Revelation and history: a study of Geerhardus Vos as a theologian between two worlds

Abstract

This thesis seeks to critically examine the reception history of the Dutch-American theologian Geerhardus Vos (1862-1949) and investigate whether the scholarly field has comprehensively engaged with his works, particularly in view of his participation in both Dutch and English-speaking theological contexts. Vos is known to some as “the father of Reformed biblical theology” due to his significant contributions to the subject at Princeton. He is also referred to by others as “the American Bavinck", relating to his neo-Calvinist theology stemming from his Dutch Reformed background. However, prioritizing one of these identities over the other—as has been the case in his reception history—disjoints his theological contributions in earlier years from his biblical contributions in later years. Therefore, this thesis contends that more comprehensively engaging with Vos necessitates recognizing the continuity of both his theological and biblical works - as well as his theological identity - across his lifetime.

Geerhardus Vos was born in Heerenveen, Friesland, the Netherlands, into a family rooted in the Dutch Secession (Afscheiding) of 1834. Vos received his education in multiple countries, including Amsterdam, the United States, and Germany. He eventually earned his doctorate degree in Semitic studies in Germany. He later moved back to Grand Rapids, United States, a city developed by earlier Dutch Seceder immigrants. In 1888, Vos became a professor of didactics and exegesis at the Theological School in Grand Rapids. During these five years, he was dedicated to teaching Reformed dogmatics to Dutch immigrants. In 1893, Vos left Grand Rapids to become a professor of biblical theology at Princeton Theological Seminary. The transition between these schools required Vos to shift his focus from teaching theological disciplines to teaching biblical theology.

This transition, and his subsequent 39 years of teaching in Princeton marked the beginning of different interpretations by various scholars of his theology. The question has arisen in subsequent scholarship as to whether Vos should be classified as belonging to the American Presbyterian or the Dutch Seceder schools of thought. His exposure to these distinct environments gave rise to two distinct identities associated with Vos: The “father of Reformed biblical theology” and the “American Bavinck.” These labels were coined by different scholars to represent Vos’s affiliation with two theological traditions, namely Presbyterianism in the United States and Dutch Reformed neo-Calvinist theology in the Netherlands. While the title “the father of Reformed biblical theology” focuses on Vos’s thirty-nine years of teaching and his contributions to biblical theology at Princeton, the title “the American Bavinck” retraces his Dutch roots and his inseparable relationship with the neo-Calvinist theologian Herman Bavinck (1854-1921), and argues for Vos’s inheritance in neo-Calvinist theology. In tracing this reception history, this thesis also notes that it contains talk of “two Vosses” to recapitulate and summarize the interpretations associated with these two labels. Noting this, the thesis argues that the “two Vosses” should be understood as complementary and inseparable from each other. In that sense, there is only “one Vos”; the father of Reformed biblical theology is also the American Bavinck.

To defend this holistic reading of Vos, this thesis examines two of his key theological concepts, namely revelation and history. The thesis will survey his early works on Reformed Dogmatics during his time in Grand Rapids and his later works on Biblical Theology as a professor of biblical theology at Princeton. Through an analysis of his notion of revelation and history through his works in both periods, one can observe the consistency of his views on both. Vos’s early understanding of revelation and history forms the foundation for his articulation of revelation and history as outlined in his later biblical theology. By emphasizing the consistency of Vos’s ideas on revelation and history throughout his works from two distinct periods, this thesis affirms the significance of his alternative title, “the American Bavinck.” This title is closely tied to Vos’s Dutch Seceder tradition and serves as a foundation for his role as the “father of Reformed biblical theology” within the Presbyterian tradition. That title underscores Vos’s influence in America while acknowledging that Vos’s contributions to biblical theology were rooted in neo-Calvinist theology. These two labels are indivisible. Therefore, if one does not see Vos as both a biblical theologian and as a neo-Calvinist, it becomes difficult to account for the development of his articulation of these concepts throughout his years in Grand Rapids and Princeton. These inseparable designations, which reflect Vos’s theological traditions, are crucial. This thesis also contends that the neo-Calvinist theology from his Seceder tradition enriches his biblical theology in Princeton. To have a holistic understanding of Vos’s life and theology, which encompasses both his neo-Calvinist theology and his Reformed biblical theology, this thesis proposes that Vos should be known by a new title which better encapsulates his theological legacy: the father of neo-Calvinist Reformed biblical theology. With the new reading of Vos proposed by this thesis, future scholars should approach his works with his new title in mind. Vos should be treated as a neo-Calvinist theologian along with Bavinck and Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920). Therefore, we should not treat Vos’s biblical theology as a distinct discipline from his neo-Calvinist theology.