The Family Tree of Reformed Biblical Theology

The thesis of this study is that Geerhardus Vos' biblical-theological method should be viewed as a post-Enlightenment continuation of the pre-critical federal theology of seventeenth-century Reformed orthodoxy. Vos wrote in the context of the liberalism of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. His biblical-theological methodology was largely a resuscitation of the federal theology of seventeenth-century Reformed orthodoxy adapted to the times in which it was written.

Publisher: RBAP
Type: Paperback
ISBN: 9780980217957

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Richard C. Barcellos, PhD, is pastor of Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Palmdale, CA, and Associate Professor of Exegetical Theology at IRBS. He is author of Trinity & Creation: A Scriptural and Confessional Account and Getting the Garden Right: Adam’s Work and God’s Rest in Light of Christ. He is also the Managing Editor and Book Review Editor for Journal of IRBS.

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‘Harvesting the best insights of recent scholarship, The Family Tree of Reformed Biblical Theology explores the strong line of continuity that runs from seventeenth century Oxford and the writings of John Owen to twentieth century Princeton and the work of Geerhardus Vos. It argues--surely rightly--that biblical theology in the tradition of Vos is not a novelty but was adumbrated in clear and powerful ways by earlier Reformed writers, and notably by Owen himself. Indeed, the author daringly asserts that Owen was a more Christocentric biblical theologian than Vos. This is a work of bold and exciting scholarship that merits careful reading and reflection. In addition, however, it is also a work whose lessons working pastors should be encouraged to consider. For it points to resources that exemplify the spiritual power, and fruitful exposition that can arise from a thorough grasp of all the indicatives and imperatives of biblical theology. With this substantial contribution Dr Barcellos has put both the academy and the pulpit deeply in his debt.’ Dr. Sinclair B. Ferguson