In the death of J .G. Vos on June 8, the Lord has taken from among us one of the truly great Reformed leaders of our time. His death , at the age of 80, passed almost unnoticed outside of his immediate circle. (We first learned of it on the arrival of the August Banner of Truth and Covenanter Witness, and the September 12 Banner finally listed it.) His role and importance in the development and promotion of the Reformed Faith seems far out of proportion to the relatively limited recognition he received.
A Strategic Role
In an article in the December 1979, Outlook on “The Vos Legacy” I called attention to the fact that in the careers and writings of the Voses, Johannes, and his father Gerhardus, “there has been a blending of Reformed and Presbyterian traditions of a kind that has been and may continue to be very helpful to those who share the common Biblical Reformed faith in this part of the world. Both Reformed and Presbyterians (as well as others) might profit greatly by getting acquainted with their writings, especially in dealing with today’s problems, notably those that surround their understanding of God’s Word, the Bible.”
Today’s churches, our own ·in particular, are facing no more troublesome and threatening question than that about the way they “interpret” and apply the Bible. While perhaps most , continue to claim the Bible as their authority, the way many increasingly “interpret” and use it makes that claim meaningless. Generally speaking, evangelical Christians have tended to rely on “proof-texts” in the Bible to support the ir doctrines and moral standards. The Reformed qualification of that practice has stressed the point that one must study and use texts not in isolation, but in relationship to the whole Bible of which they are parts. Abraham Kuyper, despite his leading a reformation which returned to the Bible, explained theology as the product of the “western mind’s” reflection on material derived from the Bible. The Liberal movement, by applying its historical and literary criticism to the Bible, has attacked Christian doctrine and morals. That threat to the Christian faith and life is the most common and destructive that we see in the world and the churches today. Our Dutch mother churches have officially surrendered to it (in their document, “God met ons”) and many in our churches are obviously bent on doing the same.
In this developing process, Gerhardus Vos (1862–1949), whose work was made available to us through the editorial labors of his son, Johannes, made a career of formulating and presenting a comprehensive, orthodox and distinctly Reformed biblical-theological approach to the Bible, honoring it as the revealed Word of God and not as creation of man (cf. I Thess. 2:13). In this he corrected also the mistaken tendency of Abraham Kuiper and his followers to separate theology from the Bible (article by R.B. Gaffin in Jerusalem and Athens, pp. 228–237; see also Dec. 1979, Outlook p. 14). J.G. Vos, the son, not only edited and made available the writings of his father, but he also, in his own many exceptionally clear and pointed writings, gave superb doctrinal and moral applications of the Biblical principle his father formulated.
A Varied Career
After his early education in Princeton , during which he once said that he was “rebellious against the Lord and historic Reformed theology,” Johannes. spent a year at Calvin College. During that time he began to feel called to the gospel ministry and was influenced by the preaching of R.B. Kuiper and Herman Hoeksema. He transferred to Princeton University, where he majored in history and graduated in 1925 as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He learned to further hold and defend the Reformed faith in three following years at Princeton Seminary where his father and his colleagues led in the conflict against Liberalism. While the father remained in the large Presbyterian denomination, Johannes joined the small Reformed Presbyterian (Covenanter) denomination, studied for another year at its seminary at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , and became one of its pastors. In 1930 (at the age of 27) he began eleven years of missionary service in Manchuria during the difficult times of the Japanese occupation.
In 1931 he was joined by missionary Wilda Marian Milligan who became Mrs. Vos. In 1937 he completed a Th. M . degree at Westminster Seminary and became professor in a Bible School in Manchuria where he also served as principal until 1941. From 1942 to 1954 he was pastor of a Reformed Presbyterian church near Clay Center, Kansas. Beginning in 1954 he taught (and became chairman) in the Bible department at Geneva College, at Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. A colleague, Professor White, testified that in this position he was “instrumental in Geneva College’s definition, reaffirmation, and commitment to a more thorough Christian education,” a commitment expressed especially in his important little pamphlet, “What is Christian Education?” (Reprinted in April 1980, Outlook, pp . 4–8). As a Reformed Presbyterian from conviction since seminary days, Professor White observed that he “sought to develop in the membership of the denomination an understand ing and appreciation of her creeds,” arguing his “not always . . . majority or popular views ” “with patience as well as with clarity and sincerity.” Those who knew him intimately paid tribute to his kindliness, humility and wit.
Writings
The 1978 publication of the Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, The Book of Books was a series of essays in J.G. Vos’ honor, edited by John H. White. It contains two of his own essays and the final chapter is a 37 page list of his published writings. Looking over this remarkable list of writings produced during a busy life as a pastor and teacher , one observes that a large part of them are found in the Blue Banner Faith and Life, a quarterly journal which he began in 1942 at Clay Center, Kansas , and edited and largely wrote for about 37 years. Nineteen pages of the list are titles of descriptive and critical book reviews. Professor Vos’ practical and pastoral concern for students and church members comes to clear expression everywhere in these wri tings which combine thorough scholarship with staunch commitment to the Biblical Reformed faith. His book reviews are a marvel of condensation. His writings, largely buried in over three decades of files of the Blue Banner, strike one as a mine of valuable material which would promise to be increasingly helpful in times of growing confusion if someone would dig them out and reprint them in collections like those recently issued of John Murray’s writings. Young and old in our time need that kind of help.
Note: The Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America Board of Edurution and Publication (800 Wood St. Pittsburgh, PA 15221) listed the following writings of Professor Vos in its catalog:
Old Testament History (a survey suitable to high school and adult study classes) $3.95.
Proverbs (seven lessons, 11 pp.) $1.00.
Christ and His Kingdom (28 lessons, 38 pp.) $1.75.
Ephesians (verse by verse study in 33 lessons, 48 pp.) $1.95.
Phillipians (13 lessons, 23 pp.) $1.25.
Hebrews (21 lessons, 40 pp.) $1.50. Studies in the Covenant of Grace (35 lessons, 26 pp.) $1.95.
Ashamed of the Tents of Shem pamphlet on the singing of psalms, single copy is free, $4.00 per 100.
Surrender to Evolution : Inevitable or inexcusable? (16 pp.) $. 10.
What is Christian Education? (16 pp.) $.10.
The Book of Books (essays in his honor) $5.50. Baker Book House has published his superb 80 pp.
A Christian Introduction to Religions of the World $1.95.