Theologian of the Christian Reformed Church. He was born in Emmen, the Netherlands, and came to Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1882. After earning diplomas at Calvin College (1897) and Calvin Theological Seminary (1900), he was ordained in the Christian Reformed Church. A two-year pastorate at Allendale, Michigan, was followed by two years of study at Princeton Theological Seminary (B.D., 1904). He then returned to Grand Rapids to serve the Oakdale Park Christian Reformed Church for two years.
In 1906 Berkhof began a thirty-eight-year teaching career at Calvin Theological Seminary, serving also as the first president of the seminary from 1931 until his retirement in 1944. The first twenty years were devoted to the biblical area, at first both OT and NT subjects but after 1914 NT studies only. In 1926 Berkhof became professor of dogmatics or systematic theology and continued in that field for the next eighteen years. He is best known as a systematic theologian.
English became the language of instruction at Calvin Seminary in 1924, and Berkhof's publications were aimed at the needs of his students. In 1932 his class lectures were published in two volumes as Reformed Dogmatics. A revised and expanded edition appeared in 1938, a single volume of 784 pages entitled Systematic Theology. This is the volume for which he is best known. In addition to this standard work covering the six main branches (loci) of systematic theology, Berkhof added an Introductory Volume to Systematic Theology (1932) on prolegomena issues, which was also subsequently revised and enlarged. He also added a volume on the History of Christian Doctrines (1937), which traced the development of Christian doctrine from the apostolic fathers to the liberalism of Schleiermacher and Ritschl.
In his work on systematic theology Berkhof followed in the line of John Calvin and embraced the development of Reformed theology by the Dutch theologians Abraham Kuyper and Herman Bavinck. The specific influence of the latter's four-volume Gereformeerde Dogmatiek is most evident. Berkhof was not an original or a speculative theologian; he followed well-tried paths. His major significance lay in setting forth the riches of the Reformed heritage in contrast to the major theologies of history. His writing was solid and well organized for classroom use as well as for private study. His Systematic Theology has been widely used in theological seminaries and Bible institutes throughout the United States and Canada, as well as in conservative circles throughout the world. A Spanish translation appeared in 1969.
In 1921 Berkhof delivered the Stone Lectures at Princeton Theological Seminary; they were published under the title The Kingdom of God (1951). He took an active part in the life of the church and published extensively in the denominational papers. The following monographs deserve special mention: The Assurance of Faith (1928), Vicarious Atonement Through Christ (1936), Principles of Biblical Interpretation (1950), Aspects of Liberalism (1951), The Second Coming of Christ (1953), and Riches of Divine Grace (1948), the latter a collection of ten sermons.
F. H. KLOOSTER