“PietisticDaniel”outlinessharedheritageby Carol-Ann Veenhamp

It isn’t often that a speaker receives aburst of applause for not providing ananswer to a crucial question, but theDean of Ontario Theological Seminary(OTS) managed to do so with flyingcolours at the annual general membership meeting of the Institute for Christian Studies (ICS) held May 3.

Perhaps in deference to the Calvinistwork ethic, Dr. Ian Rennie, who is alsoan ICS senator, left the audience withthe task of figuring out for themselveshow to maintain their reformational heritage while sharing it with other Christiantraditions.

“How are you going to hold togetherthe confessional, the pietistic, the Kuyperian.. . ball of wax?” he asked beforeconcluding, “I guess that’s your issue.”

During a 40-minute lecture entitled,“ICS and Canadian Church History,”Rennie outlined the roots of the similarities and differences between Dutch Calvinism and Anglo-Saxon evangelicalProtestantism.

“Pietistic Daniel”

Prefacing his remarks by saying hefelt like a “pietistic Daniel in the den ofreformational lions” since he comesfrom the Anglo-Saxon tradition, Renniesaid that as orthodox and biblical Christians, both groups have far more thatunites them than divides them.

“To spend all our life trying to showhow different we are from everybodyelse seems to me basically non-Christian,” he said.

Out of the early Christian centuriescomes the common ground of the theology of Nicea, the Christology of Chal

cedon, Augustinian sin and grace, andthe early church’s worship and evangelism; and out ofthe Dark Ages comes thecommonality of the great mission to thebarbarians of Western Europe, Renniepointed out, adding that most of those inthe room were of that barbarian stock.

Out of the medieval church, the twogroups share the understanding of thedoctrine of atonement, and that legislation, education and welfare are all to be“impregnated” with the concept thatGod deals not only with individuals andwith the church, but also with nations.

The Institute and most of CanadianProtestant church history comes out ofwhat historians call the “magisterial”side of the Reformation, which meansthey also agree on justification by faithalone, stress the authority and power ofthe Bible, and believe the Holy Spiritworks with us directly as individuals and

‘CsINSTITUTE

FOR CHRISTIANSTUDIES

&I;y

Newsfrom the graduate school with a difference. r’oi 20. No. 3—June1986

I

Dr Ian Rennie

continued on page 3

In This IssueNow that summer has arrived I hope

that all our readers are enjoying moretime with family and friends or enjoyinga vacation.

At the ICS too there is a morerelaxed pace. The busyness of annualmeetings, conferences, appeals andmailings is over for a while. Time now toassess results and set new goals.

To highlight some past happenings inthis issue ofPerspective we include noteson Dr. Ian Rennie’s stimulating addressat the membership meeting and NickTerpstra’s report on Board actions.

ICS student, Thom Corbet, brings usface to face with the problems of inequality and injustice in our world. Hopefully Tom’s study at the ICS will givehim some ideas about how to come togrips with such issues.

Rika Vanderlaan summarizes for ussome of the ideas expressed recently at aconference on medical ethics sponsoredby the ICS and Calvin. The conferencewas excellent, stimulating, and thought-provoking.

Last but not least, read about theactivities and happenings of faculty andalumni. We hope you will get a sense ofexcitement about the many ways inwhich the ICS is spreading its messageabout the kingship of Jesus Christ inhigher education.

Have a great summer, and I hope youwill enjoy this issue of Perspective.

AP

“Well, it’s all true! The legendaryWestern hospitality is everything it’ssaid to be!” That’s what I told you afterreturning from last October’s trip toAlberta and Saskatchewan. That’s whatI say now after this May’s visit to BritishColumbia!

It all began with the unforgettableflight from Vancouver to Smithers.first the receding Vancouver cityscapedramatically framed by its mountainbackground. . . the lovely panorama ofcoastal water. . . islands and inletshundreds ofmiles of inhospitable, snow-covered ranges, great glaciers, secretvalleys far below... Romans 1 speaks tothe air traveller afresh, massively, powerfully, clearly, two things: His eternalpower and His divine nature are declared through Creation. In worldswhere man has neither Scripture norChrist, Creation alone properly commands two expectations: that manshould glorify Him as God, and shouldbe thankful for all His gifts. . . . howinfinitely greater must be the response ofyou and I who hold His Scripture in ourhand, the risen Christ in our heart!

So we descend through the clouds toSmithers and the warm hospitality ofJohn and Irene Bakker and their friends.

Dick Groot welcomes me to hisenormous lumber and planing mills andthe highly complex pressed board plant.• . next day to Terrace and the enthusiastic hospitality of the Luke Janssens.

off to the Calvinette Father andDaughter banquet at Rev. Peter Sluy’sChurch with my own provided-for-the-occasion daughter. .. a great long-after-midnight discussion with ICS friends...

Back to Vancouver to be met bydedicated, Reformed community leader,Nick Loenen, who, surely, properlybears the title “Mr. ICS BritishColumbia” after close to nine years offaithful service to the Institute.., a mostfriendly welcome from my hosts, Prof.Ed and Shirley Piers . . . . then theoutstanding ICS evening chaired byNick, when 150 ICS friends sat down toa delicious potluck dinner in Coquitlam’s Christian Reformed Church ofPastor Even Busink. .. the church choirwas absolutely superb! . . . a chance for

me to share the vision of the Institute forChristian Studies, “The GraduateSchool with a Difference,” which, as faras I know, is the only graduate school inNorth America devoted solely to thebiblical searching out of a Christianperspective for all of life, seeking especially a Christian voice in the academic disciplines ofthe university. . . EdPiers gives a thoughtful, splendid appreciation of Dr. Bernard Zylstra$1,900 is pledged for the Zylstra Scholarship Fund. . . for me, the best of all isthe chance to meet personally so manyfaithful and generous supporters whohave stood by ICS through thick and thin

and new ones who hadn’t beforerealized how strategic to God’s Kingdom ICS really is . . . one colourful,exciting day at Expo (the British Columbians are right, Canada! You must notmiss this once-in- a-lifetime extravaganza!)...

Syrt and Diny Wolters looked afterme handsomely in Victoria. . . particularly profitable were the hours of discussion with Syrt and his guests, PastorBastian Nederlof especially, and GerryEnsing, formerly with the B.C. ChristianSchools and now supervising them forthe B.C. government (that’s like Miriambeing paid by Pharoah’s daughter tonurse the baby Moses!).. . Nellie Stadtwas a delightful help. . . much enjoyedthe dinner she arranged for University ofVictoria undergraduates . . . later wejoined 25 to 30 adults for dessert andmore ICS. . . I particularly valued theopportunity to speak on Sunday morningand evening at the First and SecondChristian Reformed Churches.. . backto the mainland again, this time to thegenerous hospitality of Geerlof andMaria Bomhof. . . together with ICSdevelopment director Adriana Pierik,made presentations of Institute degreeprograms to faculty at Regent Collegeand Trinity Western University.

Finally, back home to Toronto, thereto thank God for the thousands of wonderful people across Canada and theUSA who, with their fathers beforethem, under God, have brought theInstitute for Christian Studies fromdream to reality. I’m glad you’ve let meinonit,too!

From thePresident’s PenBy Clifford . Pitt

1-’eipectizePerspective newsletter is published bimonthly by the Institute for ChristianStudies, 229 College Street, Toronto,Ontario, Canada M5T I R4.

Editor. Adriana Pierik

Managing EditoE Carol-Ann Veenkamp

Editorial Committee: Carol’Ann

Veenkamp, Robert VanderVennen.Harry J. Kits, Adriana Pierik

Authorized Second Class Postage paidto the USA and Territories, mailed fromBox 110, Lewiston, N.Y. 14092.

All other copies mailed under authorizedSecond Class privileges from Toronto,Ontario.

Send all address changes and otherinquiries directly to ICS, 229 College St.,Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5T 1R4.

2 Perspective June, 1986

“Pietistic” continued from page 1then baptizes us into the body of Christ,with the Holy Spirit not necessarilyworking through ecclesiastical structures.

Shared individualism“So we all agree, yes, we do have a

kind of incipient individualism, be weDutch, be we English, if we share themagisterial Protestant background,” hesaid.

Out of the Reformation also comesthe Calvinistic heritage that the Instituteand Canadian Protestant Christianityshare, and out of that Calvin’s theme ofunion with Christ by the Spirit, as well asan ascetism shared by the Anabaptistsand Calvinists.

Then, there is the common Calvinistic understanding of certain aspectsof the Church, particularly with viewingthe Word of God as the regulative principle.

“We’re always a little bit restive withanything that’s a bit lavish and a bitemotional; we like something that’s fairly simple and somewhat cerebral,” hesaid.

Rennie said Calvinists and Anabaptists are the only people who knowanything about discipline in the church.

Transformation of society

In addition, the Reformation ensureda shared belief, on the Calvinistic side, ofthe transformation of society for theglory of God.

Dutch Calvinism is the only form ofcontinental Protestantism that sharesPuritanism with Anglo-Saxons, and outof that shared Puritanism comes a dynamic combination oforthodoxy and life— not the separation oforthodoxy and lifeleading to the dead, sterile, scholasticorthodoxy proposed by theologians fromother parts of continental Europe, Renniesaid.

The Institute and Anglo-Saxon Puritanism also share the Puritan vision ofthe godly Christian in the godly churchin the godly nation.

“We also share the same spiritualdecline of the early eighteenth centuryand the Enlightenment, and of the kindof ghost of hyper-Calvinism rattlingaround in the background that’s alwaysmade us a bit scared, and probably verywisely,” Rennie said.

Evangelical awakenings

The Anglo-Saxon and Calvinists

also share the two or three evangelicalawakenings of the late eighteenth andnineteenth centuries. They don’t sharethe first awakening — 1735 to 1785 —

which gave rise to Methodism, theemphasis on conscious experience, andpost-millenial optimism on the Anglo-Saxon side. But the second awakening,1785 - 1825, was experienced by bothgroups.

At this time Dutch history recordsthe Reveil or the Erweckung, and daCosta’s and Groen van Prinsterer’s conversion. But each Protestant traditionand heritage sought to digest and domesticate this dynamic evangelical movement, which leads to differences.

During the third awakening, late1850s to 1880s, conversions similar tothat of Kuyper (1863) were happeningall over the Anglo-Saxon and Dutchworld.

Discontinuties between the two traditions also exist, Rennie acknowledged.The more obvious ones are those ofnational differences, disparity of size,and the pluralism of Anglo-Saxon Protestantism, which is not parallelled in theDutch scene.

Also, the Anglo-Saxon world hadvery little in the way of revolutions in theeighteenth and nineteenth centuries — noFrench revolution, nor the revolutions of1830 and 1848, which is part of theDutch Calvinist tradition.

Evangelical success

Instead, during this time there’s theremarkable evangelical success in theAnglo-Saxon world, Rennie said.

The Institute’s tradition of confessionalism is also not found in Anglo-Saxon Protestants who still have a veryoptimistic sense at this time.

Rennie asserted that confessionalism was born out of fear of liberal

theology, of the resurgence of RomanCatholicism, and that the Erweckungwas not theologically strong enough tostand against these movements.

Kuyper’s structure of thought behindhis emphasis upon society and his stresson divine sovereignty, on common grace,and on sphere independence also createdimportant differences.

Also, where Kupyer was alreadybeginning to fight secularization ofsociety by erecting alternate structures,the Anglo-Saxons still thought Christianity was flourishing, and so the twotraditions were operating out of differentworlds at this point on some key issues,he said.

Rise of fundamentalismThe last point of discontinuity which

Rennie pointed out was that of conservative evangelicalism as it emergesinto the twentieth century to becomeknown as fundamentalism. Although itwas concerned with the same issues asthe Kuyperians, it was pre-millenial andanti-social gospel. It tended to have theidea that in the divine philosophy ofhistory, church and society were heading to irremediable ruin, and so therewasn’t much point in getting too deeplyinvolved in social concerns.

However, there is also convergencedespite the discontinuities which Rennieattributed in part to the fact that “all yougood Dutch folk are here.”

“You have invaded the Anglo-Saxonworld and that, may I say, is a greatthing. And I think, if I understand rightly,

some of you wanted to “reformationalize” Canada. . . . So here was adesire for some kind of relating.”

And on the Anglo-Saxon side, therejection in many places of pre-millenialism, and recognition of the vast secu

continued on page 4

ICS members listen to Dr Rennie’s speech

Perspective, June, 1986 3

“Pietistic” continued from page 3larization of society has led to convergence, he said.

Many Anglo-Saxons are now saying,“We’ve got to do something; there’snobody else around, except maybe someof our Dutch brethern who are doingwhat we feel has to be done,” Renniesaid.

Convergence

“So, I find that there is this convergence of so many of the AngloSaxons of evangelical tradition lookingto you folk to give a lead.

“Now it seems to me that this mustpresent lots of problems for you. Howare you going to maintain your reformational heritage and yet do somethingpositive in relating to people who want torelate to you? When people want torelate to you, and almost beat the doordown, it’s very hard to live in a ghetto.That’s one way of retaining one’s heritage: just go off in a corner by oneself,draw everything around, and say, ‘We’vegot the truth and that’s it; we’re here.’Well, if other people want some of thegoodies you have, that’s hard to maintain. Anyway, it’s kind of self-defeating.You’re not getting out and sharing a lotof the good things you have. At the sametime, you can be so open when you get intouch with other groups that you lose allthose good things of the past. What atension to live under! There doesn’tseem to be an easy answer.”

Rennie didn’t propose any solutions,but at this point left the burden of findingan answer to those of the Institute tradition.

Skarsten andVan Leeuwenappointed

Dr. Stan Skarsten and Dr. MaryStewart Van Leeuwen have both accepted their appointments as adjunct facultymembers at ICS.

Both Skarsten and Van Leeuwen willbe teaching courses in the new master’sprogram in Christian studies, which willbe concentrating in the area of psychology/counselling in 1986-87.

Skarsten currently works at the Institute for Family Living in Toronto andVan Leeuwen is a professor of interdisciplinary studies at Calvin College inGrand Rapids, Mich. [}

Twice yearly, over 20 people fromacross North America come together inSenate and Trustee meetings to conductthe business of the Institute for ChristianStudies. While the Senate reviews andpreviews courses, publications, and professors, the Trustees oversee financesand administration. At the completion ofthe meetings held April 30 through May2, two impressions remain: on one handthere’s the large amount of businessdone, while on the other there’s thecontinual reminder of how much energyis poured into the ICS through the courseof the year by members of the academicand administrative staff and volunteersfrom the supporting community.

Our business decisions reflect thestrong commitment on the part of Senators and Trustees to growth and diversification. Three professors in full-timepositions at other universities and onepsychologist will be joining ICS as part-time faculty members to teach courses inphilosophy, psychology and history.Heartened by your 40% increase indonations this year, we could approvea budget which projects a reduced deficitwhile restoring the vital position in theHistory of Philosophy and adding asecond fundraiser to our developmentstaff. And with changes imminent in the

Free University’s Ph.D. program, wecould approve negotiation revising ourcurrent joint doctoral program with thatuniversity in such a way that the ICSmay soon be able to offer Ph.D. studiesin a wider range of subjects.

These are only some of the decisionswhich arose out of the reports and recommendations presented to the twobodies. The more significant thing arising out the those reports was a picture ofthe dedication and service which maintains the daily operation of the ICS. It’sa picture which gets pieced together fromthe complaints and commitments crossing various reports. Faculty membershave warned that increasing teachingand administrative duties are cuttingseverely into research time — yet all haveagreed to increase their work in the newmaster’s program in Christian Studies.President Pitt wonders whether his part-time appointment is sufficient to handlethe work — yet refuses to ‘work-to-rule’(or seek a Christian Labour Associationcontract!). So it continues throughoutthe school. All responsible supportersshould recognize that the work of theICS is carried out by an academic andadministrative staff which is often over-

acrossTrustees and Senators from

1

by Nicholas TelpstrcL TrusteeN. A. meet at ICS

continued on page 6

Senator Peter Schoul flanked by Pitt left and Marshall right makes a point atthe senate meeting

4 Perspective June 1986

They came bythumb, by bike,by carby Carol-Ann Veenkamp

In 1968 a Dordt College studentfrom Granum, Alta. packed a suitcase,slung a sleeping bag over his shoulderand hitch-hiked from his summer job inthe Interior of British Columbia toBolton, Ont.

Three years later three young peoplefrom St. Catharines biked 145 miles in14 hours to Delaware, Ont., raising$1,000 along the way.

The college student was Don Sinnema who later became a full-timejuniormember at ICS and the three bikers wereCathy Hoogendam, Peter Van Geest,and Walter VandeKleut. And all fourwere on their way, by thumb, by bicycle,by any means possible, to a summerconference sponsored by the Institutefor Christian Studies (ICS) — the highlight of the summer for many.

Although the summer conferencephenomenon hasn’t seen 30 years yet,its 28 years of association with ICSwarrants inclusion on this page, which isreserved for 30th anniversary featurearticles.

The first conference was held September 1, 2, and 3 at Unionville, Ont.with 60 participants. The roster ofspeakers included such revered namesas H. Evan Runner, Hendrilc Van Riessen,and A. L. Farris.

That first conference spawned satellites in Alberta, British Columbia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Iowa, New Jersey,and Washington.

Fills a gap

Although the Association for theAdvancement of Christian Studies(AACS), the forerunner of ICS, hadswelled to nearly 2,000 by 1959, thetime wasn’t ripe ior the establishment ofa university or graduate school. Duringthe intervening years, from 1959 through1967, the summer conferences wereheld as a means of providing Reformedperspective for Christian universitystudents.

After almost a decade ofconferences,Everett Baker, wrote in Perspective fol

lowing a Bolton conference, “The largecrowd (260) gave substance to the realization that the conferences are here tostay.” The conference had come of age.

Participants of those early conferences often felt profoundly challengedby the lectures. For example, in 1969,May Drost wrote in Perspective, “It ishard to say why the Bolton conferencewas so successful. Certainly the topicsdiscussed left no room for false optimismabout the state of affairs in North American society. In addition, we had reasonto feel less than proud of our own recordtoo, as members of the Body of Christ.But judging by the new books tuckedunder anus and animated, arm-swingingdiscussions, many must have vowed tomake a spectacular effort. It was good tohave been there.”

Broader appeal

But after the opening of the Institute,the focus of the conferences shiftedslightly to take in a broader range ofissues, which would appeal to people inthe working world as well as students.And to ICS supporters, the August Civicholiday weekend gradually became

In 1970, the Ontario conference,held at Niagara Christian College received the largest crowd of attendentsever with 571, including students, parents, and other children.

Of this conference, John Olthuis,then executive director, wrote, “This isthe best conference we ever had; theresponse is overwhelming, the spirit istremendous, and the lectures are incisive.”

Norman headlines

Larry Norman, a contemporaryChristian rock musician, headlined the1971 conference held at Belvoir Centreat Delaware, Ont. and attendance figuresrocketed to 885.

Eventually, ICS summer conferencesbecame concentrated in Canada withone held annually in Ontario, Alberta,Skeena-Bulkley Valley, B.C. andSouthern B.C.

Topics and names of speakers atconferences varied along with prevalent

continued on page &

‘Illhh1lull LI1IhluhII1IIiiiTIY1I1

Conferees at Cultus Lake B. C pose for a group shot in 1969

known as the ICS family conference.

Perspective, June, 1986 5

By thumb continued from pages

concerns as the turbulent ‘60s shapedthe more subdued ‘70s. In the 1980s,ICS summer conferences have almostbecome as much of an institution as theInstitute itself.

Last year, 962 people attended theOntario conference, which featured IC Ssenior member, Dr. James Olthuis, andWestern Canadian supporters attendedconferences featuring Rev. AndrewKuyvenhoven in Alberta, Rev. HenryDeRooy in Skeena-Bulkley Valley, andRev. Derk Pierik in Southern B.C.

Already, staff and volunteers acrossCanada are gearing up for the 28thannual Civic Holiday and Labour Dayconferences. Sharing the fruits of research done under the auspices ofICS inthe form of conferences is a part of theInstitute’s mandate and an indelible partof its history.

ICS alumniremain active

ICS 1975 graduate, Dr. Don Sinnema,’was recently appointed to a chaplaincyat Fredericton, New Brunswick. Afterreceiving his doctorate from Universityof St. Michael’s College in Toronto,Sinnema attended Calvin Seminary. Heis currently serving as an intern pastor atCalvin Christian Reformed Church inOttawa.

Sinnema is also a member of theCRC synodical committee for translation of the Canons of Dort. An articlewhich he co-authored with ICS adjunctfaculty member Dr. Al Wolters, “Serpents and Commas in the Canons”appeared in the June 9 issue of TheBanner.

Another ICS graduate, Brain Walsh,1979, gave a paper entitled, “Theologyof Hope and the Doctrine of Creation:An Appraisal of Jurgen Moltmann” atthe annual meeting of the CanadianTheological Society held at the University of Manitoba June 4. Walsh is currently a Ph.D. student at McGill University in Montreal. [i

Trustees continued from page 4worked and definitely underpaid. Andwhile complaints are sometimes heard,the commitment of everyone is consistently renewed.

We are gratefully recognizing thatthis staff commitment is also increasingly being re-inforced by qualifiedvolunteers who are helping us to improveall aspects of the ICS. A recently established Finance and Property committee has put long hours into sorting outour building management, reviewing thebudget, and getting us on the path back toa balanced budget. The Trustees wererelieved to note in this connection thatthe time-consuming headache of day today building management has been transferred to a property management company, with costs equitably distributedamong all tenants. We are now appointing an Administrative Review committeeto help us simplify ICS operations, and aPersonnel Committee to ensure that ifour staff ever do turn to the CLAC, itwon’t be out of despair. We recognizedtoo that the volunteer who has givenmost over the past year has been Business Director Rosalind Deck, who hassinglehandedly clarified our accountingand financial reporting procedures, anddirected us into the computer age offinancial management. We’re now look-

ing to supporters to help us test thesecomputerized accounting procedures.They can handle deficits; now we’d likeyou to help us see if they handle surpluses equally well.

Some of our last items of businesswere expressions of thanks to one senator and two trustees who are resigningafter having enlightened and enlivenedour meetings for many years. SenatorJohn Olthuis and Trustee Wietse Post-humus have reached the end of theirterms. Their long hours ofwork and legalexpertise steered us through complicated charter negotiations and buildingmanagement problems. Board ofTrusteePresident Derk Pierik is retiring as hiswife Adriana takes over as the ICSDirector of Development. Only theknowledge that he will continue to workon ICS projects could persuade theTrustees to accept the resignation of aman whose wisdom and leadership willbe sorely missed.

In all our meetings we could see theblessings which have come through theprayers and support of the whole ICScommunity across North America.Please continue to pray that God wouldsend us the students, the funds, and thewisdom to do the work which He hasgiven us faithfully, honestly, and well.

Departing trustees Pierik and Posthumus and staff member Van Ginkel prepare to slice thecake at a combined farewell party held May 24.

6 Perspective, June 1986

Meet a newstudent:Thom Corbett

Thom Corbett

One year ago I was watching hundreds of half-starved scavengers maulthrough a 1 00-foot high pile of stinkingand disease-ridden garbage in hope offinding a few cents worth of scrap. Fortheir eight hours of back-breaking workunder a merciless blistering sun, a singlescavenger wouldn’t make enough moneyto pay for a Coke in Canada.

The longer I watched the more itseemed that nothing short of violentrevolution would see justice done in thissmall corner of the Philippines.

If violence wasn’t the answer (andwasn’t I a pacifist?) then what was theChurch doing to ensure that justice bedone in countries where millions live inconditions which, if you or I subjectedour pet cat or dog to similar circumstances in Canada, we would face legalaction for cruelty to animals?

As I watched children as young asthree and grandmothers of 80\ — bentinto the shape of a pretzel by decades ofsifting through other people’s discardedaffluence — it occurred to me that I hadseen this situation repeated numeroustimes in Canada.

I remembered the Maritime fisher-continued on page 8

On May 23, Harry Fernhout, seniormember in education, spoke on “Moral/Values Education: “Challenge andOpportunity” at a meeting of the Christian Teachers Fellowship in Hamilton,Ont. The audience consisted largely ofChristians teaching in public schools. Anumber of non-teachers interested in thetopic were also present.

The following week, also in Hamilton, Fernhout attended a conference on“Interpreting Scripture” at RedeemerCollege.

From June 17 through 19, Fernhoutparticipated in a working conference inLansing, Ill, on the future of Christianeducation. The conference was sponsored by a group ofIllinois teachers fromelementary and secondary schools aswell as colleges.

In the second week ofJuly, Fernhoutwill be joining Agnes Struik, educationalconsultant with the Curriculum Development Centre, in conducting a seminar!workshop on the themes, “The Curriculum and the Learner.” A one-daypreview of this seminar was presented tothe teachers of Calvin Christian Schoolin Hamilton on June 26.

An article entitled, “Curriculum:Acid Test of a Christian School”,cowritten by Fernhout and Struik, appearedin the May/June issue of Faith Today.

On May 7, Paul Marshall, seniormember in political theory, met with theexecutive director of the EvangelicalFellowship of Canada (EFC), BrianStiller, and Hudson Hilsden, head ofEFC’s Social Action Committee, regarding EFC ‘s stand on current humanrights legislation.

Marshall’s article, “A ChristianView of Economics” was printed in theMarch, 1985 issue of Crux, whichrecently appeared.

On June 6, 7, and 8, Marshall attended meetings of the Canadian PoliticalScience Association in Winnipeg, Man.‘While there he chaired sessions on “Solidarity” and on “Faith and Reason”, andwas a respondent to papers on ThomasAquinas and Leo Strauss.

Senior member in philosophicaltheology, Dr. James Olthuis, attendedthe annual meeting of the CanadianSociety for the Study of Religion and ofthe Canadian Theological Society held

at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg. While there, he presented a paperoutlining a holistic, multi-dimensionalanthropology, which he is developing,entitled, “Be(com)ing: Humankind asGift and Call”.

During May, Dr. Calvin Seerveld,senior member in aesthetics, gave alecture at Calvin College in GrandRapids, Mich. on “Reading LiteraryTexts with Christian Antennae.” Facultymembers and students from the German, French, and Spanish departmentsof Language and Literature were present, as well as members of the Englishdepartment.

In mid-May, Seerveld presented aday-long conference on the arts in Brooklyn, NY sponsored by the New YorkCooperative Academy for ReformedTheology. His lectures were on “TheABCs of Christian Aesthetic Theory”and The XYZs for Christian Artists.”Artists from Philadelphia, Long Island,and metropolitan New York attendedand performed music, dance, choralreading, and song, and showed paintings, engravings, and lithographs, for acritical session. Pastor Paul Szto(Queen’s CRC) and Steve Schlissel(Messiah’s Congregation, seeking affiliation with the CRC) and Jan MohI werethe organizers of the conference.

“Promise for Art Historiography”was the paper read by Seerveld at thethird annual meeting of the CanadianSociety for Aesthetics in Winnipeg onMay 30. Seerveld is co-president of thissociety, and chaired its business meetingduring the meetings of the LearnedSocieties of Canada held this year at theUniversity of Manitoba.

Seerveld remained in Winnipeg topresent a lecture on June 2 on “AComparative Critique of Kurelek andKruger” at the Ukrainian Cultural Centre, as arranged by Manitoban artist,Gerald Folkerts. The topic attracted anaudience from Ukrainian and Mennonite communities as well as the DutchChristian Reformed public.

“The Grammar of God’s Self-Expression: Karl Rahner’s Thought asWatershed for Contemporary Theology” was the title of the paper presentedby Dr. George Vandervelde, seniormember in systematic theology, at theCanadian Theological Society op June 2in Winnipeg. [J

Keeping up with ICS Faculty

Perspective, June 1986 7

Corbett continued from page 7men waiting for a “pogey” check so theycould buy some white bread and molasses;a vacant-eyed Toronto teenager shuffling from one government agency toanother hoping that perhaps one couldactually help him; a downcast nativeCanadian confined to a desolate reservation in a country where his once proudancestors had freely roamed for thousands of years.

The question still remained.

How was I contributing to the task ofensuring thatjustice be done to all men ina world created by God with enoughresources to ensure a life ofdignity for allpeoples?

Perhaps a more relevant questionone year after my 10th visit to thatmountain of rubbish in Manila is, “Whatam I now doing at ICS with my nose in abook while so many other noses face thestench of rotting garbage?”

The answer is perhaps most plainlystated in a theme which runs throughoutThe Confessions, by Saint Augustine, abook I recently read. In his book, Augustine continuously notes how God usescertain circumstances and people to leadHis children in a direction which will see“His will done on earth as it is inheaven.”

ICS is one such “circumstance” inmy own life. An opportunity to pause,reflect, meditate, and to gain newammunition in a struggle to ensure justice for those whose voice often has beenreduced to a whisper. Voices which cryout for total salvation, not only in theglorious life to come, but here and now.

Thom Corbett and his wife Sue have atwo-year-old daughter, Nicole. Thomis a student in systematic theology atICS.

York to useMarshall’s book

York University in Toronto will usePaul Marshall’s Thine is the Kingdomas part of the assigned reading for agraduate seminar in political science.

Marshall said the book will be usedas an example of a contemporary Canadian Christian approach to politicaltheory.

Approximately 30 people gatheredat the Institute June 6 to reflect on somevery current and difficult issues relatedto Christian Faith, Health and MedicalPractice. The two-day seminar was leadby a number of Fellows of the Center forChristian Scholarship at Calvin College.

This interdisciplinary team, headedby Dr. Hessel Bouma III, a biologistwith a special interest in genetics, hasinteracted over the past year to grapplewith some of the crucial issues whichconfront medical and health care practitioners on a daily basis.

Team members included Dr. DouglasDiekema, a physician, training in thefield of pediatrics, and Dr. Allen Verhey,an ordained minister and professor ofreligion and ethics at Hope College. Thesociologist/anthropologist on the team,Dr. Theodore Rottman is a professor atCalvin, while the philosopher member,Dr. Edward Langerak, teaches at St.Olaf College in Minnesota.

Thoroughly versed in the currentresearch and thinking, the team sought toexpress a Christian response by examining the issues in a framework that proclaims Christ as the resurrected Lord ofLife and recognizes all humanldnd asimage bearers of God. In the light of thatconfession, members of the team proposed some tentative answers to questions related to issues such as the structural and political demensions of ourhealth care system and medical practice,the development and use of technology,the role of Christian health care practitioners, the underlying principles related to decisions surrounding the end oflife, and the abortion debate.

The results of some of their work,presented at the Institute, were five outstanding papers. Following each of thepapers, invited respondents presentedtheir reactions to the papers. The respondents included three physicians,Drs. Thomas Zeyl, from Grimsby, JamesRusthoven, Sunnybrook Hospital inToronto, and Ian Taylor, professor at

the University of Toronto School ofMedicine. Also responding were Dr.Abbyann Lynch, director of Westminster Institute for Ethics and HumanValues, and Major Harold Thornhill,director of Scarborough Grace Hospital.The responses were as articulate as thepapers, stimulating eager discussion andexchange of ideas.

Saturday morning, with the assistance of two more team members, KenFaber and Kurt Kooyer, five questionsconcerning living wills, the place of thedisabled in God’s covenant, problemsrelated to the Canadian health care system, and other topics were presented fordiscussion.

The papers and discussions creatednew appreciation for the awesomenessof the decisions that need to be made,and the need for collaboration and cooperation between medical and healthprofessionals and patients and theirfamilies in reaching decisions in situations where the choices are, in Dr.Verhey’s words, “irremedially ambiguous”. To borrow further from Dr.Vehey’s paper, the Christian faith, heasserts, acknowledges the tragedy ofsuffering, but also sustains the hope tolook beyond the tragedy to the triumphof God. The story of the cross calls tothose who would follow Christ to minister to the suffering. This calling cannurture and sustain the vocation ofmedicine to heal and to care, to interveneif possible against the evils of sufferingand premature dying, but never to abandon the patient even if and when theintervention does not provide a happyending to the sad story. The calling,however, is not restricted to those whosedaily work involves healing and caring.The issues touch all of our lives and theresponsibility must be shared by theChristian community at large.

Those who were unable to attend theseminar should note that Eerdman’s willbe publishing the results of the Calvinteam’s work.

Two- day conference exploresChristianity and medicine

by Rika VanderLaan

8 Perspective, June, 1986

The ICS again this year has taken itsChristian vision in higher education touniversity and college campuses in theToronto area. Five of our graduate students have brought “Christian Perspective” courses to Christian students onthe secular campuses where the struggleof spirits for the hearts of students is asstrong as ever.

Again this year these courses havehad a life-changing impact on somestudents. As one ofBob Rogers’ studentsat York University put it, “The courseopens up Christians to ideas that theyhave never been exposed to.” One ofNancy Pearcey’s students at ErindaleCollege of the University of Torontowrote in an evaluation, “I would like thiscourse to continue for the whole summer.”

The courses were taught once a week,in cooperative relation with Inter-Varsitygroups or campus chaplain programs.The courses all concentrated on Christian worldview, a basic biblically Christian understanding of issues and viewpoints that students face. Textbookswere chiefly two new books written byICS people: The Transforming Visionby Brian Walsh and Richard Middleton,who taught these courses while theythemselves were graduate students atIC S, and Creation Regained, written byAlbert Wolters while he was on the ICSfaculty. Also helpful were All of LifeRedeemed and At Work and Play, bothwritten by members of Pittsburgh’sCoalition for Christian Outreach.

ICS student Harry Kits, majoring inpolitical theory, faced the challenge ofmaking Christian thinking relevant totechnology-oriented students at Ryerson Polytechnic Institute. Most of themwere students from evangelical andfundamentalist Christian backgroundswho wanted to understand their studyand later professional work in Christianterms. Harry tailored the second half ofthe course to their particular interests,and at one point invited Ryerson profBob Groot to talk about issues in hisspecialty, landscape architecture. Stu

dents said that “the course was an awareness-stimulator” and that “the bookopened my eyes to Christian history andthought, and also the prevailing world-views of today’s society, which I amthankful for.”

David Woods took the bus to Hamilton each week to meet with McMasterUniversity students brought together bycampus chaplain Aren Geisterfer. Davidcame to ICS from England and hasbecome excited about the worldviewperspective of ICS. It is interesting tohave a person with his background teaching this course to students from Reformed churches, including three students from Redeemer College.

Mark Roques couldn’t find manyUniversity of Toronto students for hiscourse, so he went to the highways andbyways and found some recent university graduates, such as a physiotherapist, mechanical engineer, psychiatristand several people in the business world.They found the course to be enjoyableand challenging.

Perhaps the greatest benefit of thesecourses comes to the ICS students whoteach them. It takes courage to take yourChrsitian ideas to the university campus, and skill to articulate them ifyou aregoing to keep the interest of overworkedstudents who don’t receive universitycredit for your course. Our students getvery excited as they find that they havesomething that university students wantto learn. The training is also importantfor those who will become teachers andcommunicators of Christian ideas.

Through these courses the Christianperspective of ICS reaches out to manystudents who would not come to ICS tostudy. Some of them do later study atICS, either part-time or full-time. Ingeneral the courses bring ICS to theattention of many university people whowould not otherwise know of us.

It is important for ICS to test in thesecular university world the Christianworldview perspective that is our main

strength. We need always to refine whatwe have, to test it against what peopleexperience in the larger academic society.ICS students need to be sure that whatthey are learning is the “real stuff’ thatthe world needs, and that they are beingequipped with the right kind of ideas.This year’s experience tells us we aremeeting the test. We ask for your prayersand support for this crucial witness.

What’s ina name?

In the last few months I’ve had somequizzical looks, not the mention somestrange reactions, when I’ve been introduced to others as Adriana Pierik.

Some have querried ifthis Adriana isperhaps a daughter of Rev. Derk Pierik(my husband) and others have wonderedif she is a relative of his. So let meexplain.

At my birth I was given the nameAdriana Wilhelmina Maria. Since thiswas a rather big label for such a littletyke, my parents called me Adri forshort. And for the first 10 years ofmy lifeI went by that name. But then my parentsimmigrated to Canada. Soon my nameunderwent an evolution in both pronunciation and spelling. I ended up beingcalled Audrey.

However, in recent years I haveincreasingly come to appreciate the oldtradition of carrying on some familynames from generation to generation. Idecided I wanted to go back to myoriginal name.

But this was easier said than done.So when we moved to Toronto someyears ago and when I began my studiesat the University of Toronto, I resolvedthat this was my chance. I again startedusing my given name — Adriana.

However, my friends who have knownme for many years still call me Audreyand by that I am certainly not offended,but my new circle of friends call meAdriana. This is the name I like best.

So, please, don’t think that I amgoing through some sort of an identitycrisis. I’m just going back to my roots.

Serving ThroughPublic Educationby Robert E. VanderVennen

ICS goes to the university campus

Perspective, June, 1986 9

DevelopmentNotesby Adriana

Pierik

It is a well known fact that changingone’s job or career rates close to the topon the stress scale. This I would certainly affirm with a resounding “Amen”!

For the past few weeks I have tried toget a bit of a handle on my new job asdirector of development. I’m sure I won’tbe bored. My dreams, or more aptlystated, my nightmares, for the last littlewhile would provide a wonderful casestudy for someone doing a major inpsychology.

I am tremendously challenged towork for ICS and to continue the workalready begun a long time ago by mypredecessors. They have left a solidstructure firmly in place upon which Ican build.

But, at the same time I am also a bitawed by the task that lies ahead of me.However, my anxiety is greatly reducedby the fact that I do not have to do thisjob alone.

As you all know by now, Harry Kitsand I will share this task and we willwork as a team in the developmentdepartment of ICS. I am very gratefulthat the board saw their way clear to hiretwo people to replace Aileen Van Ginkel.That says something about the size ofthe shoes we have to fill as well as thesize of the mandate ahead of us. Butsharing this mandate with Harry givesme a sense of comfort.

Already, Harry and I have done a lotof brainstorming together. We canbounce our ideas off each other and workthrough problems. So, I look upon ourworking relationship as a partnership;each with different areas of responsibility, but with a common mandate.

For this we ask your prayers, forHarry and myself, but especially for theLord’s continued blessing upon ICS.This is your graduate school. You have astake in its success.

I count it a real privilege to use mygifts in the service of ICS. I pray thatGod will bless us richly.

•4::;):

Former director of development Aileen Van Ginkel, shows off a new addition to the

ICS community, her daughter; Alison Diane. born June 23. Alison is the firstborn of Aileen

and her husband Ed She weighed in at 8 lbs. 3 oz

Dr Clifford Pitt talks with the author of Telling the Next Generation Harro VanBrummelen, and his wife Wilma during a recent trip to B.C Photo by Dr. Edward Piers

10 Perspective, June, 1986

As most of our readers know, ICS’s firstpresident Bernard Zyistra, died of cancer \Voridview reading froin IC Sat the age of 51 on March 4. The Februaryissue of Perspective carried a tribute tohim. Readers responded to the news incorrespondence to ICS and to Zyistra’s B. Walsh and R Middleton — The Transforming Visio,v $ 9.75widow. Here, Josina Zyistra takes the Shaping a Christian Worldviewopportunity to thank the ICS communityfor their support. A. Wolters — Creation Regaineth Biblical Basics for a $11.25

Reformational Woridview

B. Frey and others — All ofLU’e Redeemed $ 6.95May 15, 1986Dear Friends, B. Frey and others — At Work and Play: Biblical Insight $10.95

for Daily ObedienceBecause of the large number of B. Goudzwaard — Idols of Our Time $ 6.95people who expressed their sympathy

after Bernard’s death, it is impossible A. De Graaff and J. Olthuis — Toward a Biblical View $ 6.00for me to thank each one of you in- ofMan: Some Readingsdividually. By means of this public H. E. Runner — The Relation of the Bible to Learning $ 5.95letter, however, I would like to express H. Hart— The Challenge of OurAge $ 3.25my sincere appreciation to each andeveryone who in whatever way did so. i K. Hermann — University Study in Christian Perspective $ .75would also like to thank youfor having c. T. Mclntire — The Focus ofHistorical Study: $ .75allowed us the maximum amount of A Christian Viewprivacy together during Bernard’s ill

J. Olthuis — On Worldviews $ .75ness, since this meant that we were ableto experience the time we had not dared K. Hermarm — Every Thought Captive to Christ: A $ 5.50hopefor as aparticularly blissfulperiod. Bibliography ofResourcesThose months turned out to be thehappiest of our ljfe and enabled us toprepare togetherfor the inevitable end. Biblical StudiesSincerely, C. Seerveld — Balaam’s Apocalyptic Prophecies: $ 3.95Josina B. Zyistra A Study in Reading Scripture

H. Fernhout — OfKings and Prophets $ 7.00D. Sinnema — Reclaiming the Lanth A Study of the $ 3.00

Reserve these dates Book ofJoshua

J. Boer — Biblical Quotations on Justice, Stewardship $ 1.50and EconomicsReserve Thursday, October 30 and

Saturday, November 1 for ICS’s 30th H. Vander Velde — A Study of the Book ofRuth $ 1.00anniversary celebrations! R. Vander Plaats — Jeremiah and the Death ofJudah $ 1.00

On October 30, ICS intends to host S. Bower — Imaging God as Woman and Man Togethet $ .75an evening of drama by Trinity Players A Study of Genesis Twoand the official anniversary ceremonywill take place November 1.

New and choiceMore details will be released in upcoming issues of Perspective. Harro Van Brummelen — Telling the Next Generatiow $20.95

Educational Development in North American CalvinistChristian Schools

Featured speakers SubtotalPlease add 10% for mailing ($1.00 mm)

President Clifrord Pitt and vice- TOTAL (payment enclosed)president Paul Marshall are featured (Canadian funds or equivalent)speakers at the forthcoming conference“Christianity in the Marketplace,” Sendfor our complete list of books and papers.October 16 - 17 in Toronto, sponsored Name

_____________________________________________________

by the King-Bay Chaplaincy. If youwish to consider attending, you can write Address

___________________________________________________

KBC at Box 175, Toronto Dominion

__________________________

Postal Code

__________________

Centre, Toronto, Ontario M5K 1 H6.Order from ICS, 229 College Street, Toronto, Ontario M5T 1R4

Perspective, June, 1986 11

ierspect1venewsletter (USPS 335-530) is published bi-monthly by theInstitute for Christian Studies, 229 College Street, Toronto,Ontario, Canada M5T 1R4. Telephone: (416) 979-2331.

ISSA 0384-8922. All other copies mailed under authorizedSecond Class Reg. No. 2091, Toronto, Canada. Send all

Is your address correct? address changes and other inquiries directly to ICS, 229College Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5T 1R4.

Address change requested

Return postage guaranteed

ICS Summer Conferences

Changes and Choices — Niagara Family ConferenceAugust 1 - 4 at Niagara Christian College grounds near Niagara Falls, Ont.Keynote speaker: Dr. Richard Mouw, Professor of Christian Philosophy andEthics at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif.For registration information, contact ICS at (416) 979-2331 or write us at229 College St., Toronto, Ont. M5T 1R4

Doing Justice — Alberta Family ConferenceAugust 1 - 4 at Deer Valley Meadows Camp near Alix, Alta.Keynote speaker: Dr. Nicholas Wolterstorif, Professor of Philosophy atCalvin College, Grand Rapids, Mich.For registration information, contact Miranda and Hank Bestman at(403) 484-1501 or write them at 10319 - 155 St., Edmonton, Alta. T5P 2M1

Winds of Change - Our Response — Southern B.C. Family ConferenceAugust 29 - September 1 at Columbia Bible Camp at Cultus Lake, B.C.Keynote speaker: Dr. Peter Schouls, Professor of Philosophy at the Universityof Alberta.For registration information, contact Sam Van Randen at (604) 521-2162 or writehim at 7839 - 18th Ave., Burnaby, B.C. V3N 1J5

Institute for Christian Studies Institutional Repository

ARTICLE: 19862003

TITLE: Perspective (Institute for Christian Studies)

AUTHOR: Institute for Christian Studies

ISSUE DATE: June 1986

TYPE: Journal

SERIES/JOURNAL: Perspective; v.20, no.3

KEYWORDS: Institute for Christian studies, ICS, summer conferences, history, Thomcorbet, students, medical conference, christian perspectives courses, staffappointments, Stan skarsten, Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen

NOTES: “Pietistic Daniel” outlines shared heritage [ICS and Canadian church Historyby Dr. Ian Rennie], Two day conference explores Christianity and medicine [ChristianFaith Healing and Medical Practice]

CITATION FORMAT: Perspective. Toronto, ON: Institute for Christian Studies, 1986.

dc.creator: Institute for Christian Studies

dc. contributor: Veenkamp, carol -Ann

dc.contributor: Pitt, Clifford C.

dc.contributor: Vandervennen, Robert E.

dc.contributor: VanderLaan, Rika

dc.title: Perspective (Institute for Christian Studies)

dc . date. issued: 1986-06-30

dc.date.accessioned: 2012-04-25

dc.type: journal

dc . format. mi metype: appi i cati on/pdf

dc.language.iso: en

dc. subject: Humanities

dc.subject: Institute for Christian studies--History

dc.subject: Rennie, Ian

dc.subject: Reformed Church--Canada--History

dc.subject: Institute for Christian Studies--congresses--History

dc.subject: Institute for Christian Studies--students

dc.subject: Institute for Christian Studies--Congresses

dc. subject: Medi ci ne--Religious aspects--Christianity

dc.subject: Medicine and Religion

dc.subject: Institute for Christian studies--Seminars and conferences

dc.subject: Institute for Christian studies--Seminars and Conferences--History

dc.subject: Christian Perspective (Institute for Christian Education)

dc.subject: Reformed philosophy

dc.subject: Institute for Christian Studies--Faculty

dc.rights: copyright, Institute for Christian Studies, all rights reserved.