The antithesis is a doctrine that had pride of place in the Protestant Reformed Churches (PRC). When the Christian Reformed Church taught the false doctrine of common grace as an explanation of the world around them, the answer of our fathers in the Protestant Reformed Churches was that the doctrine of common grace “obliterates the antithesis.”¹ According to our fathers, the doctrine of common grace had to be rejected, and the doctrine of the antithesis had to stand.

The PRC has been falling all over herself of late to cast off the oppressive cloak of this historical confession and to become something approved of in the world. It came as a surprise, then, that in multiple protests printed in the agenda to the 2024 Protestant Reformed Synod, the doctrine of the antithesis was given such an honorable place. Does this signal a renewal of the doctrine of the antithesis in the PRC?

Not by a long stretch. The antithesis was merely a convenient tool, dug up out of the PRC’s archives before burying it again, to get rid of Guidepost Solutions and the threats represented by its involvement to conduct a third-party investigation of sexual abuse in the PRC. And, perhaps, something more sinister is in the works.

The Antithesis Defined

To give a definition of the doctrine of the antithesis as was once taught in the PRC, I can do no better than to provide a quote by Rev. M. Schipper in response to a Christian Reformed minister who was attempting to reconcile the doctrine of the antithesis to his theory of common grace:

God not only “produced” the antithesis, but he willed it. For a correct conception of [the] antithesis, we shall therefore have to begin and end with God.

It should be clearly understood that in God himself there is no antithesis. Though the antithesis is of Him, it is not in Him. God is pure thesis. The word “antithesis,” as any good dictionary will tell you, is composed of two words: anti and thesis. Anti means, against. Thesis comes from a Greek word meaning: to place or set. Thesis, therefore, is that which is put, or set; while antithesis is that which opposes that which is set. Now, God is, as we said, the thesis. He is light, and there is no darkness in him. He is the truth, and there is no lie in him. He is righteousness, and there is no unrighteousness in him. God never, from this point of view, suffers opposition, experiences contrary winds, has any antithesis in himself. If there is any antithesis, and there is, he creates it. Of this he speaks in Isaiah 45:7: “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil; I the Lord do all these things.” See also Amos 3:6. God willed and created the darkness that he might forever hate it; and on the other hand, he willed to reveal all the glory of his thetical being on the dark background of sin and evil and so creates the darkness to be a servant.

And the truth is that God also put the thesis in his people by his grace. And so he commands them to live thetically in every department of life as lights in the world of darkness. Just because the thesis is put in his people they shine as lights in the world, are a savory salt that is pleasing to him. And just because they are of God, the antithesis, the devil, the world, and their own sinful flesh, always opposes them. O, it is true that, as Rev. Kuiper writes, “if God had not caused his grace to enter the hearts of some, all of man’s thoughts and actions would be antagonistic to God.” The reason is that God’s people by nature, like the wicked world out of which they are born, stand in open rebellion against God and all that is holy.²

God created the antithesis when he placed the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden of Eden. God reiterated this antithesis in the mother promise of Genesis 3:15, that he will put enmity between the elect and the reprobate. The root of this enmity is Christ, the seed spoken of in Genesis 3:15. That is what was brought to the dead Adam, cowering in the garden: God had ordained Christ, the seed, in eternity, to deliver Adam from all his sins and all the power of the devil. This is the heart of the doctrine of the antithesis. When we confess the antithesis, we confess Christ, who is opposed to all that is of this world. When Christ, who is light, comes into the world, especially in the confession of the church, the response is hatred. The reason for this hatred is that men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil (John 3:19).

Lost

The doctrine of the antithesis has been a total loss in the PRC. The members of the PRC educate their children together with the children of the world, welcome the world into their schools, and participate together with the world in sports. Protestant Reformed wedding celebrations have devolved into the drinking and dancing parties that would have made the Christian Reformed men of the 1920s blush. Protestant Reformed members will not separate from friends and family who have shown themselves to be of the world, often even after those friends and family have been excommunicated from the church. Protestant Reformed churches even join with the world’s soup kitchens. The denomination’s deacons bring worldly financial philosophy to the poor instead of the mercies of Christ. The denomination’s ministers join with worldly institutions to host seminars on counseling. Protestant Reformed theologians burnish their credentials by visiting and speaking at the seminaries of the world and not warning the students of the devastating theology and false teachers in those seminaries. Aside from the old, dried shell of empty words, there is no antithesis remaining in the PRC.

This same denomination is in the middle of multiple controversies. God has not given rest, nor will he give rest, regarding the controversy that the denomination created by the false doctrine of giving good works a place in the assurance of salvation. Added to this controversy is a plague of abuse perpetrated by ministers, officebearers, teachers, and others within the PRC. Given the PRC’s bearing of looking toward the world, it would seem only natural that the denomination would consult the world regarding the problem of abuse in the church. The soft wind blowing away the antithesis from the PRC is strengthening.

And the denomination did decide to join with the world to solve her problems. The 2023 Protestant Reformed Synod was going to solve the problem of abuse once and for all. Among the other items on the synod’s agenda, there was an overture to open the denomination to investigation into sexual abuse by a third party. The synod, in response to the overture and aligned with loud campaigning from both within and outside the membership of the PRC, approved the recommendation with the following decision and excerpts: “That synod approve the substance of the overture from Providence PRC to hire a third-party organization to investigate sexual abuse in the PRCA in the manner explained below.” This decision specifically included that the PRC “contract with Guidepost Solutions to do the work of investigation with the scope, implementation, and reporting described above.”³

This decision made logical sense. Christ could not have helped the PRC with this and other problems as he is no longer present in the PRC but stands outside the door and calls his people to come out. Christ was kicked out of the denomination when the PRC judged in favor of false doctrine and against the ministers and elders who dared to militate against the teachers of that false doctrine. Where else could the PRC have gone, then, to solve her problems but to the wisdom of this world? And who better to bring the wisdom of this world but secular, so-called experts? The decision of Synod 2023 made sense based on the spiritual condition of the PRC.

Found?

Given the strengthening winds blowing the PRC into union with the world, it appeared the height of irony to see Protestant Reformed ministers referencing the doctrine of the antithesis to ground their protests of the 2023 synodical decision to hire Guidepost. These men’s calling attention to the antithesis reads as does the story of Rip Van Winkle, who woke up after twenty years, wandered into a political rally in town, and declared himself to be a loyal subject to King George. I wonder that the response to the ministers’ protests was not “A Tory! A Tory! A spy! A refugee! Hustle him! Away with him!”⁴

Nevertheless, those protesting the decision to work with Guidepost did reference the antithesis. One of the protestants, Rev. Wilbur Bruinsma, wrote,

I believe that this [decision] violates the principle of the antithesis. God has put enmity (hated) [sic] between the wicked of this world and the church (Genesis 3:15). Though it may seem as if the world is friendly and objective in its dealings with the church, Jesus explains in John 15:19, “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” This principle of hatred for the church of Jesus Christ works itself out through the institutions and organizations of this world. These organizations are incapable of being spiritually objective. “The carnal mind is enmity against God” (Romans 8:7).⁵

Similarly, Rev. Garry Eriks protested the decision of Synod 2023:

I present for synod’s consideration one ground for objecting to Synod 2023’s decision to hire Guidepost Solutions to investigate sexual abuse in the PRCA in the manner found in the decision: this decision violates the Biblical truth that the church must not join with the world of sin and unbelief for help in the battle against her spiritual enemies.⁶

Whether or not the protestants stated the word antithesis explicitly, as Reverend Bruinsma did, both Reverend Eriks and other protestants referred to the doctrine of the antithesis. Let us be open-minded and objective about what this means. What if these ministers found the doctrine of the antithesis, as Hezekiah had found the book of the law, and intended to follow this doctrine to its logical conclusion? What would that look like?

When Hezekiah found the book of the law, he turned his whole heart to seek the Lord. It was a turning point for him and his entire kingdom, and Israel then kept the passover as it had not been kept before in Israel’s history. Hezekiah and the nation of Judah were brought back to Christ as the only way of salvation as represented by the lamb at the center of the passover.

Just so, if the doctrine of the antithesis had found a renewal in the PRC, the denomination too would be brought back to Christ as the only way of salvation. The denomination would be brought to Christ as the central thesis against all the darkness of false doctrine. It would be impossible to stand in unity with Professor Cammenga, who dared to preach, “It is not enough for salvation that God has sent his Son, Jesus Christ into the world,”⁷ which statement the PRC has not rejected. Since that statement in any context is a denial of Christ, if the doctrine of the antithesis had found a renewal in the PRC, the members of the PRC would be antithetically opposed to that statement and for the sake of Christ would militate against the man who taught it. If the doctrine of the antithesis had found a renewal in the PRC, it also would be impossible for the Protestant Reformed ministers to continue to rub collegial shoulders with the theologians of false churches who cannot even reject the three points of common grace, the well-meant offer, and other denials of Christ. The doctrine of the antithesis works to turn the whole heart, and the whole church, to Christ.

If the antithesis were found in the PRC, the antithesis would not merely appear at the surface as a reason to make a clean decision on working with Guidepost, only to bury the antithesis again amongst the archives. There would be clear evidence elsewhere.

What do we find when we look deeper? Certainly not a following in the footsteps of Hezekiah but a twisting and redefinition of the doctrine.

A Redefinition

In an amazing turn of events, Reverend Eriks even had the gall to use the doctrine of the antithesis as a thinly veiled promotion of the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council (NAPARC), which the powers within the PRC have been angling to join. He wrote,

I believe there is another way to seek help against the overwhelming plague of sexual abuse in our churches; a way that is in line with the truth of Scripture.

1. Seek out other conservative reformed/presbyterian denominations for help with investigation and how to proceed.

a. In many ways the PRCA has isolated itself from the reformed church world so that we do not go to others for counsel and help.

b. Instead of going to those who confess the Reformed faith and have a faithful view of the authority of Scripture, we are willing to go to a secular organization.

c. We can learn from these other denominations how they have addressed sexual abuse in their denominations and from the mistakes they have made.⁸

There is a sinister redefinition of the antithesis in this paragraph by Reverend Eriks. This paragraph must be taken together with the thrust of his protest, where he asserted that the reason that the PRC must not work with Guidepost is “the Biblical truth that the church must not join with the world of sin and unbelief.” For Reverend Eriks, while Guidepost represents the world of sin and unbelief, conservative Reformed and Presbyterian denominations do not.

By giving his ground in these terms, Eriks safely stayed away from the heart of the doctrine of the antithesis, which doctrine points directly to Christ, the seed of the woman who saves the church. This is important, because the implications could get messy if the antithesis were defined in terms of Christ and separation from false doctrines of Christ, especially when the expressed goal was to “seek out other conservative reformed/presbyterian denominations for help.”

Reverend Eriks did not mention NAPARC, the United Reformed Churches, or other denominations by name, but it does not take much digging to learn with whom he has been cozy, for example in the area of counseling. Can he state that the doctrine of the United Reformed Churches is not the world of unbelief when that denomination cannot even reject wholesale the false theology of common grace? What about the theology of the covenant of works enshrined in the Westminster Confession?⁹ Does Christ have fellowship with that theology?

And this is “a way that is in line with the truth of Scripture”? Could it be stated any more clearly that at least one leader in active ministry (and more importantly, with a good reputation) in the Protestant Reformed Churches is ready to lay aside divisions with the nominal (anti)Christian church world?

If Christ has fellowship with these philosophies, then Eriks would be correct in his implied assertion that those who teach them are not the world of sin and unbelief. Indeed, if that is the case, then any divisions between these denominations are superficial and, I must also add, wrong. If Christ has fellowship with these philosophies, then the very divisions between these denominations are wicked because they create division in the church on earth where Christ does not. If these denominations are not the world of sin and unbelief, then the PRC ought to join with them and quickly—not only in the peripheral areas of biblical counseling and the PRC’s problems with abuse but especially at the very heart of her confession. The Protestant Reformed members are already there unofficially. By redefining the antithesis, Reverend Eriks just provided the theological basis to make union official.

NAPARC, make your move. The Protestant Reformed Churches are open for business.

Found!

To our dear loved ones and the Van Winkles who remain in the PRC, along with those who are scattering to “other conservative reformed/presbyterian denominations,” please take note. A soft but steady wind has blown away the anti-
thesis from the PRC, never to return. This wind has strengthened into a gale that is blowing the PRC into assimilation with the rest of the false church world. There is no antithesis in the PRC any longer.

Now you ignore all this and come to us, begging, “Let us have none of this doctrinal disputing. Cannot we have a carnal, earthly relationship and ignore our differences?”

Yes, only if one condition is met: if Christ means nothing to us.

Just like how the PRC can ignore or subvert the doctrines of Christ that were the denomination’s very foundation, and she can now cozy up with “other conservative reformed/presbyterian denominations” with whom the denomination had deep and principled theological disagreements in the past.

If Christ and his antithesis mean nothing to us, then it would be possible for us to have a carnal relationship with you and ignore your denial of him. If we could deny the Spirit of Christ in our hearts, then we could meet with you at the lake, have a nice time, sit by the pool, go boating, and come home to bury the empty feelings in our guts that we have denied Christ. If we can live unto ourselves and not unto Christ, then we can continue living in a carnal relationship with you. With that we could also have our earthly lives and all that they entail. But if Christ means nothing to us, then woe unto us!

A hateful gospel, you say? a cult? schismatic? unloving? a different Jesus? “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword” (Matt. 10:34).

We are the ones who have changed? I accede the point; allow me to explain the change. We were living carnally in earthly relationships with you, and Christ came by his gospel. Christ shook us, so that we could see nothing but the denial of him in the PRC. Especially Reverend Koole’s false theology as printed in the Standard Bearer shook me,¹⁰ but there were other false teachers and other false doctrines. Through this all you hated to speak of it and made clear you wanted nothing more than for us to shut up.

Having shaken us out of the PRC, Christ reestablished his church and gave us the gift of the pure preaching of the gospel. This gospel, the power of God unto salvation, has shown us that Israel—God’s church—dwells alone in safety. When God brought us out, he not only called us to live separately from the false church, but in many instances he actually picked us up and threw us out. God will have the members of his church dwell alone in safety, even when their natural desires kick against him.

And so, the antithesis has been recovered in the Reformed Protestant Churches—not in the counterfeit antithesis of the PRC that rejects the world of Guidepost Solutions while embracing the world of NAPARC but in lives that exalt Christ and his truth above all and that will not live in fellowship with those who worship a different Christ.