On October 1953 he was awarded a doctoral degree. His dissertation was on a theologian of the Second Reformation, Herman Witsius. The work being reviewed was published in the Netherlands as Verbond en Verkiezing. The second chapter presents a similar analysis of the identification of Covenant and election in the theology of Dr. A. Kuyper, who taught a baptism on the basis of a presumed regeneration. Jesus is the Elect One, who represents all of humanity and in whom all are reconciled.
Election dominates everything.
The differences are such that they do require that a clear theological distinction be made. In chapter five the discussion surveys the tension between promise and demand in the Covenant. He is also willing to give. Yet, since not all who are in the covenant are believers, it must also be stressed that where the promises are preached they must be preached with a challenge which calls for repentance and faith, which are demanded of us and worked by the promised grace of the Holy Spirit. This part gives a bird's eye view of Covenant theology dealing only with the general covenant concepts held by key theologians since the Reformation.