THE Sovereign Grace Union has issued an excellent pamphlet by Prof. Hamilton on the above subject. We can recommend it unreservedly to our readers. In these days when Arminianism has by peaceful penetration captured most of the modern evangelical churches and when the witness which was raised against it is well nigh silent it is encouraging to read a pamphlet with such a sound scriptural ring. It is to be feared that those Churches which have adhered to their Calvinistic standards are not so faithful in witnessing against the insidious teaching of Arminianism as they should be. There is a danger that our attention should be devoted to some more recent attack on the faith while we neglect to keep our eye on this older attack which is none the less dangerous because it is working quietly. As Dr. Watts, Belfast, used to say to his students, “Arminianism did not appear until the great battle of the Reformation was fought and won; and when it did appear on the scene it was as a disturber of the ecclesiastical peace.” All the great symbols of the Reformed Church set forth Calvinistic doctrines and in the Westminster Confession of Faith we have that system of truth expounded by theologians of the first rank and men in whose hearts the Holy Spirit wrought His gracious work. The Divines were men steeped in the doctrines which has passed through the fires of controversy in the Christian Church and their theology came not lifeless and dead from their intellects but warm from hearts which had felt the life-giving power of truth which they systematised in such a masterly way in the Confession of Faith. We hear a good deal said of the revival of Calvinism and while we would not seek to belittle the efforts that are being put forth we cannot help feeling that there is a tremendous up-hill work ere it make any perceptible head-way. Still, it is encouraging to know that Arminianism is being attacked in its strongly entrenched positions. Every effort made to explain the strong, healthy, virile doctrines of Calvinism is a move in the right direction. We need not look to Barthianism for help until it is purged of its modernistic leanings concerning the Scripture. What is valuable in Barthianism can be found in the writings of Calvin without the objectionable element. Calvinism as Dr. Duncan put it is Augustinianism and Augustinianism is Paulinism. Calvinism claims to derive its teaching from the Bible. Its doctrines are anything but popular to the natural man. God’s sovereignty which is so strongly emphasised in this system of truth can never be pleasant to a world and hearts that are in rebellion against Him. It requires a miracle of divine power to bring about submission to the divine will.
*The Reformed Faith in the Modern World by the Rev. Prof. Floyd E. Hamilton, B.A., B.D., Th.M., Union Christian College, Pyongyang, Korea. London: The Sovereign Grace Union, 31 Imperial Buildings, Ludgate Circus, E.C.4. Price 3d., post free.
The leading points of Calvinism are: 1. Divine Sovereignty; 2. Human Inability; 3. Unconditioned Election; 4. Definite Redemption*; 5. Efficacious or Irresistible Grace; 6. Final Perseverance (or preservation, as some prefer to call it, thus emphasising the “keeping” of the redeemed). In a short article like this it is impossible to do anything like justice to these great truths. Our main purpose will be served if we induce our readers to order copies of this excellent pamphlet. The author is not like so many writers, when dealing with subjects of this kind, afraid of giving offence and who prefer to do injury to the truth rather than hurt their fellow-men. Prof. Hamilton is not built this way. He marches forward with no uncertain step, states the truth as he finds it in God’s Word and is unconcerned whether men are pleased with it or not.
*At one time this doctrine was generally known as “Limited Atonement.” The above is a correcter terminology. Strictly speaking, Christ’s satisfaction is infinite in value and the word “limited” tends to direct the mind to an idea that was never intended by those who used it.