Bavinck or Vos? Showdown of the Dutch Reformed!

It is my birthday tomorrow and I'm looking to add the Reformed Dogmatics by one of these Dutch heavyweights to my library. I've encountered Bavinck in secondary sources and find his thoughts fascinating but then Vos is a fraction of the price.

I realise that the choice is a subjective one but would appreciate some wise counsel from fellow any logosistions.

Ta, Liam

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Whyndell Grizzard

Personally- Bavinck now- Vos definitely asap when you can afford.

I have a theology layout I work from Bavinck is the first resource, then 10 others.

Timothy Brown

Bavinck is magisterial: 3,000 pages of the most mature Reformed theology. If you have Bavinck, you can get along without Vos. If you have Vos, you will still want Bavinck.

Everett Headley

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/904902#Comment_904902

Insanely tough choice. I would edge Bavinck as well. But oh so slightly. That's only because I've read through his works and not all of Vos. You won't go wrong with either.

Liam Maguire

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/904889#Comment_904889

Thanks for all the advice folks. I went with Bavinck in the end. After reading a couple of paragraphs from his Prologema I instantly knew I'd made the right call. I then used my birthday credit to add the Bavinck Reader into the mix.

I have a theology layout I work from Bavinck is the first resource, then 10 others.

Love to know how you organise your layout.

HJ. van der Wal

Shalom!

I am happy to hear that Liam is pleased with his purchase.

Even though my native language is Dutch I have bought the English translation of Bavinck just to have it in my Logos library. I would also be happy to pay the same amount again if Logos would offer Bavinck in Dutch. Unfortunately, Logos currently has only one Dutch resource on PrePub: Vos' Reformed Dogmatics (Gereformeerde Dogmatiek).

You might think the decision to place a prepub order would be easy, but frankly I have no idea why I would want Vos except for the fact that it is written in my own native language. I know that Vos is a household name among reformed christians in Noth America, but in the Netherlands he is an unknown figure who is hardly ever mentioned in theological literature. I do not know anyone who has read any of Vos' works, whereas other American theologians - ranging from Jonathan Edwards to John Piper - are widely read among my friends.

This thread has awoken my interest in Vos. On Amazon I finally found some sample pages which look promising. Could someone in addition please post a screenshot of a random topic from Vos' Dogmatics? In the Logos store it is not possible to view inside the resource. Perhaps Logos is afraid that a customer from the Netherlands would actually spend money on one of the few Dutch resources they sell?

Whyndell Grizzard

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/905669#Comment_905669

Thanks for all the advice folks. I went with Bavinck in the end. After reading a couple of paragraphs from his Prologema I instantly knew I'd made the right call. I then used my birthday credit to add the Bavinck Reader into the mix.

I have a theology layout I work from Bavinck is the first resource, then 10 others.

Love to know how you organise your layout.

My layout is basically a reading and note one- I do not use Logos note function, I compile them in Word 2016. I read sections from each author on i.e. Sin, making notations, and providing hyperlinks to quotes and sections. It also pays to keep an updated bibliography.

It may seem strange to do it this way but I can find references very quickly and also keep up with learning curves as they change over time due to gaining more understanding.

I believe this is something each person has to find for themselves since our reading, absorption of material, and organizing for communication verifies greatly. When I started this I asked myself a couple simple questions- what is this for? and How will I actually use?

Paul

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/905681#Comment_905681

This thread has awoken my interest in Vos. On Amazon I finally found some sample pages which look promising. Could someone in addition please post a screenshot of a random topic from Vos' Dogmatics? In the Logos store it is not possible to view inside the resource.

Shalom - Fortunately I have a copy and attach for you the combined contents pages for the 5 volumes and an extract from Volume 1 on God's providence. Please forgive the quality of my screenshots. Keep well Paul

HJ. van der Wal

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/906104#Comment_906104

Shalom Paul!

Thank you very much. I have pre-ordered Vos.

Liam Maguire

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/907659#Comment_907659

Thanks for all your helpful advice everyone. Went with Bavinck. Opened it up, read a paragraph, instantly knew I'd made the right call!

Blessings, Liam

Sean

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/907891#Comment_907891

Bavinck's is a really solid theology. Read it through and you'll come to realize that quite a few later works are largely rehashes of it.