August–September 2021 Ordained Servant

From the Editor. The large bulge in recent American demographics, known as the Baby Boom generation, is experiencing adult children and often grandchildren. Christian parents in that generation often fret over their adult children because they often stray from our faith or at least from some of our values and ways of life. Gerry Malkus encourages us to trust God’s work in their lives in his uniquely helpful article, “God’s Work in Our Adult Children’s Lives.” This challenge presents an opportunity to trust that our God is both living and sovereign.

Danny Olinger gives us the third chapter of The Writings of Meredith G. Kline on the Book of Revelation: Chapter 3, “The First Resurrection: A Reaffirmation” (1976). His discovery of Meredith G. Kline’s 1946 ThM thesis in the Montgomery Library of Westminster Theological Seminary led to his development of Kline’s work on Revelation. Then he found that Kline’s son, Meredith M., had three copies of the thesis, one of which is a handwritten version containing several penciled notes. It was in an envelope with MGK’s notes from Stonehouse’s course on Revelation which he took in the Fall 1945 semester of Westminster Theological Seminary. According to his 1946 datebook, he took the exam for the course on January 10, 1946, started research for the paper the next week, and finished it on April 12, 1946.

The second copy is a blue-ink mimeographed version. It has a variety of penciled notes and subheadings related to the text, along with other notes, such as “skip,” which must have applied to a presentation MGK made of the material in the paper. It must have been produced from the handwritten version since it alone shares five spelling mistakes with that version.

The third copy is a black-ink mimeographed version. This version has many more spelling mistakes than the other versions and even leaves out several lines. Unlike the other two versions, which have only the title at the beginning of the paper, the first page of this version has a heading above the title: “class notes—unpublished material—class notes” and under the title an indication of authorship: “by Meredith Kline.”

Capitalization, punctuation, bibliographical references, and formatting have been updated to provide clarity. The thesis used the KJV for biblical quotations.

So, I will publish Meredith G. Kline, A Study in the Structure of the Revelation of John, in four parts, beginning with Part 1 in this issue. Kline’s brilliant organization, attention to detail, originality, and strict exegesis immediately impress the reader. I hope that this careful defense of the synchronous structure of Revelation will benefit our readers.

Alan Strange continues his “Commentary on the Form of Government of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church” with chapter 21. When complete this will be published as a unique resource for church officers. Sessions should encourage its officers and the interns, who are under care or licensed, to pay careful attention to the exposition of our standards.

There is no topic besides gender and the pandemic that is more discussed than race. Darryl Hart reviews Jemar Tisby’s latest book, How to Fight Racism: Courageous Christianity and the Journey toward Racial Justice.

In “The Race Card in a Marked Deck,” I review a new book by French political philosopher Pascal Bruckner, An Imaginary Racism: Islamophobia and Guilt. Bruckner deals with racism in the European context dealing with Islam.

Christianity seeks its unity broadly in the imago Dei, narrowly in the mediatorial person and work of Jesus Christ, while respecting God-given cultural uniqueness, provided that uniqueness is not contrary to biblical orthodoxy. Differences need a solid common foundation.

Mark Graham reviews the latest edition of Richard Gamble’s The Great Tradition: Classic Readings on What it Means to be an Educated Human Being. I chose to have this book reviewed as part of a reminder that our Form of Government requires a liberal education of its ministers because we minister the gospel in God’s world. Princeton Theological Seminary is purposely embedded in a university.

William Edgar reviews The Good, the True, the Beautiful: A Multidisciplinary Tribute to Dr. David K. Naugle, demonstrating in the life of a great teacher how the religion of the Bible relates to all of life.

Finally, do not miss the lovely poem, “A Hymn to the Evening” by Phillis Wheatley, the first published black poet in America. Nothing in God’s world escaped her worshipful attention.

The cover pictures are from the Eccardt Farm in East Washington, New Hampshire. The OS page and PDF picture is of a stream running through the farm; the front cover picture is of antique farm equipment on display on the roof of the bird house. Still a family farm, the German-Swiss Eccardts love to have children visit their animals and museum.

Blessings in the Lamb,
Gregory Edward Reynolds

FROM THE ARCHIVES “RACE AND ISLAM”

http://opc.org/OS/pdf/Subject_Index.pdf

• David VanDrunen, “Reflections on Race and Racism,” Ordained Servant Online (March 2021).
• “How Should the Reformed Church Respond to Islam?” (Bryan D. Estelle) 17 (2008): 48–54.
• “Paul in Mecca.” (Gregory Edward Reynolds) 17 (2008): 6–9.
• “The Reformed Faith and the Challenge of Islam” (John R. Muether) 27 (2018): 46–52.

Ordained Servant exists to help encourage, inform, and equip church officers for faithful, effective, and God-glorifying ministry in the visible church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Its primary audience is ministers, elders, and deacons of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, as well as interested officers from other Presbyterian and Reformed churches. Through high-quality editorials, articles, and book reviews, we will endeavor to stimulate clear thinking and the consistent practice of historic, confessional Presbyterianism.