Herman Hoeksema - Reformed Dogmatics (Volume 1)

2004 Reformed Free Publishing Association

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Printed in the United States of America

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews

Unless otherwise specified, Bible quotations are taken from the Authorized (King James) Version

First edition 1966 Reformed Free Publishing Association

Second printing of first edition, January 1973

Third printing of first edition, January 1976

Fourth printing of first edition, December 1985

Reformed Free Publishing Association

1894 Georgetown Center Drive

Jenison, MI 49428-7137

616-457-5970

www.rfpa.org

ISBN 0-916206-76-9

Ebook ISBN 978-1- 936054-78-7

LCCN 2004094106

Contents

Footnote Abbreviations

Preface to the First Edition

M Y BELOVED FATHER , THE AUTHOR OF THIS WORK , had frequently expressed the hope that his Dogmatics might be published. In Gods inscrutable purpose, however, he never lived to see that day. For the Lord took him to his heavenly reward on September 2, 1965. That event also accounts for the fact that I am writing this brief editors preface. For although publication plans had been completed and partially executed more than a year before his decease, the author had left unfinished this final item of a preface.

Although the author has already produced several other works, among them his ten-volume exposition of the Heidelberg Catechism, I do not hesitate to call this work the major work of his many-sided and busy ministry of almost fifty years. In the first place, this is true because the preparation of this dogmatics spanned more than thirty years of that ministry. During those years the author occupied the Chair of Dogmatics in the Theological School of the Protestant Reformed Churches and first prepared his dogmatics in outline form in the Dutch language. In fact, when the undersigned graduated from seminary in 1947, only a part of the first locus had been prepared in its present form. From that time on, over a span of about ten years, the author produced the remainder of his English manuscript, the undersigned serving as his amanuensis. Hence time-wise, this Dogmatics was surely his major work and is also the fruit of many years of instruction, study, and development.

In the second place,and this is the chief reason,this is undoubtedly the authors major work because it is the clearest, the most systematic, and the most complete statement of his theology. This also constitutes the chief reason for the publication of this work. The publishers desired to make this thoroughly Scriptural and Reformed exposition of the faith once delivered to the saints more widely available.

My own part in this volume has been strictly editorial. There were the final corrections to be made in the manuscript, and there was the preparation of the Hebrew and Greek quotations that had to be done. Besides, it was felt that the addition of a textual index and index of subjects would enhance the value of the book.

A word of thanks is due to those who assisted me with much of the detail work, and especially to the publishers, both for their undertaking of this project and for their patience with the undersigned during the months spent in preparing the manuscript for publication.

May the Lord our God use these pages for the instruction and enrichment of many in the Reformed faith.

H OMER C. H OEKSEMA

Preface to the Second Edition

A S ONE OF THE FOUNDERS AND LEADERS OF THE PROTESTANT Reformed Churches in America, Rev. Herman Hoeksema wrote many published works that have earned respect both in Reformed circles and in the evangelical church world. Time has proven that the Reformed community esteems the work of this gifted theologian. Hoeksemas Reformed Dogmatics has long been considered to be his most important contribution to the development of Reformed theology.

Since Reformed Dogmatics was originally published in 1966, it has enjoyed a wide circulation and has influenced many in the Reformed community throughout the world. After four printings of the first edition and in response to numerous requests from the reading public, the Reformed Free Publishing Association is pleased to release in two volumes this second edition of Hoeksemas premier work.

Despite its excellent content and the brilliance of its many original ideas, the first edition suffered from deficiencies in its formal aspects, which made it somewhat difficult to understand and use effectively. Hoeksema liberally employed untranslated quotations from languages other than English, including Hebrew, Greek, Latin, German, and Dutch. In a day when many theologians (to say nothing of laymen) have no more than a passing acquaintance with languages other than their own, this usage served in many respects to make the book difficult for many readers. Besides, the clarity of many concepts was diluted by various infelicities of style.

The RFPA solicited and carefully analyzed these criticisms before commissioning the revision of Reformed Dogmatics . Lest the reader wrongly assume that the intent is to denigrate the original edition, a word of historical explanation is in order.

Throughout his life, Rev. Hoeksema was affected by a shaking in his hands, a form of Parkinsons disease, which made many activities, including typing, difficult for him. The physical effects of a major stroke in the summer of 1947 left him completely unable to type. From that time forward, he dictated almost all of his work (including Reformed Dogmatics ), first into a wire recorder and later into a tape recorder, for transcription by his son Homer, who served as his amanuensis, as is noted in the Preface to the First Edition .

The result of this situation was that in the original version of Reformed Dogmatics we had the literal words of Herman Hoeksema. Without doubt they were the thoughts of a theological genius. They wereunfortunatelytranscribed almost literally. However, the differences between the spoken word and the written word are many and significant, especially in areas such as, syntax, word usage, modifiers, and punctuation. These differences sometimes resulted in the use of archaic expressions, indefinite meanings, and unintended implications, as well as long sentences and paragraphs.

In this second edition, a concerted effort has been expended to improve the readability without changing the meaning and substance of Hoeksemas work. Hoeksema remains himself: exegetical, forceful, and clear in his treatment of the tenets of the Reformed faith. Editorial changes and improvements have been made only to the form of the book, leaving its essence unchanged and its unique perspective identical with that of the first edition.