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Book Reviewsbear us victoriously through.There is a stronger passionyet,-the power most prevalentand impelling in God orman, love, which shedsthrough the faculties and affectionsof the human soul adelicious ardor absorbing thewhole nature to one purpose,and concentrati ng all itsforces on one enterprise.Faith is strong, hope is stronger,but love is the strongestin all operations ofthe Christianlife. It is the superlativeof the three degrees of heavenlygrace, the acme of theclimax by which we ascendto God. Hence, in this mostdifficult work ofour conversion,love alone is equal bydivine grace to its accomplishment,and has the largestshare in the process. God,from whom comes the divinelife which assimilates us toHimself, is love; and love toGod is so identified with thenew life, that we cannot distinguishit from the life itself....It is the perception,the persuasion, the apprehension,the bringing home toHimselfofthe love ofGod inChrist, which transforms thebeliever by an all-pervadingenergy, thrilling, subduing,exciting aJl ofhis senses intoa wiJling, happy, obedientcreature of Christ's will.(From Lecture XLI on TheNovember, 2001Nature of True Conversion,pages 387 and 388.)Every well-kept Sabbathis thus a fresh return of manto God for instruction andstrength to discharge his duty;and also a repeated anticipationof his rendering an accountat the great day of themanner in which he has dischargedhis duty. All the bindingforce that religion hasover morals, is thus concentratedand made immediatelyapplicable in a right use ofthe Sabbath. Not to rememberthe Sabbath, is not to rememberGod~ and to forget.God, is to forget the obligationof virtue. In this highsense has the Sabbath beenmade for man. As his happinessis inseparable frol11 virtue,and virtue inseparablefrom religion. the Sabbath,on which both are speciallycultivated, is a confirmationand security of man's highestgood. Hence (we mayobserve in passing) experiencehas proved that wherethe Sabbath has been bestkept, sound notions of morality,and the practice ofvirtue,personal and social, havemost prevailed, because therethe fear and love of God arethe paramount motives ofman's conduct. He only whoremembers the Sabbath dayto keep it holy, will remem-77
er to keep himself holy; forthe Sabbath is not only ameans ofmoral strength, butalso a test ofmoral sincerity.(Lecture XLVII on The Purposeof the Sabbath, pages489 and 490.)My only regret about thelectures of George Bethune isthat his commentary ends withLord's Day 38 of the Heidel-berg Catechism. We thank theBanner of Truth for republishingthese excellent volumes.Having them in hard cover isworth the money. These are thekind of books you want to besturdy enough to bereadseveraltimes over the years, especiallyby preachers who love to preachon the Heidelberg Catechism.•Christ Preeminent: A Commentaryon Colossians. Alden A.Gannett. Grand Rapids: KregelPublications, 1998. 109 pages.(paper). [Reviewed by RussellJ. Dykstra.]The title ofthis briefcommentaryon Colossians is mostappealing to the Reformed believer-Christ Preeminent. TheReformed faith emphaticallymaintains that Christ is preeminent- the center ofthe counselofGod, the express image oftheFather, the God-appointed Mediatorof the covenant, and theSavior of His people. ChristPreemineht is also an appropriatetitlefor a commentary on theEpistle totheColossians. In fact,78the very term preeminence isascribed to Christ in Colossians1: 18 - "Andhe is the headofthebody, the church: who is thebeginning, the firstborn from thedead; that in all things he mighthave the preeminence." Colossianssets forth that very truth ina glorious way, particularly in1:15-20.That passage not only revealsthat Christ is very God,the Creator, the Head of thechurch, and the Savior, but setsforth the truth that Christ is thecenter of the counsel of God.Colossians 1provides probablythe clearest and strongest testimonythat the decrees of Godought to be understood in asupralapsarian order. That is toPRTJ
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ProtestantReformedTheologicalJourna
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EDITOR'S NOTESProf. Russell J. Dyks
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For there are many, even l unruly,
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happen to hold unwittingly to some
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tion oftheir false teachings. II Pe
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est, they are very weak, at worst,
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truth~' (see I Tim. 4: 1 - 4). Ever
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Thomas Bradwardine:Forgotten Mediev
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ated grace and uncreated grace. Unc
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Bradwardine faces the question ofth
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the age, namely, that having set fo
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did not identify Thomas Bradwardine
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The first is that Bradwardine was a
Page 27 and 28: to Bradwardine as oneof"two pre-emi
Page 29 and 30: Gospels, Acts, and Revelation. Sir
Page 31 and 32: power of the papacy in Bradwardine'
Page 33 and 34: The Serious Callof the Gospel -Is t
Page 35 and 36: elieve th~s proclamation with uprig
Page 37 and 38: to bring good news with their "fig
Page 39 and 40: nation, we read of Melchisedek, the
Page 41 and 42: official activity ofa monarch's her
Page 43 and 44: 8): "Calling is ofthose elect and r
Page 45 and 46: ut all his posterity unable to obey
Page 47 and 48: alone, and He saves whom He will. E
Page 49 and 50: have moved away from the notion oft
Page 51 and 52: every member ofthe visible, institu
Page 53 and 54: fulfilling this calling is their pa
Page 55 and 56: contingent. Further, Calvin did not
Page 57 and 58: ofacceptance in terms of merit, ins
Page 59 and 60: covenant ofgrace and works, or it i
Page 61 and 62: Spiritual, Suffers Them to DefileTh
Page 63 and 64: the gospel is preached" (p. 212).In
Page 65 and 66: "They do not hold that JesusChrist
Page 67 and 68: II Corinthians 3:6 that "the letter
Page 69 and 70: is to oppose and to repulsethat sec
Page 71 and 72: Rightly Divided: Readings inBiblica
Page 73 and 74: is necessary speaks volumesabout th
Page 75 and 76: Guilt, Grace and Gratitude,Lectures
Page 77: 76ted under the new? If it wererigh
Page 81 and 82: there is room for both positionsin
Page 83 and 84: Dr. Gannett's eschatologyalso effec
Page 85 and 86: that, but man has a corrupt nature(
Page 87 and 88: the love of God is "universal"(p. 5
Page 89 and 90: ever, throughout the book thereis n
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