God’s covenant promise to parents results in amazing fruitfulness and blessing to His kingdom people. God used the heritage of Dr. J. G. Vos’ birth and upbringing to mold the man Johannes Geerhardus Vos. He was the son of Geerhardus Vos, who was one of the great Princeton Seminary theologians in the heyday of Princetonian Orthodox Reformed Theology and the Father of the biblical redemptive historical hermeneutic. But we will write more about that in the next issue.

It is often forgotten that J. G. Vos’ mother, Catherine Vos, was the author of The Children’s Story Bible; thus one can imagine young Johannes sitting on his mother’s knee and hearing these biblical stories over and over.

Hindsight, especially in old men like me, often causes us to embellish the influence of many of our brothers. So I invite you to indulge me in some of that embellishment.

J. G. Vos had a powerful influence on the reformation of Geneva College. In 1954 he became a member of the department of biblical literature, religious education, and philosophy, and in 1955 he became its chair. The Geneva College of that day was not committed to, or articulate about, a biblical world- and life-view. Several of the professors were godly men and women, and all of Dr. Vos’ colleagues in the Bible department were faithful teaching elders in the RPCNA.

However, the direction of and articulation of a biblical worldview were woefully lacking in the majority of classes. The student body was predominantly made up of unbelievers.

Into that situation God brought J. G. Vos. He was already writing in his Blue Banner Faith and Life about a robust Reformed theology. He was known in the Reformed and evangelical community and far beyond the RPCNA as a man with a lot of humor and patience and loving care. He was often the teacher/scholar in the background while others took the public lead.

During the mid-’60s and ’70s, Geneva was working on a reaffirmation and commitment to a more thorough Christian education. In the ’50s J. G. Vos wrote an article in Blue Banner Faith and Life entitled, “What is Christian Education?” Later it was published as a pamphlet. Dr. Edwin Clarke gave his inaugural address as the new president of Geneva in 1957 and quoted extensively from that pamphlet. Twenty years later at a testimonial dinner honoring Dr. Clarke, the former president said again that he was indebted to J. G. Vos for his writing on the subject of Christian education. As a member of the committee that drafted the “Foundational Concepts of Christian Education,” I can testify that the pamphlet shaped our thinking and even our wording of the document. It was and is the seminal document that has enabled Geneva to become an institution known for its Christ-centered biblical stance and desire to encourage and facilitate a holistic worldview as the foundation for the academic and professional disciplines.

In the classroom Vos was noted for his thorough syllabi and exacting demands. I can remember in my student days attempting to challenge Dr. Vos for requiring us to learn the details of Scripture. (Yes, it was presumptive and haughty to do such!) His response was that you cannot make application nor have theological direction from Scripture until you know the details. Many will remember asking Dr. Vos a question and then receiving, often the next day, a bundle of material that spoke to the issue.

His humor was legendary though often corny; it blunted the sharp, and for some, hard-to-bear theology he expressed. Many of us knew that, though he was serious, he did not take himself too seriously. This, coupled with a delightful ability to tell the stories of Scripture, stirs deep appreciation.

To this day I meet Geneva graduates who thank God for the testimony and teaching influence of J. G. Vos. The leadership of Geneva College is indebted to this stalwart of Reformation truth.

— Dr. John H. White