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The Letters of Geerhardus Vos
Geerhardus Vos (1862-1949) has been called "the father of Reformed biblical theology." He was born in the Netherlands and emigrated to the United States in 1881. He earned degrees from Calvin Theological Seminary, Princeton Theological Seminary, and the University of Strasbourg (PhD in Arabic). In 1894 he was ordained as a minister in the Presbyterian Church in the USA. Before beginning his thirty-nine-year tenure on Princeton's faculty, he was professor of systematic and exegetical theology at Calvin for five years. Among his writings are Biblical Theology and The Pauline Eschatology .
A pioneer in biblical theology, Geerhardus Vos continues to influence Bible students today. Vos expert James T. Dennison Jr. here collects, for the first time, all of Vos's extant letters, many of them to Abraham Kuyper, Herman Bavinck, B. B. Warfield, and J. Gresham Machen.
James T. Dennison Jr.
- More than eighty letters written by Geerhardus Vos from 1883 to 1946
- The fullest biographical article on Vos to date
- A thorough bibliography of Vos's writings
- Samples of Vos's poetry
A pioneer in biblical theology, Geerhardus Vos continues to influence Bible students today. Vos expert James T. Dennison Jr. here collects, for the first time, all of Vos's extant letters, many of them to Abraham Kuyper, Herman Bavinck, B. B. Warfield, and J. Gresham Machen.
James T. Dennison Jr.
- More than eighty letters written by Geerhardus Vos from 1883 to 1946
- The fullest biographical article on Vos to date
- A thorough bibliography of Vos's writings
- Samples of Vos's poetry
- GenresBiography
280 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2005
2 people are currently reading
51 people want to read
About the author
Geerhardus Vos
102 books86 followersGeerhardus 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 9, 2025
A fascinating collection of letters. I wish the editor had found a way to locate some of the back and forth between, Kuyper, Bavinck, Warfield, and Machen.
October 15, 2022
I have a strong natural affection for orthodox Dutch Reformed theologians with strong Calvinistic convictions. I did not expect to get so sucked in but this book and his letters were fascinating.
I would've given it 5 stars but Dennison's section explaining why Vos didn't join the OPC and Westminster was erroneously drenched in fanciful piety. He essentially says that Vos was too heavenly minded and fixed on Jesus to be entangled with earthly issues. His puritanical piety refrains him from being OK with the likelihood that Vos was thinking of his family and desired to retire and bow out peacefully. Just my two cents.
I would've given it 5 stars but Dennison's section explaining why Vos didn't join the OPC and Westminster was erroneously drenched in fanciful piety. He essentially says that Vos was too heavenly minded and fixed on Jesus to be entangled with earthly issues. His puritanical piety refrains him from being OK with the likelihood that Vos was thinking of his family and desired to retire and bow out peacefully. Just my two cents.
October 9, 2018
I really enjoyed this introduction to Vos's life through a short biography by Dennison (which includes a helpful synopsis of Vos's biblical theology - pp. 49-59) and through Vos's letters. This reflection from one of Vos's students seems to epitomize the personality and life of Vos: "As we listened to the lectures we forgot about the man speaking, while our minds were fixed on the wonders of the Word" (p. 81 n. 209). Would that this were the case for every preacher and teacher in the Church!
January 28, 2018
The life and ministry of Geerhardus Vos have shaped the landscape of Reformed biblical theology more than any other thinker of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Vos is known by many as the father of Reformed biblical theology and his literary corpus has captivated the minds and hearts of many more. And while works such as Biblical Theology, The Pauline Eschatology, and the recently published 5-volume Reformed Dogmatics offer vital of insight into Geerhadus Vos, none seem to parallel the unplugged intimacy accessible in The Letters of Geerhardus Vos edited by James T. Dennison Jr.
The Letters of Geerhardus Vos commences with a comprehensive, 72-page biographical sketch of the life and career of Geerhardus Vos. Dennison notes, "this [is] the most thorough account of the life of Geerhardus Vos to date" (p. 11). This introduction fittingly positions readers towards a contextual backdrop to the personal letters found therein, and Dennison has done a fantastic job bringing Vos' life to paper. Following the introduction, Dennison has included a chronological list of Vos' writings stretching 23 pages. Following the bibliographical details, the reader will find more than 80 letters written by Geerhardus Vos from 1883-1946, including correspondence to Abraham Kuyper, Herman Bavinck, B. B. Warfield, and J. Gresham Machen. Lastly, Dennison included a number of Vos' poems-yet another layer behind the scholar, Geerhardus Vos.
The Letters of Geerhardus Vos is not for everyone. That said, if you have been influenced by the work of Geerhardus Vos, the added dimension of reading his personal correspondence to figures such as Kuyper, Bavinck, Warfield, and Machen is simply invaluable. Moreover, the editorial work provided by Dennison, especially the footnotes throughout, provided immediate insight into the context of the letter. It's hard to put into words how insightful and rewarding it is to see the humanness of such a theological giant of the Reformed tradition, and I am grateful for the work of Dennison and others to make such possible.
The Letters of Geerhardus Vos edited by James T. Dennison Jr. is essential reading for any Vos enthusiast. Dennison has done an exceptional job and should be greatly commended for making this collection available. It comes highly recommended!
The Letters of Geerhardus Vos commences with a comprehensive, 72-page biographical sketch of the life and career of Geerhardus Vos. Dennison notes, "this [is] the most thorough account of the life of Geerhardus Vos to date" (p. 11). This introduction fittingly positions readers towards a contextual backdrop to the personal letters found therein, and Dennison has done a fantastic job bringing Vos' life to paper. Following the introduction, Dennison has included a chronological list of Vos' writings stretching 23 pages. Following the bibliographical details, the reader will find more than 80 letters written by Geerhardus Vos from 1883-1946, including correspondence to Abraham Kuyper, Herman Bavinck, B. B. Warfield, and J. Gresham Machen. Lastly, Dennison included a number of Vos' poems-yet another layer behind the scholar, Geerhardus Vos.
The Letters of Geerhardus Vos is not for everyone. That said, if you have been influenced by the work of Geerhardus Vos, the added dimension of reading his personal correspondence to figures such as Kuyper, Bavinck, Warfield, and Machen is simply invaluable. Moreover, the editorial work provided by Dennison, especially the footnotes throughout, provided immediate insight into the context of the letter. It's hard to put into words how insightful and rewarding it is to see the humanness of such a theological giant of the Reformed tradition, and I am grateful for the work of Dennison and others to make such possible.
The Letters of Geerhardus Vos edited by James T. Dennison Jr. is essential reading for any Vos enthusiast. Dennison has done an exceptional job and should be greatly commended for making this collection available. It comes highly recommended!
June 3, 2025
You hear Vos, in that you begin to know who he was as a person. It was really cool to hear Vos, Bavinck and Kuyper discussion translation work for Kuyper’s Systematic theology into English and more. Just really engaging and charitable.
One thing that is very odd is that Vos and Bavinck hit a point where no more letters were exchanged. Unfortunately I don’t remember too much as to why, but it was somewhat of a mystery. Very strange and spiritually disturbing; my soul was saddened to learn that. To the best of my knowledge there was also a point where Vos just stopped writing; this may be due to some depressions etc he was going through later in life.
There are some instances in this short book where you get sad about certain things occurring, such as the above.
I recommend this book if you’re into reformed theology and want to get an inner life of one of its major contributors, Geerhardus Vos.
One thing that is very odd is that Vos and Bavinck hit a point where no more letters were exchanged. Unfortunately I don’t remember too much as to why, but it was somewhat of a mystery. Very strange and spiritually disturbing; my soul was saddened to learn that. To the best of my knowledge there was also a point where Vos just stopped writing; this may be due to some depressions etc he was going through later in life.
There are some instances in this short book where you get sad about certain things occurring, such as the above.
I recommend this book if you’re into reformed theology and want to get an inner life of one of its major contributors, Geerhardus Vos.
March 20, 2017
Fascinating to read, and it was fun to find out that many important moments early in Vos' career happened minutes away from where I live!
January 18, 2008
Geerhardus Vos (1862-1949) never achieved fame beyond a small circle of students during his lifetime. Given his brillance, his long career, his clear and prolific writings, his exotic name and his institutional affliation with Princeton Seminary (the most prominent theological school in America at the time) this is just staggering. Fortunately his pioneering work in redemptive-historical work and covenant theology has been rescued from obscurity after his retirement by those who have come to appreciate its value.
Several of Vos' published works remain in print and widely studied. But those who seek to understand the context from which such original work came have long had to consult thin biographical tidbits, mostly found in a handful of libraries. This excellent volume has vastly improved this situation.
The book falls into four sections: 1. A long (65 pp.), very well-crafted biographical essay by James Dennison (who does nothing to temper his admiration for his subject.) Dennison is probably a little more conservative and doctrinaire than Vos.
2. A 28pp. bibliography.
3. Typescripts of dozens of letter by Vos. They range from his days applying for admission as student at Princeton Seminary (1883) up to the retirement years in his 80s (some as late as 1946). The majority, however, are 1889-1897. Vos' correspondence displayed here include Warfield, Kuyper, Bavinck, Machen, Ned Stonehouse and an assortment of pastors and former students. Vos is articulate, cultured, lively and concise in virtually every letter. Here we see his wide ranging opinions on German, Dutch and English-language theological works (including early takes on Barth and Bultmann), his original exegesis, his Princeton politics, his warm support of Machen, Frank Stevenson, Paul Woolley etc. after they started Westminister Seminary in 1929 (just three years before he retired from Princeton), his difficult arrangements for Kuyper's history making Stone Lectures at Princeton Seminary, etc. He comes off as massively learned, but humble and likeable.
Dennison's footnotes are concise and generally helpful (though in the case of one Seminary board political issue in the late 20s, Dennison fails to give us specific background information). There are some footnote errors, but pretty minor: Chicago Theological Seminary is confused with Univ. of Chicago Div. School at one point. p. 109 lists a Vos MS as located in the "Alumni Alcove" of Princeton Theological Seminary (which hasn't existed in ten years) -- its probably in the Manuscripts Collection of Prinecton Sem., or has a call number. Anyway, these and a few others are pretty minor blemishes on a generally careful and excellent work.
4. Four of Vos' poems.
Even a cursory review of this volume increases one's amazement at Vos' rather unassuming career. HOW? One explanation is that Vos only lectured outside the Princeton campus ONE time after accepting his teaching post there. He simply was not the churchman we would have expected, and as a result his influence was confined to his (often prominent) students and his readers.
P & R has done a really outstanding job packaging this book, as well.
Several of Vos' published works remain in print and widely studied. But those who seek to understand the context from which such original work came have long had to consult thin biographical tidbits, mostly found in a handful of libraries. This excellent volume has vastly improved this situation.
The book falls into four sections: 1. A long (65 pp.), very well-crafted biographical essay by James Dennison (who does nothing to temper his admiration for his subject.) Dennison is probably a little more conservative and doctrinaire than Vos.
2. A 28pp. bibliography.
3. Typescripts of dozens of letter by Vos. They range from his days applying for admission as student at Princeton Seminary (1883) up to the retirement years in his 80s (some as late as 1946). The majority, however, are 1889-1897. Vos' correspondence displayed here include Warfield, Kuyper, Bavinck, Machen, Ned Stonehouse and an assortment of pastors and former students. Vos is articulate, cultured, lively and concise in virtually every letter. Here we see his wide ranging opinions on German, Dutch and English-language theological works (including early takes on Barth and Bultmann), his original exegesis, his Princeton politics, his warm support of Machen, Frank Stevenson, Paul Woolley etc. after they started Westminister Seminary in 1929 (just three years before he retired from Princeton), his difficult arrangements for Kuyper's history making Stone Lectures at Princeton Seminary, etc. He comes off as massively learned, but humble and likeable.
Dennison's footnotes are concise and generally helpful (though in the case of one Seminary board political issue in the late 20s, Dennison fails to give us specific background information). There are some footnote errors, but pretty minor: Chicago Theological Seminary is confused with Univ. of Chicago Div. School at one point. p. 109 lists a Vos MS as located in the "Alumni Alcove" of Princeton Theological Seminary (which hasn't existed in ten years) -- its probably in the Manuscripts Collection of Prinecton Sem., or has a call number. Anyway, these and a few others are pretty minor blemishes on a generally careful and excellent work.
4. Four of Vos' poems.
Even a cursory review of this volume increases one's amazement at Vos' rather unassuming career. HOW? One explanation is that Vos only lectured outside the Princeton campus ONE time after accepting his teaching post there. He simply was not the churchman we would have expected, and as a result his influence was confined to his (often prominent) students and his readers.
P & R has done a really outstanding job packaging this book, as well.
November 22, 2020
Good read; sad ending after his retirement, seemed to just fade away. Happily, his works are being printed and read.
May 31, 2012
The best biographical sources of the life of Geerhardus Vos. Dr. Dennision, Jr did a great job in acquiring the first-hand data, including very valuable detail. The book made Vos alive in front of my eyes. Love' it!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews