A Geerhardus Vos Anthology: Biblical and Theological Insights Alphabetically Arranged

Edited by Danny E. Olinger
Review by Jeremy Smith

Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2005

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One of the questions recently asked from the floor of the local PCA Presbytery inquired as to the candidates’ favorite theologian(s). Calvin was understandably excluded from potential answers, leaving some to wonder if the candidates would then fumble a bit for a name. Those who were looking for brownie points could have mentioned some of those Presbyters in attendance—after all, the president of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals as well as our very own editorial director are members of this Presbytery—but on this day, the candidates were able to reach back into the far recesses of their brains and summon forward some names. On the whole, the list wasn’t all that surprising—names like Van Til and Warfield were part of the usual suspects—but also not very daring, even within the solid, biblical, Reformed world. Whereas Murray is safe and expected, his teacher was, on this day, overlooked. Geerhardus Vos may not be one of the most recognizable names in all of Christendom, but his influence is still felt far and wide within the world of exegesis and theology (especially the biblical variety). More than possessing fame in his own right, it is usually his students and peers that have carried the mantel of the most celebrated theologians of the 20^th century.

But the relative ignorance of Vos today is not substantially different than the conditions of his own day (1862-1949). One of the most influential and important books of his ample career, The Teaching of Jesus Concerning the Kingdom of God and the Church (in many ways the Godfather of Ridderbos’ The Coming of the Kingdom), had to be reviewed in the Princeton Review by the author himself. Given the Reformed world’s general ignorance, Danny Olinger’s efforts to produce this introduction to the thought and theology of the man widely believed to be the “father of Reformed biblical theology,” is to be welcomed.

The anthology itself consists of more than 300 pages of material from Vos, addressing nearly 600 subject matters from Abraham to the Zurich Theologians. These generally brief quotations (most are comprised of a few sentences with a few ranging up to half a page) are culled from an impressive bibliography. Olinger, who was inspired to construct such a work by the anthology of John Calvin produced by J. Graham Miller, (Calvin’s Wisdom. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth 1992), draws his material from seven books, one poem, 16 sermons, and a whole host of articles and reviews. The result is a rich and multifaceted exploration into biblical theology as it was construed by Geerhardus Vos.

The anthology also contains a helpful introduction into the writings of Vos, written by Olinger, which outlines the contours of Vos’ writings. The first section introduces the reader to Vos’ polemical works, especially those addressing the modernism (Liberalism) of his day. Of Liberalism, Vos had this to say: “the music of the [older orthodoxy] may not always please modern ears because it seems lacking in sweetness, but it ranged over a wider scale and made better harmonies than the popular strains of today” (p. 10).

The second section of Olinger’s introduction outlines Vos’ theological writings. In particular, Olinger highlights several strands of thought that can be traced throughout Vos’ career: soteriology, ethics, and, of course, future hope (eschatology). Indeed, Olinger points out that for Vos, the first two are informed, and even shaped by the latter. “For now it appears that the closely interwoven soteric tissue derives its pattern from the eschatological scheme, which bears the mark of having precedence in [Paul’s] mind” (p. 14). With regards to ethics, Vos could say, “The believer’s whole ethico-religious existence, the sum-total of his Christian experience and progress, all that is distinctive of his life and conduct demands being viewed as a preparation for the crowning grace of the resurrection” (p. 21).

The final introductory section looks at the sermons, especially those preached in Princeton’s chapel during Vos’ tenure there. According to Olinger, “In the sermons . . . the theological insights are there . . . but in an arguably more palatable form” (p. 22). We find a more pastoral Vos in the pulpit, where his dogma could be powerfully applied to the people of God. “The thirst that the Christian has for full fellowship with his God in an environment where there is no sin is the substance of the religion of the heart and drives the Christian in his service to his God in this world” (p. 24).

This anthology should serve the Reformed world well, in exposing some for the first time to the riches of Geerhardus Vos, in making this talented theologian more accessible to others, and in finally convincing still others that Vos can be understood! (Olinger relates an account told by Richard Gaffin, Professor of Biblical and Systematic Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary, of students who each year, after reading Vos for the first time, wonder when his writings will be translated into English.) Whether used as a reference tool, as an introduction, or in more formal research settings, Olinger’s efforts have reminded us of a giant of not so long ago, whose shoulders we, in many ways, find ourselves still seated upon.