[This would be my conclusion for the CREDO500 conference; my co-organizer Jonah's conclusion would come later, so stay tuned]
The CREDO500 blog conference has officially and successfully ended [after Jonah's conclusion), and as the co-organizer, English editor and translator I would like to make some concluding remarks.
First of all, I am personally thankful for this privilege of getting involved with the CREDO500 blog conference. It wasn't that long ago when I was contacted to contribute to the conference, and even more recently invited and volunteered to help out with it. I am very thankful to the other contributors, both writers and reviewers, who have made both Jonah's and my tasks much easier. Regardless of our disagreements, I appreciate all of your efforts small or large in contributing to this conference to commemorate the 500th anniversary of John Calvin, and to promote the pure Christian and Reformed faith. May the unity and co-operation seen through this conference be translated into greater unity and growth in the [Reformed] faith which was once for all delivered to the saints, and for the edification of the Church of God.
It is also sincerely hoped that all of you after this conference would come to learn something more of God and Christ, His Gospel and His Word. In the plethora of topics covered in the two months, it is sincerely hoped that one or more or all of the papers would teach you something more about our faith from the Scriptures and in the application of Scripture, as well as getting us acquainted with our Reformational heritage. If this is achieved, this conference will have achieved its success in you.
Secondly, with regards to the actual commencing of the blog conference itself, it is good to see the Body of Christ interacting with the many articles published. No doubt as the days go by, fatigue starts to set in, even for me as the editor and translator. Many of you doubtless also have your own work and life and ministry commitments to attend to, as do I. However, it is indeed heartening to see that many people still come and are hopefully edified by the articles posted, as well as taking part in the interaction where applicable.
Right from the start, the conference was overshadowed by the specter of a few hate-filled bigots who continually post cowardly and slanderous comments using multiple pseudonyms. Through posting many times and under various pseudonyms like "Antithesis", "A Reader", "The Reader", "A friend", "Ming Liang", "Luther Lim", "Calvin Chan", "Anonymous" and possibly others ("Monica C", "Eng Kiat","Pistevo"?), these few people attempt to give the illusion of a large number of people. These few people continually violate our blog conference rules and persist in attempting to post comments even after being banned and having their comments deleted. They even try to turn brothers against each other, and nearly succeeded. In this respect, I am thankful to God that most people saw through the anti-Christian attitude exhibited by these bigots, and refuse to have anything to do with them. This episode also shows us the dangers in having such an open and public conference whereby heretics of all stripes can enter and attempt to hijack the conference. As we have heard through feedback, the presence of these people do deter others from commenting so as to avoid the toxic environment and at the same time avoid being targeted by these bigots. In the event that another such conference would be planned, we would most definitely take this into consideration so as to prevent a repeat of such attacks of the devil by his minions, and thus create a godly environment conducive to the discussion of the doctrines of God's Word.
May the Lamb that was slain receive the fruits of our labors, as an offering for the glory of His Holy Name. Amen.
Sola Fide,
Sola Gratia,
Solus Christus,
Sola Scriptura,
Soli Deo Gloria.
Ecclesia Reformata et Semper Reformanda
Your servant,
Daniel Chew.
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