Summary of Christian Doctrine

by Louis Berkhof

Just as Berkhof's Systematic Theology is outstanding in its own field, his Summary of Christian Doctrine is unequalled as a popular handbook of Christian doctrine, written from an evangelical and reformed standpoint. Systematically arranged and helpfully sub-divided, A Summary of Christian Doctrine has proved ideal for church study-groups. Passages for memorization and questions for review at the close of each chapter enhance the book's value for the student.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Christianity, Nonfiction, Faith, Reference

184 pages, Paperback

First published July 18, 1938

About the author

Louis Berkhof (1873–1957) was a Reformed theologian best known for his Systematic Theology (1932). He taught for almost four decades at Calvin Theological Seminary and served as its president from 1931–1944. 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.

Selected publications:

Systematic Theology. Eerdmans, 1932; New Combined Edition, 1996.

The History of Christian Doctrines. Baker, 1978; Banner of Truth, revised, 1996.

Principles of Biblical Interpretation. Baker Academic, 1981; republished, 1994.

A Summary of Christian Doctrine. Eerdmans, 1939; Banner of Truth, 1960.

Reviews

[Michaël St-Amour · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ce livre de Louis Berkhof présente un résumé clair et accessible des enseignements de la Bible.
Il sera bénéfique pour tous ceux désirant personnellement s'instruire dans la Parole sans acheter des livres trop dispendieux, volumineux ou complexes.
Débutants sont les bienvenus, ainsi que les plus aguerries souhaitant avoir un bouquin rapide à consulter.
Ils disposent de courts chapitres incluant des passages bibliques supplémentaires à consulter ainsi qu'une série de question utile pour l'étude personnelle, l'étude de soirée à l'église ou encore l'étude de petit groupe.
Un excellent livre à posséder.

[Marcos · Rating 3 out of 5]

umpre bem a proposta de apresentar uma resumo do que crêem os cristão de tradição reformada.
Apesar de não se aprofundar em nenhum dos tópicos, o autor consegue inclusive apresentar diferentes correntes dos tema sque aborda.Além disso, traz muitras referências bíblicas e perguntas para reflexão. Recomendo muito para uma revisão rápida, ou mesmo como ponto de partida para outros estudos.

[Eddie Mercado · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pithy introduction to systematic theology. The best part of this book are the verses to memorize on key points of doctrine.

[Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Berkhof's is widely acknowledged to be the best brief systematic theology written in the middle part of this century. It is reliable, balanced, concise. While free of lots of technical excusions, Berkhof was very well versed in the broader theological discussions, both classical and contemporary. As Dutch Reformed, he is more Kuyperian and less rationalist than most Anglo-American reformed theologians who preceded him. Still great for an elder training course, or for a college student preparing for seminary.

For something even more basic for interested laymen, try J I Packer's Concise Theology or R C Sproul.

For something a little older and longer, A. A. Hodge, Outlines of Theology. Of course, Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion is irreplacable.

[Josiah Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best way I can describe this book is that it’s a pocket sized theological Swiss Army knife!
It has all the essentials you need in a ordered and straight to the point fashion.
If I had the money I would buy 100 copies of this book and hand them out to new Christians along side the Westminster Confession Of Faith as a doctrinal guide as they as they study through scripture, and for people to keep in their backpack as a handy/quick ‘go to’ reference guide. Those who need more depth and ‘meat’ simply just need to refer to Berkhof’s Systematic Theology where these great truths of scripture are presented in a more exhaustive and academic setting.

[Matt Carpenter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This books is just what it claims to be: a summary of what Reformed Protestant Christians believe. It was not intended to be an entire systematic theology (the author wrote one of those too); rather it is a brief overview of the basics of the Reformed faith. Professor Berkhof was a Dutch-Reformed Protestant and lacks the warmth of an English Puritan but the volume makes up for the lack of warmth with precision. This book is good for those who've never been exposed to systematics of any kind but want to know the basics of the faith.

[Joshua Reitano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, concise, and helpful. This is a great introduction to theology. It covers a lot of ground in small space and gives the reader lots of Scripture to look up and chew on.

This would be a good book to use for officer training, to provide a theological foundation.

Similar books include Concise Theology by J.I. Packer and Salvation Belongs to the Lord by John Frame.

[Dale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great work by Berkhof. I found it enjoyable because of its clarity and conciseness. To get the most out of it, answer the questions after the end of each chapter. And don't neglect the Scripture references; they are the basis for Berkhof's Summary of Christian Doctrine after all!

[Mark Vivian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent for study & review of key Doctrines of the Faith. Can also be used as a reference in preparation for a sermon or teaching series. For those who use the Reformed Confessions, this is a very useful companion book.

[Claudio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bom mesmo.

[Fabrício Pereira · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so good and simple to read. This book is a short introduction to systematic theology in a reformed view. I really recommend it!

[Ramon de la Cruz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I piece of precious gem on your hands! This book will help you sum up all the Christian doctrines that every Christian must know and practice. It really helps me to understand clearly the whole Christian philosophy.

Totally Recomended!

[Eric Wu · Rating 5 out of 5]

A succinct and very helpful micro-systematic theology book! The scripture references after every chapter are super beneficial.

[R.J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good for the lay person and easy intro into theology

[Oliver Leong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every Christian should read this book!

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just read through this a second time. One of my favourite theological books. It's not quite a systematic theology and it's not quite a catechism. It exists in this space in between the 2. I will re-read this annually for a detailed but quick summary of reformed doctrine. If you want to go deeper you can go with Berkhof's single volume, or you can read one of the other thousands of systematic theologies on the market.

[Andrew Canavan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great overview of Reformed systematic theology. This would be great to use for an adult education class, for officer training, or in preparation for ordination.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good summary to understand Reformed doctrines.

[Michael A. Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved every word in this book.

[David Asuncion · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential reading and resource to understand the Christian doctrine!

[Daisy Luther · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly easy to read and a solid reference for getting my mind around some big theological points!

[Frank Peters · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was certainly an educational book for me, since I am not a five-point Calvinist. I am sure for those would be sufficiently reformed it is also a good book. The book did a great job reminding my why I am not a TULIP Calvinist, as I found much of the material mildly disturbing. First to make it very clear, the author has sought to be faithful to scripture, and I can only applaud this effort. What I found disturbing was the huge background of Renaissance Humanism; that is, that the authors assume that they can understand scripture and God by using their minds. Thus, the believe it is reasonable to extrapolate based on their logic. This is something I find potentially dangerous, and why I respect but am wary of Augustine, Aquinas, Calvin and the others who led to TULIP. I was certainly interested in reading about the metal and scriptural gymnastics that are required to argue for limited atonement. I am not denying the logic of the argument, but I am disagreeing with how scripture is turned upside down to fit with the argument. There were many topics in the book, where I found the arguments extremely dogmatic in areas that are clearly (because there is still so much disagreement from well respected followers of Jesus) grey areas. So, I am glad a read it, but could only recommend to someone who was interested in what TULIP Christians believe. I would certainly not recommend it to someone to learn from the material within.

At a secondary level, the Kindle version of the book was rather poor. Optical character recognition was not used, and as a result the text looks old, and the font cannot be changed. Even worse the page headers appear underneath the text (instead of above). This was quite distracting, until I learned to ignore the larger boldface text.

[Richard Angelus · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a summary of the Manual of Christian Doctrine (1939, was known as Manual of Reformed Doctrine), and that itself is a condensed version of his huge classic Systematic Theology (1932). What I like about Berkhof, late professor of Dogmatic Theology in Calvin Seminary, is that he teaches in a very clear (except for some parts) and understandable even for people who are brand new to the Christian faith, the beginners.

For an average person like me, when I first noticed that this book was written in 1938, I thought it's going to be using outdated language and boring. But I was wrong. I mean, he did use archaic KJV or Authorized Version as the main Biblical text, and this is understandable since the more modern and reliable versions were unavailable yet during his lifetime, but the manuscript is in the simplified language (In the preface, Berkhof did say that he made some changes and omitted “technical terms and unfamiliar words”).

Perhaps 5 years ago or so, a book like this will bore me to death. As we are getting more mature in the faith, our taste in the types of books we read evolves, and our appetite for knowledge increases. At least, ideally, that should happen to anyone who professes to be a Christian a.k.a. a Christ-follower a.k.a. a disciple which partly means - a learner :)

To read my review, CLICK HERE: https://legasitv.blogspot.com/2021/03...

[Jarrel Oliveira · Rating 1 out of 5]

A better title would be "Summary of Christian Doctrine According To A Dutch-Reformed Theologian." As the book staggers to demonstrate Christian doctrine as it is understood, in its varied ways. Of course, this is a summary and a very anemic one at that. I would highly suggest extensive works versus summaries, especially when tackling a topic so robust as the theology of God and its relation to the Christian faith and its many dogmas. Even if you are reformed, I believe you stand to benefit from reading titles that spend hundreds of pages focusing on singular doctrines instead of books like this one that focus very little on said doctrines and strawmen scientific data and other interpretations of said doctrines.

[Oliver Preston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not often does one find a volume of theology that is not only sharply focused on the fundamentals of faith, but is also concise and written to be fully internalized. Berkhof's short systematic ticks all these boxes.

At the end of every doctrine chapter, he gives Scriptures to memorize, and a series of questions to answer to help master the content. The work is extremely concise, no extended illustrations or musings, just clear and pointed reasoning with God's word.

This would be my go to primer for a Christian wanting to refresh their understanding of the God who saves us in Christ.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good, concise systematic theology from a Reformed perspective. Berkhof gives clear definitions for major theological terms, and does a wonderful job of succinctly explain Reformed doctrine. Very helpful for someone just getting into reading theology.

One issue: I read the 2020 printing from Banner of Truth and there are unfortunately a number of typos throughout the book. (four that I came across) Other than that, a wonderful book.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent, concise treatment of the various doctrines in systematic theology. Even if you don't agree with all his conclusions, it puts together all the relevant Bible texts and asks good questions to provoke the reader to consider each subject thoroughly. A good reference to have on hand.

[Michael Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

More a reference book than something you read straight through. He lists Christian doctrines and gives a page or two description of what it is and what Christians believe. Gives scripture references and study questions.

[Matt Pelto · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent introduction Reformed Theology presented in bite-sized chunks. Berkhof can be dry - the book is basically an extended syllabus - but the outline format serves to make the material concise and accessible. I would recommend it for anyone desiring a firmer grasp on Christian Doctrine.

[Alexander Proudfoot · Rating 5 out of 5]

A helpful abridgment of Berkhod's longer volumes. Of particular value are the suggested verses for memorization. This volume could be improved by updating the Bible translation choice from the ASV to a modern translation in general use.