In May of this year, I was supposed to attend a conference in Pennsylvania. But the conference was cancelled by the pandemic. As a consolation, the conference organizers sent me several free books. One of them was by Geerhardus Vos.
This time, before reading what Vos wrote, I read the forward, which was by Sinclair Ferguson. Ferguson noted that Vos was difficult to read for at least two reasons. First, his native tongue was Dutch, and he often seems to be thinking in Dutch although writing in English. Secondly, Vos is simply over our heads at times. His students (he taught at Princeton from 1892 to 1932) often found that he assumed them to have knowledge that they did not actually have.
I have not gone far in the free book, but what I have read has impressed me immensely. Perhaps this book is a better sample of his writing. Perhaps I am older and more ready to understand. Or perhaps the hint that Sinclair Ferguson dropped was what I needed. Essentially, Ferguson was saying, “If you do not get something out of reading this, the problem is not with the author, but with you.”
I do not recommend that every Christian read the writings of Geerhardus Vos. But I do recommend that every Christian read the Bible. In making that recommendation, I am aware that we will not always understand what we read. But a lack of understanding is not always the fault of the author. Sometimes the reader is the problem. Let’s not blame God for our lack of understanding. Our preconceived notions, our sinfulness, our lack of concentration and persistence are more likely the root cause of our failure to understand.
Geerhardus Vos – even the man’s name should give us the hint that perhaps his writings will require study, not mere causal reading.
God, the creator and ruler of all, the source of all wisdom, the possessor of all knowledge – perhaps we ought not to expect that we will always understand him immediately and without effort.
No comments:
Post a Comment