Geerhardus Vos

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Geerhardus Vos was born March 14, 1862, in Heererveen, in the province of Friesland, the Netherlands. He emigrated with his parents to the United States in 1881, when his father accepted a call to pastor the Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, MI. Vos continued his studies in theology first in Grand Rapids and then later at Princeton Seminary; finally completing his studies in Germany at Berlin and Strassburg. In 1888, Vos received his doctor's degree in Arabic Studies from the philosophical faculty at Strassburg.

Vos emerged with much acclaim and was immediately in high demand as a theology professor. He was offered the newly created post of professor of Old Testament Theology at the Free University, Amsterdam and was wooed by Herman Bavinck and by Abraham Kuyper to accept the position. Vos declined the offer, opting rather to accept the appointment to the faculty of the Theological School of the CRC in Grand Rapids beginning in the Fall of 1888. In 1892, Vos accepted appointment as professor of the newly created chair of biblical theology at Princeton Seminary. He taught at Princeton for 39 years until his retirement in 1932 at the age of 70.

While at Princeton, Vos's years were quiet and relatively untroubled, given to teaching, research, writing, and occasional preaching. During those years, Vos produced his most famous works: Biblical Theology and The Pauline Eschatology. He taught among others J. Gresham Machen, and found a walking partner in fellow theologian B. B. Warfield.

Vos's wife, Catherine, authored the well-known Child's Story Bible. She died in 1937, after 43 years of marriage. Vos, himself, died August 13, 1949. He was survived by three sons and a daughter.

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(Taken almost verbatim from Dr. Richard Gaffin's Introduction to Redemptive History and Biblical Interpretation.)

"Dr. Vos is, in my judgment, the most penetrating exegete it has been my privilege to know, and I believe, the most incisive exegete that has appeared in the English-speaking world in this century." - John Murray

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