Louis Berkhof

Louis Berkhof (13 October 1873 – 18 May 1957) was a Dutch-American Reformed theologian whose works on systematic theology have been influential in North American seminaries and Bible colleges throughout the 20th century.

Personal life Berkhof was born on 13 October 1873 in Emmen in the Netherlands and moved in 1882 with his family to Grand Rapids (Michigan). His family were members of the Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerk, a secession group from the Dutch Reformed Church. Berkhof grew up in the Christian Reformed Church in America; he became a committed Christian at the age of 19, and was secretary to the first Reformed Young Men’s Society in Grand Rapids. Subsequently, Berkhof returned to Grand Rapids to minister at the Oakdale Park Church for another two years.

In 1906, he joined the faculty of Calvin Theological Seminary and taught there for almost four decades. For the first 20 years he taught Biblical Studies until in 1926 he moved into the systematic theology department. He became president of the seminary in 1931 and continued in that office until he retired in 1944. Kingdom of God: the development of the idea of the kingdom, especially since the eighteenth century (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1951) The second coming of Christ (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1953) History of Christian doctrines (London: Banner of Truth Trust, 1969)

Legacy Berkhof was not known for being original or speculative but for being very good at organizing and explaining basic theological ideas following in the tradition of John Calvin, Abraham Kuyper and Herman Bavinck. Berkhof's writings continue to serve as systematic presentations of Reformed theology. They are organized for use in seminaries and religious education as well as individual reference, though his systematics works are demanding reads.

One of the prominent students of Berkhof is Cornelius Van Til, whose thoughts became the major position of the tradition of Westminster Theological Seminary in the areas of apologetics and epistemology. Berkhof and Til wrote a book together entitled, Foundations of Christian Education.