Major changes had been taking place in the CRC in the period during and immediately following the war. There had been extensive exposure to the larger world and the larger church through the involvement in the war effort. American "civil religion," both its ideology and practice, had penetrated the churches, giving a new thrust toward Americanization. In short, the CRCNA was emerging from its isolation more and more. The seminary had gone through tremendous upheaval with the retirement of Berkhof, the hiring and subsequent dismissal of a divided teaching staff, and the reopening of the theological controversies (and old wounds) of the 20's. Materialism was in ascendancy which caused both optimism about the world and apathy about doctrinal fine points, in contrast to the antithetical and staunch Calvinism of the past which had given the church its focus and stability. Neo-orthodoxy and liberalism were making some inroads. This was offset by the new wave of immigration (especially to Canada) of a decidedly conservative nature. Upward mobility of the younger generation caused the CRC communities to shift demographically from a largely rural to a more suburban locale. Missions had mushroomed as the church became less inwardly focused.

Amid all this change, the Reformed Journal and the Outlook magazines focused the old tensions found in the church between the confessional/pietist- and the progressive/ positive-Calvinist camps. If one reads only these journals, the vehemency of disagreement and the limitedness of the areas of concern come into focus. But it would be wrong to conclude that these journals reflect the CRC accurately as a house divided against itself at this time, for there remained a tremendous amount of consensus in many areas, areas which were not always brought out since they were not matters of controversy. Basic commitment to the Reformed Confessions as the rule of faith, zeal for catechetical instruction from the pulpit and in weekday classes for the youth, support for distinctly Christian educational institutions (from grade schools to post-graduate level), and fierce loyalty to perhaps the most basic of Reformed commitments, the authority and infallibility of the divine Scriptures--all of these characterized the CRC consensus at this time. Uncompromising proclamation of the moral law to convict of sin and show the saved the way to walk thankfully was the rule in CRC pulpits throughout North America, and worship customs of the "family altar" (prayer before and after meals; reading of Scripture and a devotional meditation, more often than not the BTGH-produced Family Altar which was produced and distributed monthly in the churches) and two Sunday services were deeply ingrained and followed unquestioningly with such uniformity that a CRC church member from one part of North America could feel very much at home in any CRC community anywhere else on the Continent.

It was with this background that the "infallibility controversy" arose which led the CRC to study and affirm its position on Scripture. The controversy arose as a challenge to the theological consensus mentioned above and came mainly as a challenge among certain intellectuals who tended to assimilate the scholarly approaches of neo- orthodoxy, comparative religion (which was basically evolutionism), and the old "searching for the historical Jesus" and "documentary hypothesis" liberalism. The way the controversy arose displays the "mainstreaming" currents at work in the CRC which had come along with Americanization. In other words, CRC scholars who were enrolling increasingly in non-CRC institutions of higher learning, partly out of insecurity and embarrassment caused by the ethnic homogeneity and parochialism which were admittedly present in the CRC, partly out of genuine intellectual zeal, and partly out of a worldly quest for the recognition of one's academic credentials and respectability among other academics, began to become spokespersons for non-traditional approaches to Scripture and questioners of the theological status quo. Questions began to be raised concerning Scripture's inspiration and authority, how the "prescientific" approach of the Bible is to be understood in relation to the rapidly advancing sciences, how General and Special Revelation are related, etc. On the one hand, there was the increasingly reactionary fundamentalism of the evangelical (and most frequently Arminian) churches; on the other hand, there were the Social-Gospel-promoting mainline churches. The CRC was trying to make its stand with these various conflicting forces in Christendom in the background. Note that the secession from the GKN (with which the CRCNA maintained close ties) led by Schilder in 1944 had evolved from Schilder's early criticism of the rise of Barthianism in that denomination, developments which were prophetic of similar changes taking place in the CRCNA in the 1940's and 1950's.

Questions concerning biblical interpretation and infallibility were raised already during the "seminary situation" years and continued to come up throughout the 1950's. A student article in the Seminary paper, Stromata, resulted in Seminary President John Kromminga also becoming embroiled in the "infallibility controversy." In the mid 50's, these issues concerning Scripture and its interpretation were raised at the Reformed Ecumenical Synod, and a study committee reported to that body in 1958. The CRC began to pursue the issue vigorously and independently from this point on, eventually clarifying its understanding of organic inspiration, infallibility, inerrancy, and the authority of the Word of God in the now well-known "Report 44" of 1972, the fruit of years of study by several study committees appointed to clarify the doctrines concerning the "nature and extent of biblical authority." The report is a very sound presentation of Reformed doctrine concerning Scripture and of biblical hermeneutics. It takes as its starting point the articles dealing with Scripture in the Belgic Confession, shows complete commitment to the centrality of the redemptive, Christocentric character of all Scripture, affirms the historicity (event-character) of the characters and actions described in the Bible (especially of the early chapters of Genesis), challenges the unwarranted literalism of American Fundamentalism, calls for a certain amount of academic freedom for those engaged in scientific pursuits, and summons the churches not just to confession of the authority of the Word but to obedience to it as well.

Controversies concerning the doctrine of Scripture continue to the present day in the CRC as witnessed by recent discussions of evolution and the use of Scripture texts in the women in office debates. Many conservatives do not feel the adopted report adequately restrains "scientists" who give too much credence to theories of origins presently in vogue among the academic community and do not take the "event-character" of the Bible's accounts sufficiently into account. Often the criticism is heard that the affirmation of the progressive nature of God's saving revelation is used by some to set aside prescriptions which are no longer seen as relevant or desirable (i.e., the proscriptions of Paul regarding women in ruling office). Similarly, the Report's position that the Scripture is redemptive in its purpose is said to be used to nullify the authority of Scripture in areas which are not specifically redemptively focused (i.e., statements concerning the natural world). There is also a trend developing at this time similar to one seen earlier in the GKN of excluding the function of the confessions to a narrowly conceived "ecclesiastical sphere," so that the Scriptures might not function authoritatively in other spheres (like physical science, economics, etc.). There does appear to be sufficient ambiguity in some of the Report's terminology to allow those with modernistic views to claim that they operate within the Report's guidelines while in fact they practice higher critical approaches to the Bible.

While these tensions concerning the authority of the Bible do remain, there is nearly complete consensus in the CRCNA concerning the reality of miracles, the virgin birth and bodily resurrection of Jesus, the historicity of Adam and Eve, and so forth. Different positions are held concerning the length of the days of Genesis 1, the nature of God's creative activity and his use of means, the accuracy of some descriptions as considered from a modern historiographical point of view (e.g., the use of numbers and hyperbole in some passages is considered "non-accurate" from the perspective of current standards but are viewed by others as completely accurate and reliable, i.e,. must be taken literally), and the application of the designations "historical," "prophetic" and "moral imperative" where different types of literature are involved is sometimes called into question. For example, Genesis 1 need not be taken literally as the order of events in which God created all things in the space of six 24-hour days, but should be seen instead as a hymn of praise to him who did in fact create all things. Or again, the Psalms must be understood only in their immediate historical context and cannot be considered predictive of events concerning which the author could have had no knowledge (because of the genre of the literature--poetry--the Psalms cannot be said to be prophetic in the technical sense). Yet again, it is said that descriptions of certain practices which were obviously condoned and even commanded ought not be considered to have the force of prescription or proscription today when they are not given in the form of God's Law; for example, the statement, "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed" should not be read as a demand for capital punishment, since the statement is said to be a proverb given in poetic form and not a commandment. Generally there remains in the CRC, and certainly in "Report 44," which is her official position on the doctrine of Scripture, a very high estimate of the authority and infallibility of the Word and a firm commitment to grammatico-historical exegesis as the proper way to understand, proclaim and apply the Word. With some of the above clarifications (and ambiguities!), the CRCNA affirms the infallibility and the inerrancy of Scripture.

The "love of God" controversy was another dispute which arose in the 50's. This controversy centered on the statements of Calvin Seminary Professor of Missions, Harold Dekker, to the effect that God loved all men (persons) and not the elect only. It may seem an easy matter to resolve since the Scripture does say that "God so loved the world..." and one would expect the professor's explanation that God applies saving love through his election to faith of his chosen people and that this love is reserved for the elect alone to shortly put to rest any doubts about his orthodoxy. However, the matter was not so simply resolved, since brewing in the background of the professor's theological carelessness, was the whole matter of Common Grace, which in some minds had never been satisfactorily resolved since it was raised in the 20's. There was also taking place in the CRC some reaction against an overly intellectualized Christianity which had been promoted for years by Louis Berkhof and the confessionalists. Reformed orthodoxy was termed "scholastic" and cold, while the grace of God was living and concerned with people of flesh and blood who desperately needed to hear of the love of God and receive the offer of salvation, which was a genuine offer to all who would hear it.

Professor Decker was retained at the seminary and his views judged acceptable. However, the tension remains and sometimes surfaces between those who call the church to faithful preservation of the faith once delivered (and summarized by Dordt and Berkhof) and those who are inclined to question tenets of Reformed orthodoxy like double predestination and eternal decrees, about which, they claim, the Bible says little, and who instead emphasize the free offer of the gospel to which all people can respond by the gracious inclining of their wills by the Holy Spirit.

This latter emphasis reflects a new emphasis on outreach which was not readily apparent in the CRCNA in previous years. The 50's saw a new thrust begin in the missions thinking of the church to reach outside of ethnic borders to preach the gospel of salvation to all the church's neighbors. This kind of domestic mission activity was so unusual in the CRCNA up to this point that one historian of the church calls home missions a "new frontier!" New ground was indeed being broken as the CRC turned more and more outward and extended arms of welcome to the world, offering its riches in Christ to all. In this environment, R.B. Kuiper (a son of the CRC now teaching at Westminster Seminary) penned his well-known study, God-Centered Evangelism. Kuiper calls the Reformed churches to do evangelism in a way worthy of Reformed distinctives (like their understanding of the sovereignty of God and the work of the Holy Spirit), and not simply to imitate the revivalism and Arminian approaches of the more shallow evangelical churches. Evangelistic activity is by no means a forte of the CRC even today, but much growth has taken place from these starts in controversy, and the present-day situation is far advanced in comparison to the efforts in this period.

In 1957, the CRCNA celebrated its centennial. A centerpiece of the celebration was the issuing of a new edition of the Psalter-Hymnal ( affectionately called the "Blue Psalter" because of its color which distinguished it from the old red one and the present gray one). The Psalter section contained 310 versifications of the Psalms and an collection of hymns (177 of the latter). This phenomenon also indicates the willingness of the CRC to incorporate more of other denominations' religious wealth and to "sing a new song" which was more American and more outwardly oriented to the community outside the walls of the CRC churches. All in all, the centennial was a time of celebration, and the atmosphere was very optimistic. This optimism was proved justified to some extent as the CRC experienced growth in the 50's and 60's from 341 congregations in 1950 to 658 in 1970 (84,000 to 153,000 in communicant membership), its fastest rate of growth of any time in its history.