Jan Ridderbos (24 November 1879 in

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– 4 July 1960) was a minister in the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and since 1912 professor of Old Testament at the Theological College (Old Street) in Kampen. Jan Ridderbos is the father of

Herman Nicolaas Ridderbos Herman Nicolaas Ridderbos (13 February 1909 – 8 March 2007) was a Dutch theologian and biblical scholar. He was an important New Testament theologian, having worked extensively on the history of salvation (''Heilsgeschichte'') and biblical theolo ...

, later professor in Kampen, and Nicolaas Herman Ridderbos, later a professor at the

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam The Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, being founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research ...

Career

Ridderbos was one of the professors who put a clear stamp on the Reformed Churches during the Second World War. The synod's decision in Assen (1926) on the authority of the Bible was largely drafted by him and greatly influenced by him. Ridderbos' doctorate in 1907 with a thesis on the theology of

Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Edwards may refer to: Musicians *Jonathan and Darlene Edwards, pseudonym of bandleader Paul Weston and his wife, singer Jo Stafford *Jonathan Edwards (musician) (born 1946), American musician ** ''Jonathan Edwards'' (album), debut album ...

. He served the congregations of Oosterend,

Meppel Meppel (; Drents: ''Möppelt'') is a city and municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It constitutes the southwestern part of the province of Drenthe. Meppel is the smallest municipality in Drenthe, with a total area of about 57 km² (22 sq ...

and Bussum. In 1912 he was appointed by the Synod of the Reformed Churches professor at Kampen. He showed himself a capable Old Testament scholar. He has published a biblical statement on the Minor Prophets. He also wrote a study about Abraham and Paul. He was a contributor to the '' Christian Encyclopedia''. Ridderbos, with Gerrit Cornelis Berkouwer, had great influence on the reformed church's life before World War II. He was "preadviseur" of the synod in property damage Geelkerken (1926) and in the case involving Klaas Schilder who was accused of schism (1942 and 1944). In the congregation, he exercised a lot of influence through his editorship of the '' Reformed Weekly''. As a scientist, he has especially many Reformed formed theologians and was his view of the authority of the Bible decisive in his circle until sometime in the early 1960s. George Harink suggests that, along with G. Ch. Aalders, Seakle Greijdanus, and F. W. Grosheide, Ridderbos "took the lead in

Neo-Calvinist Neo-Calvinism, a form of Dutch Calvinism, is a theological movement initiated by the theologian and former Dutch prime minister Abraham Kuyper. James Bratt has identified a number of different types of Dutch Calvinism: The Seceders, split into ...

exegetical production."George Harink,
Twin Sisters with a Changing Character: How Neo-Calvinists dealt with the Modern Discrepancy between Bible and Natural Science
" in ''Nature and Scripture in the Abrahamic Religions: God, Scripture and the rise of modern science (1200-1700)'', p. 346.

Selected works

*''The Prophet Isaiah I (Brief explanation of Holy Scripture)'' (1922), Kampen *''The Prophet Isaiah II (Brief Explanation of the Holy Scriptures)'' (1926), Kampen *''I Psalms (Commentary on the Old Testament)'' (1955), Kampen *''The Psalms II (Commentary on the Old Testament)'' (1958), Kampen

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ridderbos, Jan 1879 births 1960 deaths Dutch Christian clergy Dutch biblical scholars Bible commentators Old Testament scholars Editors of Christian publications People from Bedum