Louis Berkhof

In his fervent study of God’s truth, Louis Berkhof spent years crafting and refining his systematic theology. On this episode of 5 Minutes in Church History, Dr. Stephen Nichols presents this theologian’s life and work.

In college, I would often think to myself, "I want to see what Berkhof has to say." I was referring to Louis Berkhof's Systematic Theology. Well, let's look at Berkhof, both at the life of Louis Berkhof and at his book, his Systematic Theology. Louis Berkhof was born in the Netherlands in 1873. His father was a baker, and his family was part of the Christian Reformed Church. This stretches back to 1834. In 1881, the family immigrated to Grand Rapids, and a young Louis Berkhof blossomed. He was very active in the church as a teenager, and he threw himself into the study of theology, specifically the Dutch Calvinist tradition. He ended up studying at Calvin College and then Calvin Seminary. He pastored briefly before heading off to Princeton for more study with B.B. Warfield, and Geerhardus Vos, and the other great Old Princeton faculty. He pursued further graduate studies at the University of Chicago in philosophy. By 1906, he was installed as a professor of theology at Calvin Theological Seminary. In those days, the instruction was both in Dutch and in English, mostly in Dutch. That was the case up until 1924. From then on, it was in English. Berkhof retired from teaching in 1944. He wrote and wrote prodigiously in his retirement, as he did in the decades that he was active in his career. Back in the year 1900, he married Reka. They had six children together, and a small crop of grandchildren came along, as well. In 1928, Reka died. Berkhof would go on to remarry a widow, and she and her first husband had been missionaries to Navajo Indians. Well, his second wife outlived him. Louis Berkhof died in 1957.

Let's take a quick look at this big book of his, his Systematic Theology. Today, in its form, it tops one thousand pages. It was first published in 1932 under the title Reformed Dogmatics. In 1938, Berkhof retitled it Systematic Theology, and he continued to expand and revise it. He also wrote a separate book titled Introduction to the Study of Systematic Theology. This book is a prolegomena. Now, all that word means is, literally, “to say a word before.” It's just a fancy word for an introduction. Prolegomena gets into the idea of theological method and to look at those first principles that goes into theology and helps us think about why we study theology and what is the goal of theology, before we even get into the study of theology itself. So, this volume has been appended to his Systematic Theology, and they tend to get published together these days.

I want to read to you from the first page of his introduction. Berkhof writes, "Objections have frequently been raised against a systematic presentation of the doctrinal truths of Scripture; and also in the present day some are decidedly averse to it. There seems to be a lurking fear that the more we systematize the truth, the farther we wander from the presentation of it that is found in the Word of God. But there is no danger of this, if the system is not based on the fundamental principles of some erring philosophy, but on the abiding principles of Scripture itself. God certainly sees the truth as a whole, and it is the duty of the theologian to think the truths of God after Him. There should be a constant endeavor to see the truth as God sees it, even though it is perfectly evident that the ideal is beyond the grasp of man in his present condition." What a great definition of theology Berkhof gives us when he says theology is “to see the truth as God sees it.”

Well, I read to you from the first page. Let me read to you from the last page. Here's Berkhof on the reward of the righteous in the eternal state. He says, "The reward of the righteous is described as eternal life, that is, not merely an endless life, but life in all its fullness, without any of the imperfections and disturbances of the present. The fullness of this life is enjoyed in communion with God, which is really the essence of eternal life. They will see God in Jesus Christ face to face, will find full satisfaction in Him, will rejoice in Him, and will glorify Him." That's Louis Berkhof in his book, and I'm Steve Nichols. Thanks for listening to 5 Minutes in Church History.