Vos

fraangnoldetMy favorite sermon was preached by a Dutch professor of theology over a hundred years ago. Just as some of the most beautiful flowers are found in the most unlikely places, this sermon given to a handful of seminary students provides the most extraordinary perspective on the morning of our Saviour’s resurrection. I discovered it a decade ago, and now  make a point to read it again every Easter weekend. Its subject is the tender relationship between Mary Magdalene and Jesus, and although this text from John is often found in pulpits on Easter morning, I’ve never heard anyone give such a penetrating and sympathetic explanation of it: “Jesus saith unto her, ‘Mary.’ She turneth herself and saith unto him, ‘Rabboni;’ which is to say ‘Master.’” You can read the full sermon here.  But one word of warning: it is not simple reading. Yet, as Sinclair Ferguson wrote in his original  introduction to Geerhardus Vos’ small collection of sermons, “Having been taken to such mountain peaks, the vision of God we have beheld in Scripture will produce in us a new and more holy and heavenly perspective on the whole of life.”

May our kind Lord’s presence and grace be upon you this Easter morning.

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Vos on the Kingdom

by Thomas on 09/10/2008

Geerhardus Vos (1862-1949) was a Dutch-American theologian who taught Biblical Theology at Princeton.  I think he’s one of the most important theologians of the 20th-century and find that he’s highly influenced my views both of scripture and the Kingdom of God.  In 1903, he wrote a tract entitled The Teaching of Jesus Regarding the Kingdom of God and the Church, an exceptionally incisive volume that covers a range of topics concerning the Kingdom. (You can actually purchase a copy here).

Some of the same ideas he covers in his book he also explored in briefer form a few years earlier in an essay for The Bible Student entitled “The Kingdom of God.” The full essay is available from Biblicaltheology.org here.  (Many other Vos articles are also available on the site.)  It is a fascinating read, as is his entire book on the subject.

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