General Foreword
General Foreword
Wherever the Dutch language is read Professor Herman Ridderbos is recognized as an outstanding New Testament scholar and theologian, and thus it is gratifying to be able to introduce him to English readers through the medium of this new commentary. After serving as pastor of churches for eight years, in 1943 he became professor of New Testament studies in the Kampen Theological School of the Reformed Churches of the Netherlands. He thus succeeded Dr. S. Greijdanus who had been one of his instructors during his undergraduate days at Kampen.
Specializing at the Free University of Amsterdam under Professor F. W. Grosheide, whose commentary on I Corinthians in this series has just been published, Ridderbos qualified for his doctor’s title in 1936 with a distinguished dissertation on the Sermon on the Mount (De Strekking der Bergrede naar Matthëus). Among his notable publications mention may be made especially of his excellent commentary on Matthew in two volumes (in the Korte Verklaring series, 2nd edit., 1952) and his monumental work on the Kingdom of God (De Komst van het Koninkrijk, 1950). A recent brief introduction to the study of Paul (Paulus en Jezus, 1952) marks a transition of interest from his earlier concentration upon the Gospels, and the present work on Galatians will be welcomed as another evidence of his fruitful concern with the apostle Paul.
Dr. Herman Ridderbos also plays an active part in the ecclesiastical and religious life of the Netherlands. He is constantly active as preacher, lecturer and contributor to various magazines including especially Het Gereformeerd Weekblad, a weekly organ of comment and opinion which is widely read in the Netherlands.
The Ridderbos name has long been synonymous with eminent Biblical scholarship. Dr. Jan Ridderbos, father of our author, was professor of Old Testament studies at Kampen for nearly forty years until his recent retirement, and a brother, Dr. N. H. Ridderbos, has recently been installed as professor in the same field at the Free University of Amsterdam as the successor of Dr. G. Ch. Aalders.
There is perhaps no part of the New Testament, and certainly no epistle of Paul, which offers a greater challenge to the modern expositor than the Epistle to the Galatians. And by the same token no work of interpretation, if it is really well done, can make a greater contribution to the understanding of the message of the New Testament than one devoted to this extraordinary epistle. It is doubtful whether any letter has stirred up more controversy and at the same time has affected more decisively the estimate that men have formed of the Christianity of the New Testament. How this explosive and fiery communication must have overwhelmed its first readers and have removed any doubt as to Paul’s understanding of the gospel and its practical implications for the issues that had arisen among them! And because it is concerned with some of the most profound questions of human existence and destiny, it has been recognized as possessing extraordinary contemporaneity and dynamic force in our own modern times in spite of the distinctiveness of the situation addressed and the particularity of many details of its contents. The place which it occupied in shaping Luther’s fresh insight into the gospel and in influencing his exposition of the Christian message provides notable evidence of its relevancy in times far removed from the first Christian century. During the past century no writing of Paul has been more of a battle ground in the debate concerning the meaning of Paul and the precise place he occupied in early Christianity. And though Paul has not proved to be as congenial to our modern age as to Luther and the Reformers generally, there remains the hope that his message of the grace of God, allowing of no adulteration with a religion of works, will again cause the lamp of liberty in Christ to blaze up with new power and life. It is the prayer of the editor that this fresh and stimulating new exposition of Galatians may make a significant contribution to that end.
N. B. Stonehouse
General Editor
Philadelphia, Pa.
March 15, 1953
Note: Upon the death of Ned B. Stonehouse, November 18, 1962, F. F. Bruce accepted the publishers’ invitation to become General Editor of this series of New Testament commentaries begun under the very able and faithful scholarship of Professor Stonehouse.
The Publishers