Reformed Dogmatics: A System of Christian Theology

Lexham Press has provided the Church with a great resource; Geerhardus Vos' five-volume Reformed Dogmatics is now available to the English speaking world for the first time. These five volumes offer the reader a concise, straightforward journey through the traditional loci that one would expect from such a set. The first volume discusses theology proper, including "creation" (ch. 6) and God's acting in it. Volume two covers anthropology, hamartiology, and man's relation to God (i.e. "The Covenant of Grace"), the third volume is dedicated wholly to Christology, the fourth focuses on soteriology, and, lastly, three parts constitute the fifth volume, namely, ecclesiology, sacramentology or "the means of grace," and eschatology. The most readily noticeable aspect of these volumes is that they do not proceed in the typical fashion one might expect from a dogmatic/systematic account of theology. Rather, Vos compiled the content of these volumes while teaching systematic theology (1:vii) and so they follow a simple question and answer format. While the reader will judge the various merits and shortcomings of this approach, it ultimately allows these volumes to be very accessible, easily referenced, and, most importantly, the reader will appreciate being able to follow Vos' thought process at many junctures throughout. These valuable characteristics of the question-answer format are emphasized by the presence of an index in each volume that contains the questions contained therein, categorized by topic. Vos' writing is thoughtful and economical–this is a work that one should read attentively and reflectively. Though an occasional question might betray the date of the original work–circa the turn of the 20th century–and, therefore, raise queries which a contemporary reader might not desire to concern themselves, many remain beneficial, nonetheless. The reader will find Vos' judgments in his Reformed Dogmatics (unsurprisingly) relatively comparable to Bavinck's Systematic Theology as they were both Dutch Reformed theologians living, working, and writing their respective works by the same name rather contemporaneously. One issue the reader should be aware of is the inconsistency of whether or not a given Greek, Hebrew, or Latin word utilized by Vos is translated. To be clear, Vos hardly does anything more than list appropriate non-English words for a given subject or attribute at hand; for example, under his discussion of the order of salvation in vol. 4 ch. 1, Vos discusses the double meaning of "σωτηρία, salus"(4:1). The transliteration and translation of these Greek, Hebrew, and Latin words are simply sometimes given and sometimes withheld. Though, I suspect that the format and straightforwardness of the answers will sufficiently aid the reader in discerning these meanings from context. If one reads these volumes within Lexham's software suites, Logos or Verbum, the reader is able to double click on these words in order to utilize the digital resources' tagging and linking. In all, Vos' Reformed Dogmatics are great resources to have at one's disposal for reference or study. The question and answer format gives this work an almost catechetical feel and the volumes, therefore, present it in such a way that they could conceivably be used devotionally. In all, this series is a valuable resource for lay readers and theologians, alike, (as, indeed, every Christian is a theologian!)–whether reading through the volumes systematically or utilizing it for a quick, well-trodden, reformed perspective to a particular question, Vos' Reformed Dogmatics are a good addition to any library. Note: I received a review copy of this book for free, but a positive review was neither requested nor required.