Common Grace
"Is the grace of Almighty God common to all men, or is it particular and for the elect alone?" This question was the main cause of the split that occurred in the Christian Reformed Church and started the Protestant Reformed Church. The issue was between common grace and particular grace. The controversy all started when Ralph Janssen, professor of Old Testament Studies in Calvin Seminary, was accused of higher criticism by Herman Hoeksema, Pastor of Eastern Avenue Christian Reformed Church. Rev. Herman Hoeksma was the founding father of the Protestant Reformed Churches. James Schaap, an English professor at Dordt College says the people in the Protestant Reformed Church "write history in a different way than subsequent CRC historians might" so therefore there are different ways that the history is told. Schaap goes on to say, "We are all influenced by our history and biases" (245). Some books say Hoeksema and other pastors left, and other books say they were kicked out. This issue of common and particular (or special) grace was discussed in the Synod of 1924 which split up the church and started the Protestant Reformed church. Then there was the aftermath of the Synod a
Janssen was teaching his unbelieving theories of criticism under the umbrella of common grace. Hoeksema devoted any extra time to studying and writing. The third point of common grace teaches that any sinful man has the ability to do good works. Hoeksema criticized Janssen of higher criticism, which is giving natural causes and scientific explanations for miracles. Particular grace is the belief in predestination and that only those who were predestined are God's elect, and that God shows grace to these people and no others. Herman Hoeksema's son Homer, writes "that Dr. At their next meeting they discussed what they had in common:Their belief in God's sovereign, particular grace and their obedience to orderly procedure in the courts of the church, according to their Church Order. In November of 1926, the congregations of the PCRC met to organize classes and also officially call their new denomination the Protestant Reformed Churches. In 1920, the Christian Reformed Church Synod cleared Janssen of his charges that were made by Hoeksema. Herman Hoeksema is one of the most important men in the story of the Protestant Reformed Church because he started it. The next few years had much expansion, growth, and discussion of many things. Problems started to arise already in 1920 when Rev.
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Acceptance Essays
