Louis Berkhof

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Louis Berkhof (1873 - 1957) was a Reformed systematic theologian whose written works have been influential in seminaries and Bible colleges in the United States and Canada and with individual Christians in general throughout the 20th century. He was born in the Netherlands and moved to the United States when still a child. He taught for almost four decades at Calvin Theological Seminary. His main works are his Systematic Theology (1932, revised 1938) which was supplemented with an Introductory Volume to Systematic Theology (1932, which is included in the 1996 Eerdman's edition of Systematic Theology) and a separate volume entitled History of Christian Doctrines (1937). He wrote a more concise version of his Systematic Theology for high school and college students entitled Manual of Christian Doctrine, and later wrote the even more concise Summary of Christian Doctrine. Berkhof was not known for being original or speculative but for being very good at organizing and explaining basic theological ideas. Theologian Wayne Grudem has called Berkhof's Systematic Theology "a great treasure-house of information and analysis...probably the most useful one-volume systematic theology available from any theological perspective."

[edit] External links

• Outline of Berkhof's Systematic Theology