Reformed Dogmatics, Volume 1: Theology Proper HB

A Foundational Work

Geerhardus Vos’ Reformed Dogmatics represents the early theological thought of one of the premier Reformed thinkers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Originally self-published in five volumes in 1896 under the title Gereformeerde Dogmatiek (also known as Dogmatiek), this important piece of Reformed theology has never been available to an English audience.

Volume one of Vos’ Reformed Dogmatics covers the Doctrine of God, including his knowability, his names, being, and character. Vos discusses the Trinity and its evidence in Scripture and its theological development in the church fathers. Also examined are God's acts and our knowledge of them, creation, predestination, and the providence of God.

Geerhardus Vos is perhaps best known to English speakers for his books Pauline Eschatology, published in 1930, and Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments, published in 1948. Vos’ strong grounding in biblical scholarship and biblical theology makes his Reformed Dogmatics unique, bringing a fresh biblical perspective. Though this five-volume set is systematic in nature, Geerhardus Vos brings the skills and acumen of a biblical theologian to the task.

 Recommendations

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 Dogmaticsis more like a lost Shakespeare play recently discovered. There seems to have been a flurry in recent years of systematic theologians writing with an eye for biblical theology. With this series we now have a biblical theologian writing a systematic theology. Thanks to Lexham Press for giving us such a long-awaited but impressive access to this much-discussed gem.

—Michael Horton, Prof. of Theology and Apologetics, Westminster Seminary California

The state of access to deep, historic, orthodox Reformed theology has progressed exponentially in the last decade or so. Resources previously inaccessible to many have now become available to a vastly wider audience. In my view, the capstone of this accessibility is in this masterful work of Geerhardus Vos. Vos has the singularly unique accumen and ability to summarize and state concisely some of the deepest truths of Reformed theology. These volumes will now be my first recommendation to anyone who wants to understand the riches of the Bible’s teaching in a compressed and clear way. Thanks to Richard B. Gaffin Jr., to the translators, and to Lexham Press for putting this work into our hands.

—K. Scott Oliphint, Prof. of Apologetics and Systematic Theology, Westminster Seminary California