https://reformedforum.org/vos-and-neo-calvinism-rethinking-a-transatlantic-identity/
Bucey provides some helpful analysis regarding this rather pivotal episode in the life of Geerhardus Vos (1862-1949) and his 1886 refusal to join Abraham Kuyper at the Free University in Amsterdam. The young Vos instead made his way to Grand Rapids to teach at what would become Calvin College and Seminary.
Let's just say in 1886 Grand Rapids was hardly at the centre of things and as such the move undoubtedly raised some eyebrows. But Bucey touches on the background of the Vos family and their understanding of Christian piety as well as issues connected to culture. In particular they seemed to dissent from Kuyper's views of cultural transformation. It leads to me wonder if Vos ever made any substantive comments in later life regarding Klaas Schilder (1890-1952).
But was there more to Vos' decision? Bucey via Olinger (Vos' most recent biographer) suggests that Vos was raised in a theological climate sceptical of Kuyper's 'Cultural Calvinism'. Indeed as the 19th century waned the effects of compromise and worldliness were already seen in the Netherlands. As stated in the article, it's difficult to be sure as to what exactly was motivating Geerhardus as he took up the post in Grand Rapids - but the evidence is clear that his father was not one who appreciated Abraham Kuyper and his programme.
Pointing to Vos and the Psalms is helpful as is the comparison and contrast between the vision of Kuyper and the not entirely unrelated ideology of someone like Woodrow Wilson who was president of Princeton University from 1902-1910, Governor of New Jersey (1911-1913), as well as US President from 1913-1921. The world was changing. Some Christians looked forward with something close to dread but just as many shared in the general optimism and the possibilities of cultural advancement and transformation. I would agree with Bucey that someone like Vos was too grounded in the Scriptures and especially in its tone, tenor, and developing ideas to be distracted by such misguided exuberance. The Biblical Theology so associated with Vos has always been eschatologically focused - and needless to say the New Testament does not teach Postmillennialism.
Some misunderstand this point, thinking eschatology has to do with 'End Times' questions which often stray into the speculative and sensational. This is certainly the case when it comes to Dispensationalism but not so with a properly grounded Redemptive-Historical framework. Eschatology elucidates the course of this present evil age and informs the Church how to live and interact with the world. Vos certainly excelled at unfolding redemptive-history and as such his eschatologically-rooted understanding of the Already-Not Yet Kingdom of Heaven was never going to be taken in by the Dominionism of Kuyper and other like-minded theologians who have been the prime movers in shaping today's political Christianity - with all its testimony of compromise.
If I 'lose' Bucey anywhere in this article, it's in his appeal to the Presbyterian context that Vos would have encountered during his time at Princeton. While certainly the Common Sense Realism of the Anglo and Scots-Irish culture of American Protestantism differed from the Idealist contexts of Continental thought (perhaps generating some tensions within Vos' thinking), I'm not sure I would buy the argument that the theology of the Westminster Confession was somehow less attuned to cultural engagement or more conducive to the pilgrim mindset promoted by the New Testament. This question in turn spawns more questions related to Westminster and the role the 1788 American Revision played in re-orienting the erstwhile sacralist assumptions made by its 17th century authors. I would say the influence of Vos on modern confessional Presbyterianism has been positive but also represents something of a needed departure from historic norms. Another term that comes to mind is 'correction', a counter to the longstanding Scholastic approach that dominated Reformed Orthodoxy. Contrary to some Calvinist detractors, this is not to say Vos is unorthodox but something of a theological reformer.
While I'm less keen to celebrate the rediscovery of one such as Herman Bavinck, I echo Bucey's call to rediscover Vos as a Biblical theologian. The Presbyterian aspects to his career are (I think) of less value, all the more given the normal shenanigans with membership and the way the Presbyterian hierarchy treats (and is able) to split husband-wife affiliations and the like. I cannot share Bucey's enthusiasm on that point but given his own connections to the OPC, they are to be expected.
Overall this was an enjoyable read and given its brevity it is surprisingly rich in spawning new avenues of thought and reflection. It certainly compels me to want to revisit some of the Vos volumes on my bookshelf and I think I need to purchase a copy of Olinger's biography as well.
In terms of my own reading and study, I encountered Vos in my early years as a Christian and worked through his Biblical Theology and Pauline Eschatology as well as his Shorter Writings which I remember purchasing in 1998. I recall being less than thrilled with his work on Hebrews. I have referenced these books on occasion over the years and yet by the early 2000's I had shifted my redemptive-historically inspired reading and was drinking deep from the wells of Meredith Kline - who obviously was greatly influenced by Vos.
Since that time I have enjoyed listening to Bucey's 'Vos Group' collaborations with Lane Tipton and certainly recommend them to those who wish to 'go deeper' in their study of Vos and his approach to Scripture.
I confess that at some point in the early 2000's I found myself less interested in Vos given his testimony with regard to the formation of Westminster Seminary and his status within the Mainline PCUSA. I am familiar with the arguments and apologias given to this end - his age, questions of pension, and the like. I personally am not compelled or convinced by any of them, but I am unable to stand his shoes and view things from his perspective and thus I must suspend judgment.
I do however laud his choice of summer getaway - the hills and forests of North Central Pennsylvania are well known to me and like Vos I treasure them and the many little towns and villages tucked into the wooded valleys. He and his wife apparently loved their summer home north of Williamsport so much so that they chose to be buried there. Some of my fondest Saturdays have been spent wandering those roads and finding little run down treasures - old buildings that evoke stories of yesteryear. I particularly delight in finding old German Reformed or Lutheran buildings - many of which are now defunct. In the rural stillness I reflect on the stories of these hills and valleys and the families that worshipped in these places. There is a solemnity to be found in such bucolic settings, all the more as one considers their doctrinal and eventual numerical decline - exacerbated by cultural and economic changes, but also in many respects due to the once-treasured gospel being obscured and lost.
When one visits the lonely graves of people like Geerhardus Vos and IC Herendeen (1883-1982) in the Pennsylvania Wilds - it is truly a kind of spiritual pilgrimage. Not one that produces or earns a form of merit, but a journey into the recent past - but at the same time one that increasingly seems distant in our changing world. These men also lived through times of great change and upheaval and wrestled with the issues of their day - many of which live on to the present. It's encouraging, humbling, and at times somewhat moving.