Background
Berkhof was born in 1873 in Emmen in the Netherlands and moved in 1882 with his family to Grand Rapids (Michigan).
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Louis Berkhof
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About the time he graduated from the seminary he married Reka Dijkhuis. In 1900, he graduated from Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids after which he was appointed pastor of the First Christian Reformed Church in Allendale Charter Township, Michigan. Two years later he attended Princeton Theological Seminary where he earned his Bachelor of Divinity in two years.
Career
He returned to Grand Rapids to pastor Oakdale Park Church. In 1906, he joined the faculty of Calvin Theological Seminary and taught there for almost four decades. Foreign 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.
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. 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." 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.
