Reformed Dogmatics: Christology

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

Like books, people can become 'classics.' Great in their day, but richer and more fulfilling with time. Not yet a classic, Vos's never-before-published Reformed Dogmatics is more like a lost Shakespeare play recently discovered. --Michael Horton

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 Three, Christology , Vos
The person of Christ
Christ's two natures
The incarnation
The work of Christ
Christ's death and resurrection
The nature of Christ' sacrifice
Christ's offices
And more

Genres: Theology, Christian

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2015

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

[Matt Crawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vos spins a different thread on Christology than the rest of his systematic. Simply stated, his approach is Christocentric. He prefers to view Christ not simply as Mediator, but rather the God-Man as Surety. Something far greater. He is what the types (Abraham,Joseph, Moses, Elijah) could never be. The Names for the second member of the Trinity separates reality from expectations. He does dedicate quite a bit to pointing out the errors of the Lutherans. This does a deep dive on issues such as Kenosis. He shows how the three offices of Christ are all present in his active and passive obedience. The exaltation and humiliation of Christ complement and coexist together .

[Johnny Zacchio jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant!

“All praise to Him whose love is seen in Christ the Son, the servant-King, who left behind his glorious throne to pay a ransom for his own!”

[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.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE THIRD VOLUME OF VOS’S SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY

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

Of Christ’s “true humanity” as the Mediator, he comments, “However deep the mystery of the unity of His humanity and His divine person may be, this is certain: This unity did nothing to diminish the true humanity of the Lord, and instead of impeding or disturbing human development has rather sustained and guided it. His deity did not communicate more knowledge and power to His humanity than was in accord with its age… In Christ there was present not merely a human soul (or spirit) in general but a complete soul… In Him there was a knowing, a willing, an emotional life. He knew, and that in a human manner… He was not omniscient (Mk 13:32). He had a will, which He knew to distinguish from the Father’s will … He expressly calls Himself a man (Jn 8:40)…” (Pg. 28-29)

He states, “The question then arises: How can the Mediator be in this state of humiliation and at the same time possess the gifts of grace that are necessary for exercising His offices? The answer to this must be that He did not possess a human nature that included in itself these capacities as its own natural possession, but these were communicated to it as gifts of office by the Holy Spirit… So, for example, the human nature of the Mediator was unable to carry out the highly weighty office of prophet. It was limited in its knowledge and its insight in its bestowed gifts, since it was our weak nature (always without sin)… [The Father] also equipped the weak but sinless Christ by a communication of spiritual gifts for His official work… Christ was the perfect prophet, the only one who has realized the full ideal of prophet, and that to Him therefore the Spirit was communicated without measure…” (Pg. 57)

He says of the Old Testament sacrifices, “The animals that were sacrificed were tame animals, those that were closest to man and so could best represent his life. The sacrificial animals had to be without defect and clean, and yet they were called ‘sin.’ This may only be explained by the idea of substitution. The laying on of hands has this significance… the laying on of both hands by Aaron signifies the transfer of the iniquities of the children of Israel onto this animal… Throughout the whole of Scripture, death is the punishment for sin, and therefore here too [it] may not be considered a point of transition into fellowship with God… The substituting life is thereby brought into fellowship, into contact with God, whether it been on the horns of the altar or on the mercy seat.” (Pg. 103)

He notes, “Preaching has as its goal to call everyone it reaches… But it has neither the calling nor the right to make of this ‘willing’ something other than Scripture means by it. It is not to be presented… as a sudden, uncaused act of will… The willing to which Scripture alludes is the willing of faith, of saving faith, the deepest act a person can do, in which his entire being shares and concurs---and act that becomes entirely impossible the incomprehensible without a prior attitude of repentance… the freest preaching of the gospel must make clear that such a willing is the only means by which we can become partakers of Christ.” (Pg. 147-148)

He asserts, “We have seen earlier how realism and traducianism, when they are used to explain the transmission of hereditary guilt and hereditary corruption, lead to insurmountable problems in Christology. It is surely well established that Christ assumed our nature from the flesh and blood of the Virgin Mary. If original sin is automatically transmitted with this nature, then it was also transferred to Christ.” (Pg. 166)

He explains, “It is well known that the designation … ‘kingdom of heaven’ usually occurs in Matthew’s Gospel. In Mark and Luke, one only finds… ‘kingdom of God.’ The latter designation is also found in John and Paul. The addition ‘of heaven’ serves to indicate the heavenly origin and the heavenly character of this dominion. The Mediator, who was anointed as King, was in heaven from eternity and has returned to heaven, and heaven is the center of all His activities. This corresponds to the fact that the coming of the kingdom is equated to the coming of Christ.” (Pg. 180)

He points out, “The incarnation occurred from the Virgin Mary---that is, without the participation of a male---through an immediate, immanent action of the Holy Spirit. And that is so for the following reasons: (1) Because all sin must be excluded down to the root in the origin of his human nature. Sexual intercourse between a man and a woman is tainted with sin. (2) Because what is personal in human nature, it would seem, is linked with the act of generation by the father, wherefore this act, where a human person did not need to originate, must be omitted. Whether Mary knew a man after the birth of the Savior … is a question about which there is a great deal of dispute and which, dogmatically as well as exegetically, does not appear to be susceptible to a solution and moreover is of secondary importance.” (Pg. 189)

He says of the Apostles’ Creed statement, ‘He descended into Hell,’ “the article ‘descended to the lowest places’ is of relatively late origin. It is not found in the oldest forms of the creed accessible to us… also the explanation of the words was at the same time uncertain…we can dismiss for ourselves the complicated historical question what the words originally meant in the Apostles’ Cree for the person who first inserted them… When we acknowledge the Apostles’ Creed as a part of our confession, we do so with the understanding that it may have the sense that our other creeds give to it. Only what official view the Reformed Church has formed of the words needs to be considered here.” (Pg. 206)

He interprets 1 Pet 3:18-19 and 4:6, “The Spirit, the deity of Christ, worked in Noah, ‘the preacher of righteousness,’ and testified through him against the unbelieving world. The same water of the flood, through which Noah with his eight was saved, became destruction for unbelievers. This can be seen from the fact that those to whom the gospel was preached then are not spirits in prison. They were disobedient at that time, however long the patience of God waited, and have received the payment of their hardening… The gospel was preached to them, and its content was, ‘Be judged by men according to the flesh, accept the slander of the world, choose the reproach of the people of God, in order that you might live according to God in the spirit.’ They did not listen, and the result has been that they are now dead. Thus it will be with everyone who places the approval of the world above being scorned with God’s children.” (Pg. 213-214)

He interprets the statement, “sitting at the right hand of God”: “First, we must note that it is to be taken figuratively and not literally… The right hand is the seat of power. God has willed that for man it would be the instrument of the most natural and noble exercise of power… Thus to sit at God’s right hand is for all things to be in the closest communion with His divine power and might… Sitting is something other than standing. Someone who serves stands in the presence of the one he serves… it appears that sitting at the right hand of God is not exclusively related to the kingdom of power but also indicates the point at which His glorious intercession begins.” (Pg. 235-237)

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

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slowest of the three so far, with some pretty clunky plodding. However some parts were pure gold. Still a good dogmatic source.

[Matt Robertson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredible volume and will now be the first systematic I pull off the shelf.

Vos strikes a near-perfect balance among crafts of biblical commentary, theological reflection, historical review, and contemporary engagement. This was reflected in his life’s work. He is often called the father of Reformed Biblical Theology, yet Kuyper and Bavinck tried to recruit him in Amsterdam as a professor of Old Testament, and in this volume he writes a systematic theology. Such mastery over exegesis, biblical theology, historical theology, and systematic theology is increasingly rare today, but Vos’s dogmatics displays the rewards of such mastery.

In each section he begins with definitions and first principles, finding a good balance between getting to the point and filling out the point. The Q&A format feels a little awkward at first, but you quickly grow accustomed to it and view the questions as organizational section headers.

The organization is thoroughly Reformed, as is the focus of the content. The volume is organized into sections regarding Christ’s names, person and nature, office, and states. Vos includes a fairly lengthy discussion of Limited Atonement under the category of the scope of Christ’s priestly office, engages with the Lutheran view of communion at some length in his section on Christ’s human nature, and at various points interacts with arguments from Schleiermacher, Roman Catholicism, and Arminius, as well as the old heresies of the gnostics, Arians, Nestorians, etc.

Readers familiar with Bavinck’s Reformed Dogmatics will find Vos’s work much more accessible, with little to no interaction with the philosophies of Hegel or Kant and much more focused detours into contemporary German liberal theology. Bavinck often feels like it is written for the academy. Vos feels like it is written for the church. This is a rich and at times challenging dogmatics to work through but one that leaves the reader with the impression that every word earned its place.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I agree with the “plodding” assessment. Good info, good scholasticism, good theological basis...but continuous consumption was more difficult than a lot of similar works in intensive theology and dogmatics. Not the type of read you’d hand to a layperson and expect them to make it through without a lot of assistance and encouragement.

[Sam Nesbitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Volume 3 of Vos’s Reformed Dogmatics is my favorite so far; his treatment on Christology is very helpful and robust. Such a treatment is much needed for the church today since so many Christians lack a proper understanding of the person and work of Christ.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Typical Voss: erudite, theologically sound, and, occasionally, slightly pedantic. A helpful but technical volume.

[Jordan Carl · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always, Vos is incredible.

[Michael Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Par for the course. It's Vos. What more is there to be said? Excellent, insightful, cogent, concise.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

some questions were answered without sufficient defense. that was the only negative. the majority was terrific.