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Preface

For us it was a matter of conscience when in 1924 we refused to declare ourselves in conformity with the three points of doctrine adopted the same year by the synod of the Christian Reformed Church. We also refused to refrain from making propaganda against these points in the churches, even though on account of this refusal the Christian Reformed Church expelled us from its fellowship.

That it was a question of conscience with those who thus dissented and were expelled from the churches has been amply corroborated by the history of the Protestant Reformed Churches since 1924.

Before God and our consciences it was not only impossible for us to subscribe to three doctrinal declarations whose tenets were, according to our firm convictions, in conflict with the word of God and the Reformed standards, but we also considered it our calling to expose before the churches the errors of the three points and warn our Reformed people against their dangerous tendencies and influence. When therefore Classis Grand Rapids East, in spite of all our efforts to prevent a separation, left us no other alternative than either to sign the three points and promise not to oppose their doctrine openly, or to be deposed from the office of minister of the word in the Christian Reformed Church, we chose the latter because before God and our consciences we could do nothing else.

Of this choice we never repented. The more we make a thorough study of the doctrinal implications of the three points and of the arguments in their defense, given by leaders of the Christian Reformed Church, the firmer our convictions become that they are deviations from the truth that have far-reaching effects and threaten to undermine the very foundations of the Reformed truth.

This conviction explains the publication of this booklet. With a few alterations, it contains a quaternion of lectures on the three points, delivered in different parts of the United States.

With, the prayer that our God may use this booklet as an instrument in his hands to open the eyes of many to the errors and dangers of the three points and to strengthen their hearts in the truth of his word, we offer it to the interested reader.

—Herman Hoeksema