doctrine of the Trin- vides a penetrating analysis and critique his theology is another question. ity,” “Worldview,” “History,” and “Eth- of the basic architecture of Thomas Aqui- Perhaps most helpfully, this book rep- ics”—become decidedly more technical, nas’s theology. Employing Van Til’s “tran- resents not only a penetrating analysis and and Beale’s article on the New Testament scendental” critique to Aquinas’s thought, critique of Aquinas’s own thought, but by background of ecclesia sets the signal. It ar- Oliphint exposes its fatal flaws as a consis- extension provides a basic critique of all gues against a Greco-Roman background tent Christian expression of biblical truth. attempts to structure our theology (in part of the word “church” as a civic gathering in

NEW HORIZONS / OCTOBER 2018 / 21 order to affirm its rootedness in the Old Testament concept of the holy assembly of Leather Trinity Psalter Hymnal God’s people. The exegetical essays by Crowe, Cara, The leather edition of the Trinity Psalter Hymnal is available from Duguid, Tipton, and Gaffin are, on the October 1 through the end of the year at $42, which is a 40% dis- whole, well balanced, with the last of them count from the list price. To order, go to gcp.org. (the eschatological future of creation seen through the lens of Vos’s Reformed Dog- matics, vol. 5) taking a more or less long- Christian ethics based on Romans 14:17, of faith, underscore the centrality of reli- held, middle-of-the-road position on the using the triadic perspectives of norm, gion in modern America” (5). tension between re-creation and radical situation, and existence (existential expe- Stahl argues that several formidable transformation. Gaffin concludes, “We do rience) as a helpful grid to elucidate the forces drove the military to serve as a not [know what the enjoyment of God’s significance of “righteousness and peace crucible for religious change from World world will be like], if for no other reason and joy in the Holy Spirit.” War I to the 1980s. During the first half because we lack any adequate comprehen- All in all, the Festschrift reflects some of the twentieth century, progressive and sion of the new world itself.” of the wide range of Poythress’s excep- patriotic political influences in the mili- The articles on the doctrine of the tional scholarship, at times stimulating tary led to a tri-faith chaplaincy (Protes- Trinity and worldview have been the most and truly inspiring, but always as I imagine tant, Catholic, and Jewish) (44). During rewarding for me. Hibbs’s exposé of “Lan- the honoree would want it to be: point- the 70s and 80s, “Chaplain Corps further guage and Trinity” is closely aligned with ing away from the man to our Savior and diversified in three ways: by recruiting ra- fine insights from Genesis 11, the confu- God. cial minorities, assenting to the inclusion sion of language at Babel. Frame’s piece on of women, and addressing the needs of more varied faiths” (228). “Presuppositionalism and Perspectivalism” Enlisting Faith: How the Military Chap- Stahl’s passing reference to tensions explores the interdependence of ultimate laincy Shaped Religion and State in Mod- between theological conservatism and values or divine norms and subjective ex- ern America, by Ronit Y. Stahl. Harvard liberalism in American Protestant de- perience. Norms are prerequisite to under- University Press, 2017. Hardcover, 384 nominations implies that theological standing experience while subjectivity (in pages, $39.65 (Amazon). Reviewed by liberalism played a role in the emergence theory) offers a true perspective on God’s OP minister and retired Army chaplain of this tri-faith moral monotheism in truth. Subjectivity, as God designed it, is Christopher H. Wisdom. no impediment to knowledge but a neces- the military. As a result, chaplains “could sary corollary of being made in his image. Dr. Ronit Stahl, a historian and profes- evangelize only religion in general, offer- Trueman’s analysis of Sophocles’s Antigone sor at University of California-Berkeley, ing nondenominational spiritual succor is perhaps the most culturally relevant es- describes her book Enlisting Faith as “a that transcended sectarian differences” say of the collection. It reveals, on the one history of religion, the state, and society (48). However, racial integration, anti- hand, how our perception of family, his- from World War I through the 1980s” nuclear opposition, and anti-Vietnam tory, and the dead has been eroded, and (7). Her conviction is that “the story of War opposition challenged this status quo on the other, how Sophocles’s tragedy of- the modern American military chaplaincy and contributed to an increasing inclusiv- fers some inspiring vistas, anticipating (to unmasks the bidirectional in- ism in the US military chap- some extent) a counter-cultural Christian fluence of religion and state,” laincy and, thereby, in Amer- perspective on these three ideas. and her purpose in writing is ica. Stahl discusses how the The collection closes with contributions to “demonstrate how a state 1984 landmark federal district of Grudem and Hughes. Grudem’s article institution worked hard— court case Katcoff v. Marsh on the problem of an “Impossible Moral sometimes succeeding and (summary judgment, affirmed Conflict” as argued by Norman Geisler sometimes failing—to build a on appeal), which upheld the and John and Paul Feinberg (though their religiously diverse and plural- constitutionality of the chap- views are not identical) is a useful remind- ist nation” (6). laincy program, contributed er to us Christians drowning in a sea of Stahl supports her thesis to the transition from three relativity. I do believe, however, that a brief with three main points. First, major faith groups to numer- synopsis of the differences between verbal “Over the twentieth century ous “distinctive faith groups” lies and deceptive actions would have been … the military served as a crucible for re- (247–48, 250). in order. Grudem provides references for ligious change” (4). Second, “the chaplain- Stahl argues that these intentional, further study, but of all the cases cited in cy unveils the processes of state regulation emerging military policies led, in order, the essay, Rahab seems the gnarliest of the in … religion” (4). Third, “an account of from a tri-faith moral monotheism, to a lot. To leave the reader without the nec- the chaplaincy makes American trials of military-spiritual complex characterized essary tools to understand the differentia- faith visible” (5). She concludes: “Braided by pragmatic pluralism, to finally an in- tion is regrettable. Hughes’s perspectives together, these stories of religious en- creasing inclusivism. on the kingdom of God are a gold mine of counter, the regulatory state, and the trials This emergence of denominational

22 / NEW HORIZONS / OCTOBER 2018 NEWS, VIEWS, & REVIEWS Continued diversity in the military chaplaincies to- Christ, election caricature and unfamiliarity with basic day facilitates our own OPC chaplains’ and the bondage primary source texts abound, Kolb’s and opportunities to preach biblically and of the will, justifi- Trueman’s book is a welcome respite confessionally Reformed historic Chris- cation and sancti- from the noisy din. Both write with clar- tianity. fication, baptism, ity, depth, and an excellent, historically Stahl’s views may not find a home in the Lord’s Sup- grounded knowledge of their respective the minds of all those who read Enlisting per, and worship. traditions. This is a must-read for any per- Faith. But her book should move readers In each chapter, son who wants to know where the agree- to respond critically and constructively to Kolb and True- ments and disagreements lie between the the history she presents, to the arguments man address these Lutheran and Reformed traditions. she marshals, and to the conclusions she doctrines from the vantage points of their reaches about how the US military chap- respective traditions. The Big Idea of Biblical Worship: The -De laincy influenced religion in twentieth- In the chapter on law and gospel, the velopment and Leadership of Expository century America. authors note that both traditions share Services, by David A. Currie. Hendrick- these doctrinal categories (48–49). But son, 2017. Paperback, 184 pages, $14.95. Trueman helpfully identifies the differ- Between Wittenberg and Geneva: Lutheran Reviewed by OP pastor George C. ent ways that law and gospel function in and Reformed Theology in Conversation, Hammond. Robert Kolb and Carl R. Trueman. the two traditions. The Reformed, argues Grand Rapids: Baker, 2017. Paperback, Trueman, historically place greater em- Most of our ministers work hard to ac- 272 pages, $18.35 (Amazon). Reviewed phasis on the third use of the law, whereas curately and compellingly communicate by Prof. J. V. Fesko. for Lutherans the peda- gogical receives greater Luther’s pounding fist on the table at the attention (49). Positions Available Marburg Colloquy emphatically declared Another area of to Zwingli that hoc est corpus meum (“this shared substantial agree- Faculty: Mid-America Reformed Seminary is my body”) referred to the literal body ment between the two announces an opening in ministerial studies of Christ. This action signaled that the traditions is on the doc- or practical theology. Applicants should be Lutheran and Reformed wings of the trine of justification. For able to teach courses in ministerial studies Protestant Reformation would remain both traditions, union and practical theology, including homiletics, distinct and divided. Since then, Luther- with Christ, the Sav- missions and evangelism, pastoral care, and an and Reformed theologians have con- ior’s work, the instru- counseling. Applicants should send their tinued to engage in dialogue to explore mentality of faith, and curriculum vitae, including names of three the prospects of resolving debated issues. imputed righteousness references, to [email protected]. For The most recent entry in this ongo- are common elements. more information, visit www.midamerica. ing discussion comes from two well- Evidence of Reformed edu. respected and accomplished theologians and Lutheran agreement and church historians, Robert Kolb and appears in Calvin’s sub- Stated Clerk of General Assembly: The OPC minister Carl Trueman. Kolb and scription to the Augs- Trustees of the OPC seek a minister or ruling Trueman do not debate but rather con- burg Confession Variata elder with administrative and delegation verse in print regarding the similarities (133–34). But where the skills to assume the office of Stated Clerk of and dissimilarities between the Lutheran dissimilarities surface is the General Assembly on January 1, 2020. and Reformed traditions. The book has in how the Reformed It is a paid, part-time position, averaging 20 eight chapters that cover the waterfront: take this doctrine and hours per week, and may be done remotely, Scripture, law and gospel, the doctrine of integrate it in the Chris- from any location in the United States. The tian life in concert with work requires basic computer skills and sanctification, an em- involves preparations for the annual meet- Corrections phasis to which some ing of the general assembly, the printing Lutherans might object. of an agenda, minutes, and yearbook, the In the July issue of New Horizons, One must walk a tight- maintenance of addresses and budgets, and Kyle Will’s home church should rope to ensure that the have been given as Shiloh Presby- the management of a part-time staff that terian Church in Raleigh, NC. On quest for greater sancti- provides assistance to the Clerk. Applicants page 9 of the August-September fication does not fall into are urged to apply to Clerk Search Commit- issue, “effect” should have been legalism on the one side tee Chairman Richard N. Ellis at ellis.1@opc. “affect,” and the page 15 caption or antinomianism on the should have read “Carolyn Sawyer.” org by November 1, 2018. other (145). At a time when

NEW HORIZONS / OCTOBER 2018 / 23 NEWS, VIEWS, & REVIEWS Continued the Word of God each Sunday. Does the congregation. cal but theologically astute insights into service of worship that is the context for Currie then notes the importance of, handling differences in perspectives on their sermons aid the message or detract and gives practical ideas for, selecting pas- worship. from it? Anyone who has been present in sages for the services of worship and de- The book is an excellent aid to those churches for any length of time can sadly veloping liturgical (worship) ideas that are planning and leading services of worship. tell of instances of hymns or other ele- consonant with the homiletical (sermon) Worship is the context for the sermon, and ments in the ser- ideas. the sermon is a part of the worship. This vice that smacked From this principle, he takes the reader book guides readers into crafting a service of being at cross through the development of five liturgical of worship that glorifies God, evokes ado- purposes with the movements that he argues should char- ration, and leads to a unified and unifying message of the acterize every act of corporate worship: message. This reviewer believes it would text, such as sing- rejoice (what should we praise God for?), greatly benefit pastors, elders, and others ing “Jesus Paid It repent (what should we confess to God?), (including musicians) who help to plan or All” after a mes- request (what should we ask God for?), who lead in worship. sage on the endur- sacrifice (what ing necessity of should we lift up tithing, or “You ask to God?), and ser- me how I know He vice (what should lives? He lives within my heart!” after an we live out for Easter sermon on the historical and fac- God?). tual “many convincing proofs” by which Resisting for- “Jesus presented himself alive” (Acts 1:3). mulas, Currie does Using the “big idea” method of Had- not advocate a don Robinson’s approach to preaching, particular order of David Currie applies a rubric that en- service for every ables those responsible for planning and church, but rather leading the worship service to construct gives principles a service that underscores, enhances, and that are biblical reinforces the message of the biblical text and applicable to preached, so that what is presented each any church, urban, Sunday is a unified whole. rural, Western, Currie begins by defining biblical wor- or non-Western. ship: “Biblical worship is lifted up when The last chapter the whole Word of God guides the whole and conclusion of person together with the whole people of the book are dedi- God into the full presence of the Father cated to the prin- in full union with the Son through the full ciples of building a power of the Holy Spirit to further the worship-planning fulfillment of the whole mission of God.” team (whether Pastors and elders will recognize the fa- made up of only miliar dialectic principle in which there is the elders, or with an alternation of God’s speaking through wider participa- his Word, and the response to God by the tion), with practi-

24 / NEW HORIZONS / OCTOBER 2018