The Eschatology of the New Testament

About this book

Geerhardus Johannes Vos (March 14, 1862 – August 13, 1949) was a Dutch-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, Jan Vos, accepted a call to be the pastor of the Christian Reformed Church congregation in Grand Rapids, Michigan.In September, 1881, Geerhardus Vos began his education at the Christian Reformed Church's Theological School, which is today's Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, and his talents were soon to be found by the school for he earned a higher degree in single year. During this period, Vos was appointed by the Curatorium to be the instructional assistant of Gerrit Egbert Boer, the teacher of the school as well as the president of the assembly. During the second year, Vos was paid as a lecturer alongside his studies.Two years later, in 1883, Vos was enrolled into the Princeton Theological Seminary, and he had already mastered German, Dutch, Latin, French, English, Greek and Hebrew by that time. Upon his request, he entered Princeton as a second year student. His outstanding senior paper, titled "The Mosaic Origin of the Pentateuchal Codes" was awarded the Hebrew fellowship prize.Vos carried on his further studies in the University of Berlin in Germany in 1886. In April, He received Abraham Kuyper's invitation to teach in the Free University of Amsterdam as the professor of Old Testament, however he turned that down partly because of his father's objection. Almost at the same period, the Christian Reformed Church nominated him as the next professor in Grand Rapids. Herman Bavinck also arrived at Berlin to meet Vos at the end of July, 1886, he encouraged Vos to study in the Kaiser Wilhelm University of Strassburg when Vos was thinking of transferring to a new school. At last, Vos completed his studies and receiving his doctorate in Arabic Studies from the Philosophy Faculty of Strassburg University in 1888.Career period