In 1979, Dr. J.G. Vos wrote: “When I returned from missionary service in the Far East in 1941, I found the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America at a low level of awareness of true biblical Christianity. The leadership in some cases regarded the historic faith of the church as an outmoded and unimportant thing. Actual faith seemed to be in social reform. With our line of honorable history going back even beyond the martyr days of the Second Reformation in Scotland, it seemed a great pity to take our cue from people who [did] not believe really in redemption through the blood of Christ but in the reformation of society through various projects. The church seemed confused, frustrated, and unable to go ahead with any constructive program of any kind. After conferring with a good many men and considering and praying about it a good many times, I decided there needed to be a very vocal but simple publication to set forth the true faith of the church.”

 After waging battles reactively in the RPCNA, Dr. Vos decided to address the problems proactively. In 1946, he began Blue Banner Faith and Life, a magazine that provided a steady diet of biblical and theological instruction.  Fifty people initially subscribed. He wrote, “The first four issues of Blue Banner Faith and Life were mimeographed on a hand-cranked machine and were assembled by marching around a table in the basement of the old Hebron Church outside Idana, Kansas.” Dr. Vos then recalled, “As we began to get replies we were absolutely astonished at the real awakening of interest in biblically sound Christianity and in proper understanding of its history and its program.” Subscription numbers would increase to 1275 over the next 33 years.

 The first issue stated the purpose of the magazine: “A Monthly Publication Devoted to Expounding, Defending and Applying the System of Doctrine set forth in the Standards of the Covenanter Church.” This purpose statement remained on Blue Banner Faith and Life’s cover from beginning to end.

 What content was so compelling? The first issue opened with studies in the Larger Catechism of the Westminster Assembly. The studies were designed as a Sabbath school leader’s guide for adult classes. Each issue contained 13 lessons. Thus, Dr. Vos slowly but surely discipled the denomination in the Reformed and biblical theology summarized in its own confessional documents.

 Within the first year and a half, the basic layout and content of the magazine was set. In addition to the doctrinal and biblical studies, the Blue Banner Question Box answered reader-submitted questions, Sketches from Our History expanded the church’s perspective on its heritage, and the Religious Terms Defined slowly built the spiritual vocabulary of the saints. Book reviews expanded richly over time, and a smattering of quotes and poetry added life to the publication. Remarkably, the layout of the magazine did not change substantially over the next three decades. Imagine what Dr. Vos might have done with a web site!

 The first issue’s cover also heralded this statement from the Reformed Presbyterian Testimony: “The veracity of God, and not the reasonableness of any doctrine, is the ground of our faith. It is the work of the gospel to cast down reasonings against the knowledge of God, and bring into captivity every thought unto the obedience of Christ.” That first issue closed with an article titled, “Why Be a Covenanter?” In it, Dr. Vos answered that one should not be a Covenanter because of custom, cowardice, or convenience, but rather from conviction. With those bookends, Dr. Vos asserted to readers his confidence in the truth. Consequently, he was willing to patiently and cheerfully teach for 34 years instead of giving up on a “confused and frustrated” denomination.

 When Dr. Vos ceased publication in old age, he wrote, “I want at this point to express my thanks to God for his faithfulness. He used me and my not-too-modern equipment and my not-too-great ability in bearing witness to the Reformed faith, and I think there has been a rebirth of the true confession in the Covenanter Church as in many others.”

Looking for Vos’ lessons on the Larger Catechism of the Westminster Assembly? Find them in The Westminster Larger Catechism: A Commentary, edited by G.I. Williamson, here: http://www.crownandcovenant.com/product_p/ds191.htm