Reformed Dogmatics: Theology Proper

by Geerhardus Vos, Richard B. Gaffin Jr. (Translator)

Until recently, Reformed Dogmatics was only available in its original Dutch. But now you too can access Geerhardus Vos' monumental work of systematic theology. This brand-new English translation was edited by biblical theologian and Vos expert, Richard B. Gaffin, Jr.

In Volume One, Theology Proper, Vos discusses:
The doctrine of God
The Trinity
God's acts
Creation
Predestination
Providence
And more

Genres: Theology, Christian, Christianity

256 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2014

About the author

Geerhardus Johannes Vos was an American Calvinist theologian and one of the most distinguished representatives of the Princeton Theology. He is sometimes called the father of Reformed Biblical Theology.

Vos was born to a Dutch Reformed pastor in Heerenveen in Friesland in the Netherlands. In 1881, when Geerhardus was 19 years old, his father accepted a call to be the pastor of the Christian Reformed Church congregation in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Geerhardus Vos began his education at the Christian Reformed Church's Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, before moving to Princeton Theological Seminary. He completed his studies in Germany, receiving his doctorate in Arabic Studies from the Philosophy Faculty of Strassburg University in 1888.

Herman Bavinck and Abraham Kuyper tried to convince Vos to become professor of Old Testament Theology at the Free University in Amsterdam, but Vos chose to return to America. Thus, in the Fall of 1888, Vos took up a position on the Calvin Theological Seminary faculty. In 1892, Vos moved and joined the faculty of the Princeton Theological Seminary, where he became its first Professor of Biblical Theology.

In 1894 he was ordained as a minister in the Presbyterian Church in the USA.

At Princeton, he taught alongside J. Gresham Machen and Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield and authored his most famous works, including: Pauline Eschatology (1930) and Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments (1948). Despite his opposition to the growing modernist influence at Princeton in the late 1920s, he decided to remain at Princeton Seminary after the formation of Westminster Theological Seminary by Machen, as he was close to retirement. Vos did indeed retire to California in 1932, three years after the formation of Westminster.

Vos's wife, Catherine, authored the well-known Child's Story Bible. She died in 1937, after 43 years of marriage. They had three sons and one daughter, and their son J. G. Vos studied at Princeton Theological Seminary and also became a minister.

Reviews

[Noah York · Rating 5 out of 5]

I understood only about 3/4ths of what he wrote. It was fantastic.

[Vagabond of Letters, DLitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

An oft-laconic ensample of perspicuity, terseness, and incisive logic modelled on the old summae in form, but with modern content. Easy to read and well-formatted, this straightforward text doesn't mince words, nor is it watered down to contemporary tastes.

Weak on method and lacking prolegomena, this short and to the point century-old text covers more ground in ten pages and with less ten-thousand dollar words than any modern text I am familiar with does in fifty.

However, this volume contains little-to-no original thought, but is an excellent summation of the tradition as handed down -- summations which are rare today. Little prior knowledge necessary; an excellent introductory text sure to raise the level of discourse in the academy if widely adopted. A worthy successor to the role played in medieval universities by Aquinas' ST - a solid foundation - in an age where schoolchildren are no longer taught rhetoric or term logic, and Aristotelianism and its method are no longer unquestioned and uncontested as the only live philosophical contenders, in a world of fractured and diverse worldviews.

A standout in the field, though if one seeks original research or revisionary scholarship, seek elsewhere.

Four stars ****

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite good!

[Jordan Carl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This ST is based of his class lecture notes when he was teaching at what is now known as Calvin Seminary. I very much enjoyed the catechetical structure with the question/answer format.

This volume on Theology Proper was concise, probably overly concise given some of the bullet style notes he likely used in a lecture format to expound upon verbally. Regardless, this is a great benefit to those interested in ST. Vos, while not always the easiest to read, adds great insight and has a unique ability to maintain both humility in accepting some of the mysteries of the faith while attempting clear and concise explanations of doctrine. Well worth your time.

[Hobart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader, and yes, it covers the set as a whole, but I'm posting it to each volume here on Goodreads 'cuz I'm not clever enough/too lazy to write up something on each volume.
---
Why am I talking about this as a set instead of individual volumes? That's a decent question, but I guessed when I finished Volume 1 that I'd end up saying the same things each time. And now looking back on the set, I think I agree. Sure, I could've talked some in some more detail about each one, but I'm not sure there'd have been a lot of profit in that for anyone reading this.

Honestly, what I should do here is just post a link to Lane Tipton's review/article, Vos’s Reformed Dogmatics and be done with it. Lipton says in two paragraphs, what I would flail around for 10-12 paragraphs to say:

Richard B. Gaffin Jr.’s editorial oversight of the translation of Geerhardus Vos’s Gereformeerde Dogmatiek has brought to light yet another theological treasure from perhaps the finest Reformed theologian since Calvin. The sustained depth of penetration of the traditional loci of systematic theological discussion is coupled with the warmth of a theological reflection pursued in vital communion with the absolute, triune God through Spirit-gifted, faith-union with Christ. This renders it ideal for both seminary instruction and devotional reading.

On the one side, Vos’s work displays the proper, and it seems to me necessary, task of retrieving creedal doctrine in the preservation of Christian theology. On the other side, his work displays the proper, and it seems to me equally necessary, task of reforming that creedal doctrine in the formulation of a confessionally constructive, Reformed theology, tethered to its preceding creedal and confessional expressions, yet advancing organically beyond both, through biblical and systematic theological methods of interpreting the inerrant Scriptures. Vos not only expounds orthodox creedal theology in a faithful way, but, within the boundaries of confessionally Reformed theology, he advances that confessional theology with unparalleled insight. His work presents us with an orthodox, yet constructive, expression of the truth of the Scriptures that faithfully serves to instruct the church in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

But just pointing to (and/or reposting) Tipton would be cheating, albeit efficient. So let's see what I can say.

This was my big project read for the year and was so worth it. As Tipton said, it's great devotional reading—and you even learn a little bit. Okay, that's a gross understatement, you can learn a great deal from these (relatively) slim volumes.

Vos displays a fantastic economy of words here—especially if you contrast his Dogmatics with, say, Bavinck. He's basically the Hemingway of Reformed Theology. There are no wasted words here, he says everything he needs to say and you rarely say to yourself, "I wished he'd covered something more thoroughly." The segment on Individual Eschatology, however, works as an example of something he could've done more with—if you ignore his addressing the errors like purgatory, soul sleep, and annihilation, there's practically nothing there.

The downside to his style and vocabulary is, like Hemingway, you can look at his writing and think "oh, this is simple and basic" and read too quickly and without reflection. This is a giant mistake. Vos is subtle. He's profound. He's also, thankfully, clear. You read this carefully and you'll benefit greatly.

As the titles of the individual volumes suggest, he covers the major loci, and not much else. But he covers everything you'd need to cover in those, the topics covered are:



The Knowability of God
Names, Being, and Attributes of God
The Trinity
Of God’s Decrees in General
The Doctrine of Predestination
Creation
Providence
The Nature of Man
Sin
The Covenant of Grace
Names of Christ
Person and Natures of Christ
Offices of Christ
States of Christ
The Ordo Salutis
Regeneration and Calling
Conversion
Faith
Justification
Sanctification
The Doctrine of the Church
Essence of the Church
Organization, Discipline, Offices of the Church
The Means of Grace
Word and Sacraments
Baptism
The Lord’s Supper
Eschatology: The Doctrine of Last Things
Individual Eschatology
General Eschatology



Which looks like a lot for so few pages, but Vos somehow pulls it off.

I expected that I'd have a favorite volume or two out of the set, but I really didn't. There were sections within each I found more interesting/useful to me, but I am willing to bet that your list would vary from mine. Except maybe the section on the covenants in Volume 2, I can't imagine there's anything else in that one nearly as interesting to anyone. Not that the rest of the volume is lacking or uninteresting, it's just that it's so good.

The book is clearly written for his Dutch-speaking students in Michigan, focusing on that Church Order and controversies in contemporary Holland. So there are bits and pieces of it that will seem awfully foreign to those of us not in those circles. But even those parts have something we can profit from if we don't get too bogged down in trying to suss out names/positions/etc.

Gaffin does provide the occasional footnote to explain the text or translation choice, but he's largely silent, letting Vos speak for himself. I wouldn't have minded a little more commentary, but honestly, it wasn't necessary (but maybe was helpful).

I'm glad I read this and will be returning to it in years to come, both for reference and re-reading. I'm also glad that I found an electronic copy on sale over a year ago, so I can keep it on my phone for easy reference. One side-benefit of his pithiness is that you can do a quick check on the high points while having a conversation (something you can't do so easily with Hodge, Turretin or Bavinck). Scholarly, yet approachable, simple and profound—oh, and piously orthodox--I really can't recommend it highly enough.

[Ben House · Rating 5 out of 5]

A challenging book I am currently working through is Reformed Dogmatics: Volume One: Theology Proper by Gerhardus Vos.  This volume, along with the remaining four volumes of the set, was only recently translated and published by Lexham Press.

Gerhardus Vos is a big name in the history and pursuit of Reformed theology.  He is Dutch.  For reasons that continue to amaze me, the tiny and largely below sea-level nation known as the Netherlands has produced a larger than expected number major thinkers in this world.  One might throw out names like the philosopher Baruch Spinoza or the physicist Niels Bohr, but most of my interest has been focused on the theological minds that have emerged out of Dutch history.  These "theological thinkers" (which describes a broader swath than just saying "theologians") include historian Groen van Prinsterer, political and theological leader Abraham Kuyper, theologians Herman Bavinck and G. K. Berkouwer, and Christian philosophers Herman Dooyeweerd and D. H. Th. Vollenhoven, and art critic H. R. Rookmaaker.

The flowering of Dutch Calvinism spread to the New World as well.  Bands of Dutch Calvinists came to this country at various times.  Many maintained deep connections to their Dutch culture, language, and religion.  Louis Berkof was a major Dutch theologians whose books are still devoured by eager Calvinists.  So are the works of Cornelius Van Til, the apologist and key promoter of the concept of presuppositionalist apologetics.

Gerhardus Vos was a Dutch transplant to the New World.  He taught for a time at Calvin College and then moved to Princeton.  His is sometimes regarded as the "father of modern Reformed Biblical theology."  Not a light thinker, Vos is not as popularly read as some of his theological peers like Kuyper or colleagues like Benjamin Warfield or Van Til.

Some of the lag time for Dutch theologians is due to their major works being written in their native language.  It has only been in recent years that Herman Bavinck's mutli-volume Reformed Dogmatics has been accessible to English-only/mainly readers.

Now, in addition to a load bearing shelf carrying Bavinck's volumes (and don't forget to add the one volume summary and some more recent additions of essays), one can also have five volumes of Vos' Reformed Dogmatics.

Vos' work grew out of courses he taught on systematic theology.  He follows a method of questions and answers.  The works were probably assigned as readings rather than given as lectures.  The Q and A's format is very precise, careful, and exhaustive.  Each section of Volume One could easily be made into a short handbook on the topic covered.

Volume One's topics are
The Knowability of God
Names, Being, and Attributes of God
The Trinity
Of God's Decrees in General
The Doctrine of Predestination
Creation
Providence

Vos explains the doctrine, lists key Bible verses, and often either buttresses his argument from Calvin or other sources, or answers objections or refutes other views.  One has to be careful in reading the book, for Vos will give a sentence or a viewpoint which he goes on to refute.

This is the kind of hard work that pastors and teachers need.  I hope it doesn't just go on in seminary classes, especially in light of the fact that many of us have never attended such classes.
Being grounded calls for lots of review.  I have been what I am for so many years that I have ceased to think about many doctrines and teachings that I once sweated blood over.  A careful examination of the 40 pages of study of the Trinity is a good exercise for my mind.  But it is also good for the heart (to make that oft used distinction).

Because of the format, Vos' writing has little flow or elaboration.  There are plenty of other places to find such.  This volume is for the slow, detailed climber.
Michael Horton describes these Vos writings as being "like a lost Shakespeare play recently discovered." Well said.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY BY ONE OF THE GREAT "PRINCETON THEOLOGIANS"

Geerhardus Vos (1862-1949) was an American Calvinist theologian who taught Biblical Theology at Princeton Theology from 1893-1932.

The Preface to the series points out, “The ‘Reformed Dogmatics’ stems from the period 1888-1893, when … the young Vos taught systematic theology (dogmatics) at the Theological School of the Christian Reformed Church, later renamed Calvin Theological Seminary. [It] was first published in Dutch as a hand-written manuscript in five volumes, in 1896. It was subsequently transcribed and printed in 1910.”

The series is written in a “question-and-answer” format of, say, the Westminster Larger Catechism. For instance, Question 33 asks, “IS God present everywhere in the same way?” and he explains, “No, He reveals His presence in a different way in heaven than in the place of the lost, and differently on earth than above.” (Pg. 12)

He rejects the concept of “middle knowledge” (e.g., On Divine Foreknowledge), stating, “knowledge… presupposes absolute certainty. Only what is certain and sure can be known… therefore, whatever is free and uncertain in itself cannot be the object of knowledge… the opponents have only invented this knowledge in order to unite God’s foreknowledge with their free will. And that they seek to unite two things here that logically exclude each other. Freedom of action in a Remonstrant sense and advance knowledge of that action are not compatible… God’s eternity… is simply overthrown by this doctrine of absolutely free will, withdrawn from God’s decree… if He thus must take up within Himself the influence of the temporal, then this destroys His eternity. The doctrine of middle knowledge denies precisely what could make it comprehensible.” (Pg. 19)

He states that we must NOT seek a “decisive proof” for the Trinity in the Old Testament, because, “Old Testament revelation was not finished but only preparatory… Under the Old Testament’s dispensation the concept of the oneness of God had to be deeply impressed upon Israel’s consciousness in the face of all polytheistic inclinations… We must not imagine that the Old Testament saints were able to read in the Old Testament everything that we can read there in the light of the New.” (Pg. 38)

He explains the Trinity: “There is only one divine being… In this one God are three modes of existence, which we refer to by the word ‘person’ and which are, each one, this only true God… these persons are called, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit… These three persons, although together the one true God, are nevertheless distinguished from each other insofar as they assume objective relations toward each other, address each other, love each other, and can interact with each other.” (Pg. 43)

He argues that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the father AND the Son, “although the Greek church denies this. Different motives underlie this denial. It agreed above all with the mystical direction of the Greek church… Proofs for procession from the Son also are the following: a) If the Spirit does not proceed from the Son, then there is a point in the Godhead where Son and Spirit do not affect each other but are separated… b) The Son sends the Spirit in time. He would not be able to do this is the Spirit did not proceed from Him eternally… c) The Spirit is called the Spirit of the Son as the Spirit of Christ no less than the Spirit of the Father… d) All that the Spirit has, He has from the Son no less than from the Father…” (Pg. 72-73)

Of God’s decrees, he observes, “God’s decree is universal; it encompasses all things… there is no distinction in the firmness with which things are determined, between the physical and the moral, the good and the evil. All are equally established by God with equally essential certainty… [Otherwise] that to which the decree does not extend remains uncertain and would intrude in an unsettling fashion into what is certainly determined. On this all-encompassing character of God’s decree and the certainty attendant on it rests the possibility of all knowledge, for without reality as certain, knowledge is not possible.” (Pg. 82-83) Nevertheless, “In the execution of this decree… there is nothing that can make God a cause of sin. On this point Scripture speaks as emphatically as possible.” (Pg. 96)

He comments on Romans 9:18: “The emphasis falls on the initial words, ‘On whom He wills He shows mercy, whom He wills he hardens.’ The apostle intends to say there is no other reason for the different assignments of destiny than the absolute will of God. And this is true both for the destiny of misery as well as for the destiny of blessedness.” (Pg. 122)

He suggests, “We do not have to occupy ourselves at length here about whether this reasoning is infralapsarian or supralapsarian. However, if our explanation is correct, then an infralapsarian explanation will not do justice to the words of the apostle. The question of the vessel [Rom 9:20-21] would then have never read, ‘Why have you made me thus?’ but at the most, ‘Why when I already was as I was did you ordain me to this end?’….The image of the potter does not intend to teach us that by virtue of His predestination God makes man a sinner. But there is certainly involved, we think, that in His decree regarding the destiny of creatures, God includes the sin that men themselves commit, and that the concern of His decree with sin occupies a place in His predestination of what men will be and to what end they will serve.” (Pg. 129)

He notes, “Election as a discriminating election is at the same time an entirely free election. But free is still something other than arbitrary. Election would not be free if God were led by motives that He had not derived from Himself. Election would have been arbitrary if God had been entirely without any motives, something that cannot be reconciled with His wisdom… Suitability or the purposes of election is not the motivating cause in God but is much more its fruit.” (Pg. 134)

Later, he adds, “The question is not whether sin comes into consideration as a factor in the decree of election and of rejection… One frequently hears the claim that those who place election above the fall teach that God has ordained men for eternal bliss and eternal misery only because He willed to do so and without considering their sin. But that is a conclusion that is not present in supralapsarianism… With equally good right one could derive a variety of conclusions from infralapsarianism from which everyone must recoil, since they seem to attack the foundation of God’s virtues.” (Pg. 144-145) He admits, however, that supralapsarianism suffers from “great harshness”: “However, one should certainly keep in view that this harshness resides in the doctrine of God’s decree as such, and supralapsarianism merely brings it out clearly.” (Pg. 150)

He says that there are three interpretations of Genesis 1 & 2: “the allegorical, the mythical and the historical. The first two views, however, are untenable because within the narrative of Scripture the creation narrative is interwoven like a link in the chain of God’s saving acts. God does not make a chain of solid gold, in which the final link is a floral wreath. If the creation history is an allegory, then the narrative concerning the fall and everything further that follows can also be allegory. The writer of the Pentateuch presents his work entirely as history.” (Pg. 161) Later, he adds, “The entire creation aimed at man as its completion. It is difficult to accept that preparing for this goal took thousands of years.” (Pg. 168) However, he notes that one “who holds that the days are long time periods [should not] be regarded a heretic.” (Pg. 169)

And of course, he rejects evolution: “This theory claims that everything has developed, and is still developing, from a single instance of matter by the working of certain natural laws. The theory of evolution, however, does not have an answer to the question where that matter and those laws came from. It can therefore not be a substitute for the doctrine of creation and is based, moreover, on deism.” (Pg. 182)

This series will be of great interest to those seriously studying Reformed theology

[Andy Dollahite · Rating 4 out of 5]

Concise. Written Q&A style. Functionally an abridged Bavinck (although they obviously aren't perfectly aligned on every topic) minus the extended interaction with higher criticism. Vos is very comfortable stating biblical truths without having to demonstrate their perfect cogency. This isn't to say he accepts contradiction or irrationality, but he submits that human knowledge cannot precisely explain/understand every truth of scripture. This particularly manifested during his discussions of the supra/infralapsarian debate.

One must understand how this set came to be, effectively a published teaching outline. It wasn't composed with the intention of being a complete written dogmatics. In my mind, this explains the several locations where one wishes Vos included more detail and commentary. One certainly wishes he included a prolegomena.

[Matt Crawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Systematic theology by definition is a daunting task. It takes everything imaginable and reduces it into different levels of priority. In this first volume by Vos, he reduces it to popular questions. In a catechismal form he tackles what we can know about God and intern and know about ourselves. He also attacked the heresy of the day, including modalism, deism (too little God) and pantheism (blaming God for everything). He reminds us that the purpose of difficult doctrines such as predestination Providence and election is our sanctification. That the doctrine should not intimidate us, but rather encourage us to live a life of holiness. Yes I wish he’d tackled more in Theology Proper but given the brief space it is dense yet understandable.

[Ben Hegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vos was a very deep thinker and writer. I enjoyed the parts of this volume that I understood. I understood about 40% of this volume at best. Requires a lot of knowledge of philosophy and other complicated matters to understand. Not very accessible compared to other Systematic Theology and Reformed Dogmatics volumes that I've read, yet I'm grateful that we have it in English. Recommended but be careful and take it very slowly.

[Ming Chen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Covers: the knowability of God, names, beings, and attributes of God, the Trinity, God's general decrees, God's decree of predestination, creation, and providence. The chapters are set out in a question and answer format due to this material being originally designed for a classroom setting. Vos writes with remarkable precision. Some parts simply flew over my head, and it would not hurt to revisit some areas as the need arises.

[Alyosha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant, but also incredibly academic in nature, which, having been immersed in Tozer, Pink and John Owen as of late, made this a bit of a slog at times. Certain parts are certainly worth sifting through the others to find however, as Vos does a brilliant job of nailing down doctrine in very concise terms.

[Sam Nesbitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vos is a rare theologian who balances insight and faithfulness in his systematic formulations. Moreover, the method by which he conducts his systematics is unique compared to other contemporary theologians (question and answer). Although he does not touch on some subjects as much as I would have liked, he still provides much insight into the doctrine of God.

[Md Meiser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly a delight to read. The format of questions and outlined answers was organized and easy to read. Vos has full command of his subject. the chapter on Predestination was enlightening as was the one on the Trinity.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a dense read but my goodness is it rich. Certainly a slog at times but it was worth it. The first three chapters on God's nature and attributes were absolutely gold. This would make a good resource for any pastor.

[Andrew Mulnix · Rating 4 out of 5]

The question/answer format is great when referencing certain sections but took some getting used to when reading cover to cover.

[Joe Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great work that is VERY difficult to read. Q&A format is hard to get through…but worth the work!

[Cade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely thorough, but the Q&A style allows the reader to digest more easily as Vos continues to build upon each topic within theology proper.

[Eddie Mercado · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great volume for what it is: a short, and pithy explanation of Theology Proper. Lacking a Prolegomena, this work is still great because of Vos' ability to be clear (as compared to later Vos), and very helpful. While this certainly does not contain new ground breaking ideas, what Vos does a fantastic job doing is delivering what can be seen as technical and complicated in a lucid manner. I can't wait to go through the remaining volumes. This was a good start!

[Cbarrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very clear treatment of dogmatics. Vos is able to succinctly and clearly distill complicated truth in an accessible way, with one chapter as exception. Chapters in Trinity and Decrees very helpful. Chapter on Providence and addressing concursus was beneficial, but more complicated.

Q&A format lends toward the succinctness and nuance to the subjects.

[Jeremiah Nichols · Rating 5 out of 5]

RD Volume 1 is a head-spinning work covering the doctrines of God, The Trinity, predestination, creation, and providence. The question-answer format is helpful and enables easy start-stop reading. The indexes ensure the volume will be a useful resource on any bookshelf. Highly recommended.

[Michael Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic. It was relatively short and terse and yet Vos reflects his learned ability to say potent things very concisely. Highly recommend for anyone who is new to Reformed Theology.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful summary, in concise, Q&A format, for the Reformed tradition. Not exactly scintillating, and only occasionally doxological (Bavinck is to be preferred here), but still beneficial.