Summary of Christian Doctrine

During the Stay-at-Home order due to Covid-19, I wanted to use that time to introduce my family (wife and 2 teenagers) to Reformed Doctrines. I had several options, but in the end, I thought this was an excellent choice. I wanted my kids to understand classic Reformed doctrines. I have used Berkhof's materials in the past, and they were always useful. This book is only 166 pages total so it is not overwhelming. And each chapter is short enough for my kids to pay attention to the basic concept of the doctrines. Twice a week, we met together as a family and reviewed and discussed the chapters read. This was extremely beneficial to my teenage (15 and 17) kids. They said, the study helped them to deepen their views of God and their salvation and therefore their worship of God is not general, but focused and clear, seeing who God is. So if you want your family or a small group to be introduced to Reformed Doctrines, then this is a good starting point. Highly recommended!

SOME HIGHLIGHTSSCRIPTURE“All Scripture is inspired by God” (2 Tim 3:16).“No prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (2 Pet 1:20).The Holy Spirit used the writers of the Bible just as they were, with their character and temperament, their gifts and talents, their education and culture, their vocabulary and style. He illumined their minds, aided their memory, prompted them to write, repressed the influence of sin on their writings, and guided them in the expression of their thoughts even to their choice of words.Jesus told His apostles, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you” (Jn 14:26).THE KNOWLEDGE OF GODAlthough man can never FULLY know God, he can TRULY know God. This is only possible because God has revealed Himself. Otherwise, man could never know Him.“No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him” (Jn 1:18).GOD'S GREATEST NAME“God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM'...This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations” (Ex 3:14,15).The name Jehovah (Yahweh) expresses that God is always the same, and always faithful.THE INCOMMUNICABLE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD1. Self-existent"For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son to have life in Himself" (Jn 5:26).2. Immutable"For I, the Lord, do not change" (Mal 3:6).3. Infinite"Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable" (Ps 145:3).4. SimplicityGod has no parts or divisions.THE COMMUNICABLE ATTRIBUTES1. KnowledgePeter said, "Lord, You know all things" (Jn 21:17).2. Wisdom"Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!" (Rom 11:33).3. Goodness"The Lord is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works...You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing" (Ps 145:9,16).4. Love"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life" (Jn 3:16).5. HolyThat which makes God morally pure, perfect, and distinct from His creatures."Your eyes are too pure to approval evil" ((Hab 2:13).6. Righteous"Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne" (Ps 89:14).7. Veracity"God is not a man that He should lie, nor a son of man that He should repent; has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?" (Num 23:19)8. Sovereignty"having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will" (Eph 1:11).TRINITYThere is one God. He exists in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.“Then God said, 'Let US make man in OUR image, according to OUR likeness'” (Gen 1:26).“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Mt 28:19).1. The Father generates the Son from all eternity.“He said to Me, 'You are My Son, today I have begotten You'” (Ps 2:7).2. The Son is begotten from the Father.“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (Jn 1:14).3. The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son.“When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me” (Jn 15:26).DIVINE DECREEThe decree of God is His eternal plan or purpose in which He has foreordained all things that come to pass, even the free will acts of people.“For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, 'My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure'” (Isa 46:10).Peter, speaking of Jesus, said, “This Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death” (Acts 2:23).CREATION“By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible” (Heb 11:3).God did not create out of need, because He needs nothing. God created everything for His glory."By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host" (Ps 33:6).GOD'S PROVIDENCEThat work of God in which He preserves all His creatures, is active in all that happens in the world, and directs all things to their appointed end."The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty rules over all" (Ps 103:19)."For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure" (Phil 2:13).THE ORIGIN OF SINThe Bible teaches that sin entered the world as the result of the transgression of Adam and Eve in paradise. The first sin was occasioned by the temptation of Satan in the form of a serpent, who sowed in man's heart the seeds of distrust and unbelief. The first sin consisted in man's eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This eating was sinful simply because God had forbidden it. Man was not willing to subject his will unconditionally to the will of God, and comprised several elements. In the intellect it revealed itself as unbelief and pride, in the will as the desire to be like God, and in the affections as an unholy satisfaction in eating of the forbidden fruit. Sin obscured the image of God in man. Man retained his spiritual, rational, moral, and immortal being, but lost true knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, becoming guilty and utterly corrupt, and subject to death."Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because sinned" (Rom 5:12).WHAT IS SIN?"Sin is lawlessness" (1 Jn 3:4). All men are guilty in Adam and are born with a corrupt nature. Sin has its seat in the heart of man. Sin is comprised of unlawful behavior, evil thoughts, affections, and intents of the heart."But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders" (Mt 15:18,19).TOTAL DEPRAVITYThis does not mean that every man is as bad as he can be, but that sin has corrupted every part of his nature and rendered him unable to do any spiritual good, because even his best works are not prompted by love for God nor done in obedience to Him."The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?" (Jer 17:9)THE OFFICES of CHRISTPROPHET"The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me (Moses) from among you (the Jews), from your countrymen, you shall listen to Him" (Dt 18:15)."Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed [feeding 5,000], they said, 'This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world" (Jn 6:14).A prophet conveys divine revelations to the people. He represents God to the people.PRIESTA priest represents the people before God.As priest, Christ offered Himself as the sacrifice for sin."Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (Jn 1:29)."but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself" (Heb 9:26).A priest makes intercession for His people."Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them" (Heb 7:25)."And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteousness" (1 Jn 2:1).KING"And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, 'KING OF KINGS, and LORD OF LORDS'" (Rev 19:16)."He will be great and will be called the Son of Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end" (Lk 1:33,32).THE ATONEMENT – CHRIST DIED IN OUR PLACEGod graciously ordained that Christ died in our place, as our substitute, on the cross.The sins that we should die for, He died for instead.Christ bore the penalty of death for our sins so we would not have to die spiritually, but be granted eternal life.“For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Pet 3:18).“and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness” (1 Pet 2:24).“who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people for whom the stroke was due?” (Isa 53:8).GOD the FATHER FOREORDAINED the DEATH of HIS SON“But the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief” (Isa 53:10).“For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross” (Col 1:19,20).(Peter speaking) “this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23).(Peter and John speaking) “For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur” (Acts 4:28).THE CALLING of GODThis is the presentation and offering of salvation in Christ to sinners, together with an earnest exhortation to accept Christ by faith in order to obtain the forgiveness of sins and eternal life.“If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, 'Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed'” (Rom 10:9-11).REGENERATION – A SECRET WORK of GODThat act of God in which new life is implanted in a person. It happens in a moment of time. It is a secret and inscrutable work of the Spirit of God that is never directly perceived by man, but can be known only by its effects.“He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5).“Jesus answered, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God...The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit'” (Jn 3:5,8).“and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory” (1 Pet 1:8).“We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brethren” (1 Jn 3:14).CONVERSION – A CONSCIOUS WORK of GOD through REPENTANCE and FAITHThat act of God whereby He causes the regenerated, in their conscious life, to turn to Him in faith and repentance.“Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” (Isa 55:7).“I now rejoice...that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God...For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation” (2 Cor 7:9,10).“For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise Him up on the last day” (Jn 6:40).JUSTIFICATIONThe legal act of God by which He declares the sinner righteous on the basis of the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ.“But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe” (Rom 3:21,22).“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor 5:21).SANCTIFICATIONThat gracious and continuous operation of the Holy Spirit by which He purifies the sinner, renews his whole nature in the image of God, and enables him to perform good works. Unlike the one-time legal declaration of justification, it is a life-long process. It involves putting to death sin, and cultivating new life.“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God” (Rom 6:13).“For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son” (Rom 8:29).THE CHURCHThe spiritual body of Christ comprised of all individuals who has professed genuine faith in Jesus Christ.“So we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of it” (Rom 12:5).“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Pet 2:9).CHRISTIAN BAPTISMJesus instituted baptism after His resurrection.“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Mt 28:19).Baptism can be done by sprinkling, pouring, or immersion, any of these can symbolize the purification of baptism from sin.“Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that a Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin” (Rom 6:3-6).THE LORD'S SUPPERThe Lord's supper was instituted by Jesus as a symbol for Christians to remember the Lord's death for their sins. It is also a seal of the new covenant.“For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed too bread; and when He has given thanks, He broke it and said, 'This is My body, which is for you, do this in remembrance of Me.' In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.' For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.” (1 Cor 11:23-27).THE SECOND COMING OF CHRISTBefore Christ returns,1) the gospel must be preached to the whole world.“The gospel of the kingdom of shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Mt 24:14).2) many Jews will become Christians (believe that Jesus is the promised Messiah).“A partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in” (Rom 11:25).3) a great apostasy and tribulation must take place.“At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold” (Mt 24:10-12).“For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short” (Mt 24:21,22).4) the Antichrist must appear.A single individual will appear as the incarnation of evil.“It [the day of the Lord] will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying Himself as being God” (2 Thess 2:3,4).“Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all powers and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish” (2 Thess 2:8-10).5) signs and wonders must occur.“But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will far from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky will power and great glory” (Mt 24:29,30).WHEN WILL CHRIST RETURN?“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone” (Mt 24:36).“I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you” (Rev 3:3).WHAT THE RETURN OF CHRIST WILL BE LIKE1) FOR BELIEVERS“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen sleep.For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thess 4:14-17).2) FOR NON-BELIEVERS“Then He will say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels...These will go away into eternal punishment” (Mt 25:41,46).“And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up its dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev 20:12-15).

Quotes from this entry include:"The greatest name of God, however, always held sacred by the Jews, is the name Jehovah (Yahweh). Its origin and meaning is indicated in Ex. 3:14, 15. It expresses the fact that God is always the same, and especially that He is unchangeable in His covenant relationship, and is always faithful in the fulfillment of His promises.""But the Bible clearly teaches not only that God has decreed the free acts of man, but also that man is none to the less free and responsible for his acts, Gen. 50:19, 20; Acts 2:23; 4:27-29. We may not be able to harmonize the two altogether, but it is evident from Scripture that the one does not cancel the other.""Predestination is the plan or purpose of God respecting His moral creatures. It pertains to men, both good and bad, to angels and devils, and to Christ as the Mediator. Predestination includes two parts, namely, election and reprobation.""The Bible teaches us clearly that God created the world for the manifestation of His glory...Since God not only created the world but also upholds it, we naturally pass from the doctrine of creation to that of divine providence. This may be defined as that work of God in which He preserves all His creatures, is active in all that happens in the world, and directs all things to their appointed end.""The Bible teaches us that the atonement finds its moving cause in the good pleasure of God, Isa. 53:10; Luke 2:14; Eph. 1:6-9; Col. 1:19, 20. It is best to say that the atonement is rooted in the love and justice of God: love offered sinners a way of escape, and justice demanded that the requirements of the law should be met, John 3:16; Rom. 3:24-26.""It is customary to distinguish a twofold obedience of Christ. His active obedience consists in all that He did to observe the law in behalf of sinners, as a condition for obtaining eternal life; and His passive obedience in all that He suffered in paying the penalty of sin and discharging the debt of His people. But while we distinguish these two, we should never separate them.""God is the author of regeneration. Scripture represents it as the work of the Holy Spirit, John 1:13; Acts 16:14; John 3:5, 8. Over against the Arminians we maintain that it is exclusively the work of the Spirit of God, and not in part the work of man.""In the last analysis the object of saving faith is Jesus Christ and the promise of salvation in Him. John 3:16, 18, 36; 6:40; Acts 10:43; Rom. 3:22; Gal. 2:16. This faith is not of human origin, but is a gift of God, I Cor. 12:8, 9; Gal. 5:22; Eph. 2:8. But its exercise is a human activity, to which the children of God are repeatedly exhorted, Rom. 10:9; I Cor. 2:5; Col. 1:23; I Tim. 1:5; 6:11.""Justification may be defined as that legal act of God by which He declares the sinner righteous on the basis of the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ.""It is perfectly evident from Scripture that every individual of the human race will have to appear before the judgment seat, Eccl. 12:14; Matt. 12-36-37; 25:32; Rom. 14:10; 2Cor. 5:10; Rev. 20:12."

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.

I used this Systematic Theology by Berkhof which helped gain some understanding of Theology and was very helpful for me as a then young Christian, and a good solid grounding theologically for a future ministry.

Great service and a quality prooduct. Thank you.

A good summary of Berkhof's major work Systematic Theology. Can be a bit thin in places,

this book arrived as described in good condition.another good book for reading and study and discussiongreat to have it on self

A most useful book