Introduction
It is with deep humility and love that I present the material contained in this book. I fully realize the consequences of publishing it but I also know the consequences (for others and myself) of not publishing it.
I am very thankful to God that I had the privilege of being reared in a very religious home. I attended catechism for nearly twenty years where I was thoroughly indoctrinated with Calvinism and the Reformed teachings. While in the service I was elected president of the Calvinist Club in Fairbanks, Alaska.
I have always taken my religion very seriously and from a child I have carefully read and studied the Bible. As a young person I began to see the conflict between Calvinism's creeds and what the Bible teaches. After many years of sincere Bible study and with the help of New Testament Christians, I was led to see the truth. I humbly obeyed the gospel of Jesus as it is so plainly outlined in the New Testament and was baptized for the remission of my sins and the Lord added me to His church.
Since that time I have had the privilege of studying at a Bible school for two full years. During this time we studied twelve hours each day directly from God's Word. This is equivelent to over one-hundred and forty semester hours of study, nearly all of it from the Bible.
With this came a great and awesome respect for God's Word and all of its truth. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Rom. 1:16-17) and it is fully sufficient to teach man all that he needs to know to be saved from sin and to live the Christian life. If all men would "learn not to go beyond the things which are written" I Cor. 4:6, and by doing this "all speak the same thing" I Cor. 1:10, religious division would disappear from the earth. In this way all men could be one in Christ, even as He prayed that they might be.
To stay on this safe ground in presenting this material, I have agreed to abide by the rule given by the inspired apostle Peter, "If any many speak, let him speak as the oracles of God" I Pet. 4:11.
Hundreds of thousands of religious books have been written over the centuries but few writers have been content to abide by this rule or even anywhere near it. Any man's theology is as good as any other man's and if I had a theology it would be worth no more than anyone else's.
God is sovereign and His Word is the only and final authority so let myself and all men be content to speak as God speaks in His Holy Word. I do not pretend to present any new truth but only God's Word as it has been available to men for nearly two-thousand years.
All the material contained in this book can be strictly divided under three heads with no overlapping possible. The three divisions are:
- The creeds, confessions and catechisms of men and synods, and men's writings and interpretations concerning them.
- Questions asked by the person who prepared this book. Please remember that I have not made one statement of my own but have only asked questions. Remember that it is impossible to argue or disagree with a question.
- All questions are either answered by a sizeable group of direct quotes from God's Word as they are found in your Bible, or they are left for the reader to answer.
I have tried to be very careful in quoting all the scriptures as they are used in their context, so as not to change their meaning in any way. Even with this extreme care there may be the possibility of a scripture used incorrectly. If so this was done unkowingly and we stand to be corrected. I ask the reader to check and to read every scripture from his own Bible. My purpose is to get every person to read and to study God's Word for himself. This was the great plea of the 16th Century Reformers, but it was forgotten when men began to write creeds and to chain themselves and others to their human creeds. When each man reads God's Word for himself, understands God's Word for himself, and obeys the gospel for himself, souls will be saved and the truth will again spread into all the world. We humbly pray that God will use this lowly effort to bring this about.
C. A. Feenstra
Sioux Center, Iowa
April, 1968
Published in The Old Paths Archive
(http://www.oldpaths.com)