![]() ![]() So, do I believe that the CRC’s “Three Forms of Unity” are true? Sure I do. In my teaching and writing, I continued with a generous attitude to other Christian traditions, believing, as I told the president back then, that we are all better off in open dialogue with fellow Christians. We shook hands, and the subject never came up again in our years of harmoniously working together. Before I could say anything else, he handed me the pen and said: “sign here.” I did. He asked me directly if I was indeed prepared to sign without objection. Spoelhof apparently didn’t want to have that discussion. I insisted that each of the historic documents mentioned above could inform the other and we’d all be the better for it, in a generous world in which we listened to and learned from other Protestant confessions in short, just what a liberal arts education stood for, or so I believed.ĭr. For my part, an attitude of openness was crucial. I said that it would be for theologians to argue about, not a young historian beginning his career at Calvin. Spoelhof countered, they don’t fully agree with each other. I further said I would also sign the (Lutheran) Augsburg Confession and, for that matter, the Anglican Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion.ĭr. What did I mean about assent and dissent? I said that in agreeing these documents to be “true” I was not saying that others were “untrue.” So, for example, if on this table one found, say, The Westminster Confession I would sign that too. His face grew seriously, even gravely, concerned. I said I wanted it understood that in giving my assent here, I was not giving my dissent elsewhere. My next comment seemed to surprise even more. I said that I was glad to give my assent to these documents because I understood that I was, in effect, an employee of the CRC, and thus had to agree with its defining documents – “the form of subscription” - as had all others who serve the church. Really? No concerns or caveats? No, I said. I believe I surprised him when I said that I was prepared to sign without objection. I glanced over the writings and saw many people objecting to things like infant baptism and limited atonement. He said that there would be plenty of room for objections if I was so inclined. He pointed out the contents of the book, and showed, with I think some pride, the various and sometimes lengthy pages in which faculty people had written out, in their own hand, their objections. Since I was not CRC in my background, nor a graduate of Calvin, he didn’t know precisely what he was going to get in this meeting. William Spoelhof, was kindly and welcoming as I came into his office. I got the call from the president’s office to come up to sign during my first year at Calvin, the academic year 1969-70. If you have some objections, there is a place for you to write out those concerns. In the next section of the big book is a place for faculty members to sign their names, in testimony that they agree with the three documents. The book contains the three documents that theologically define the Christian Reformed Church: the Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic Confession and the Canons of the Synod of Dort. The book is held, I believe, in the provost’s office now, though in my time it was in the keep of the college president, who guarded it with sincerity, even zeal. The idea is that before you consider a new summer suit, a pair of shoes, a sports watch or even a sports car you will consult your Big Black Book for confirmation, or inspiration, or even just diversion.Perhaps readers of this blog may be unaware that those of us who teach at Calvin (now University) must sign “The Big Black Book.” Let me explain. So theres plenty to read, plenty to look at, plenty to buy, plenty to investigate. Unlike certain other magazines we could mention but wont, because it wouldnt be very stylish The Big Black Book is aimed at smart, sophisticated, switched-on men (thats you) who dont want to look like a teenage street-style bloggers Dalston hangover yes, we have clothes you will actually be able to wear! and it puts as much emphasis on sharp writing and useful information as it does on crisp photography and slick styling. The Big Black Book covers fashion, food, art, design, drinks, cars, travel, grooming, watches, interiors: the stuff without which our days would be ugly and cheerless and, as they say in New York, meh. In every other respect, though, The Big Black Book does exactly what it says on the cover.īilled as the style manual for successful men, it is a brand new, twice-yearly guide to the finer things in life, brought to you by the people behind Esquire (thats us). The truth is, its medium sized, relatively colourful, and a magazine. Esquires stylish new spin-off is the smart man´s guide to the season. ![]()
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