Great Theologians 1: Louis Berkhof

Louis Berkhof (1873-1957)

Louis Berkhof was a Dutch American Reformed theologian. His Systematic Theology (1941) is still one of the finest one-volume summaries of the Reformed faith. The book is particularly dear to me because it was one of the first "serious" theological book I bought not long after I became a Christian in 1987.

I remember being amazed that a single book could seek to cover the whole range of Christian doctrine. I have loved systematic theology ever since.

One of the things I still love about Berkhof's work is that he represents a kind of mainstream, centre-cut Reformed theology, which rightly or wrongly I have always thought of as the standard by which to judge other Reformed theologians idiosyncrasies. Berkhof never seemed to have any. He was fully in line with the Reformed confessions and a standard Reformed understanding of the Scriptures. 

Obviously, he writes from the Dutch Reformed tradition, which I hold in the highest esteem, second only to the Scottish Presbyterian tradition, which it closely resembles, of course.

Like many Dutch-American Reformed theologians of the late 19th and the first half of the 20th century, Berkhof was born in the Netherlands and moved to the United States with his family in childhood. In Berkhof's case, he moved to American as a boy in 1882. The family settled in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which has remained an important centre for Dutch Reformed people in the USA.

He studied at college in Grand Rapids and then Calvin Theological Seminary in that same city. He became pastor of a Christian Reformed Church in Allendale, MI in 1900. He pursued further theological studies at Princeton Theological Seminary, gaining a BD in 1902. He studied under the likes of B. B. Warfield and Geerhardus Vos at Princeton.

After another pastorage in Grand Rapids, he joined the faculty of Calvin Theological Seminary and 1906 and worked there for the next four decades, retiring in 1944. Among his many students, the most famous is probably Cornelius Van Til (1895-1987), the great presuppositionalist apologist and theologian.

As well as his famous Systematic Theology Berkhof wrote many other important theological works, including The History of Christian Doctrines and Principles of Biblical Interpretation. He also produced two simplified versions of his magnum opus suitable for younger readers or new Christians, which he named Summary of Christian Doctrine and Manual of Christian Doctrine.

Clearly, a book written in 1941 is of its time. It engages with theology as the discipline stood at that time, though Berkhof's main focus is on the Scriptures and the Reformed creeds, rather than say liberal or neo-orthodox theologians. However, given that Berkhof's treatment is thoroughly Bible-based, the book's value cannot diminish or date very much and certainly remains one of the most useful explanations of classic Reformed theology.