Herman Nicolaas Ridderbos

Herman Nicolaas Ridderbos (1909 – 2007) was born on February 13, 1909, in Easterein, Friesland, the Netherlands.

He grew up in the Reformed Church and was an important New Testament theologian, having worked extensively on the history of salvation (Heilsgeschichte) and biblical theology.

His father, Jan Ridderbos, was an ordained minister in the Reformed Church of the Netherlands, a biblical commentator, and professor of Old Testament at the Theological School of the Reformed Churches of the Netherlands in Kampen. Herman Ridderbos completed his undergraduate studies there, and did his post-graduate work at the Free University of Amsterdam under F. W. Grosheide, qualifying for his doctorate in 1936. In 1943, after serving as a pastor for eight years, Ridderbos was appointed to the post of Professor of New Testament Studies at that same school, succeeding Dr. Sidney Greidanus who had been one of his professors. He served there for over forty years.