THE CHRISTIAN AFRIKANERS - The Works of F. N. Lee

World War II when he was hiding from the Nazi oppression: "De schuilkelder uit; het uniformaan!" ("Get out of hiding, and put on your uniform!")Van der Waal also approves of Schilder's statement that gasoline, rather than incense, is an explicittheme of the Bible. Van der Waal himself then goes on to add: "Nothing is being absolutised here.For here there is only fear and trembling before the God Who tells me that what God hath joinedtogether -- gasoline and incense; prayer and utilisation -- let no man put asunder!" And again (saysSchilder): 'what God hath cleansed (gasoline) -- call not thou common!'"Let us beware lest texts and terms wrenched out of their contexts by pietists, should ever bring usbefore the false dilemma: Christ or culture. It is not Christ or culture; nor even Christ and culture.It is Christ's culture! On the pietist's road of the pilgrim's progress to eternity, the cultural mandatedies. There, people no longer know how to do anything meaningful with their riches. There, theystand not knowing what to say before today's challenging problems." For pietism is whatRushdoony rightly calls: the doctrine of cultural irrelevance."I shall never forget," says van der Waal, "a conversation I had with an old gardener about potplants.We were discussing the point that was made against the cultural mandate by the pietistic Dr.Douma in his doctoral dissertation -- a work which the gardener had read three times. Is it so thatwe only have a modest cultural task? Are we really only strangers and pilgrims here on earth?"The gardener said, 'Dr. van der Waal, I am more that 75 years old. I really don't need to workanymore. Do you think' -- and here the gardener's hand swept over his beautiful bromelias,begonias, delicious monsters and other treasures of the plant-world in his hot house -- 'Do you think[or does Douma think!] that I work with these plants today, just to earn a living? No! I do it toglorify my Creator!'"