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The Banner’s immodest proposal
In the March issue of The Banner, Rev. Sam Hamstra Jr. presented what he called “A Modest Proposal” regarding the Christian Reformed Church in North America. Reflecting on the 150th anniversary of our denomination, Hamstra argues that our denomination is going to have to be replaced. This proposal is more immodest than modest. It shows a lack of respect or care for those who went before. It is shameless and impudent.
Respect for professors lacking
Brothers and Sisters at CTS, would you mind if I voiced a concern of mine with you and asked you to please respond, whether you agree or disagree? If so, could we agree to be respectful of one another? Although I recently learned the name for this phenomenon in Professor Nydam’s class, I had recognized and have been concerned about this condition for a few months. My concern is with a prevailing attitude of entitlement in the CTS student body.
Alpha café acrostic
A poem by Sherilyn Vandervalk
Why I am a complementarian
A few months ago, Kerux published a series of articles by Meg Jenista entitled, “Why I’m a Feminist” and “How I’m a Feminist.” At that time, I also considered contributing to the discussion, but was unsure of how to do so. The problem was that I only half-agreed with the way the conclusions of the Christian egalitarian position are usually stated. The challenge I wanted to raise is whether one can hold to a more complementarian understanding of the marriage relationship while at the same time affirming equality of roles within the church. My hermeneutic in understanding the passages about gender has included caution about the valid sphere of application of a given passage. I do not want to assert that texts that describe the marriage relationship have any bearing on the way men and women should function in the church.
Why I am a fundamentalist
Here in the halls of Calvin Seminary, we are well educated in being pastoral in every situation. That includes being careful about the words we use about others. And while all of us can make mistakes in this area, I notice that one group of people are fair game for ridicule. Yep, that’s right it’s the fundamentalists. (Also called “fundies” in seminary jargon.) Now, to be certain there are many views held by “some” fundamentalists that are just plan old un-Reformed and worthy of critique. But “fundamentalists” are a huge group. And many fundamentalists now go by the name “evangelical” to avoid the sneers of the “fundamentalist” label. However, in the original fundamentalist-modernist controversy it was the fundamentalists who defended such doctrines as the inerrancy of Scripture, the Virgin Birth of Christ, and the physical truthfulness of the Resurrection, substitutionary atonement, the reality of Christ’s second coming. What about this does the general population of Calvin Seminary disagree with? We are taught all of these doctrines in our systematic theology classes here at the seminary. We are classic fundamentalists.
For the love of snow
A poem by Joyce TenHave
Editorial: Childcare, not children, needed at graduation
With only two months to go, preparations for graduation are fully underway. Oral comps are wrapping up, cap and gown orders have been put in, and the president has sent his annual invitations for dinner at the parsonage to students and their spouses.
But one area of planning has surely been overlooked, as it has been at all previous CTS graduations I’ve attended: childcare.
Sem Eye: Fashion tips for ugly pastors
Once up on a time, in his younger days, your dear Sem Eye correspondent began an internship at a liturgically conservative local church. An idealistic sort, I strode confidently down the aisle to take my place at the head of the large congregation, confident in my new alb and flowing head of luscious curly locks. After the service I stood smiling at the rear of the sanctuary shaking hands with our parishioners. I was particularly touched when one member, a former professor at this very institution, clasped my hand and told me with great sincerity how glad she was to “see anyone with a ponytail in the pulpit at this church; I don’t care if it’s a man or a woman!”
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