This Berkhof Systematic Theology study provides a complete course for studying Reformed theology. Based on Louis Berkhof’s classic Systematic Theology, the course includes a Teacher’s Guide, Student Notes, assigned textbook readings and supplemental theological studies.
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About this systematic theology course
Introduction to Reformed Systematic Theology is a complete teaching course designed around Louis Berkhof’s Systematic Theology. It is intended especially for teachers and ministry students who want a structured introduction to the major doctrines of the Reformed faith.
The course combines assigned readings from Berkhof with lesson outlines, explanations, Scripture references, teaching instructions, review material and supplemental theological studies. A separate Student Notes manual allows students to follow the lectures, complete exercises and record their own notes.
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Course resources
The course uses three principal resources:
Teacher’s Guide — A complete 117-page teaching manual containing lesson outlines, explanations, Scripture references, teaching instructions, review material and supplemental readings. Word, PDF
Student Notes — A separate 72-page student workbook with spaces for lecture notes and fill-in-the-blank exercises corresponding to the course lessons. Word, PDF
Berkhof’s Systematic Theology — The principal textbook for the course. Assigned pages correspond to individual lessons, and an online PDF edition of the textbook is available. PDF only
What the complete study guide covers
The 30-lesson course moves through the major divisions of Reformed systematic theology:
Theology proper — the existence and attributes of God, the Trinity, divine decrees, predestination, creation and providence
Anthropology — the nature of man, the image of God, sin, total depravity and the covenants
Christology — the deity, person, offices and atoning work of Christ
Soteriology — the work of the Holy Spirit, grace, effectual calling, faith, justification, sanctification, the order of salvation and perseverance
Ecclesiology and the means of grace
Eschatology — the state after death, eschatological systems and the final states
Introduction: What is systematic theology?
Systematic theology is a study of Christian doctrines in their relationship to one another in a logical, consistent system.
Why study systematic theology?
- A grasp of biblical theology as a system allows a teacher to present truth with greater conviction and impact. It reveals the proportion of values between doctrines. Not all truths have the same importance. Christians who major on minors show a failure to grasp biblical revelation as an overall system.
- Systematic theology helps a person detect error. This has been the experience of those who have taken a course on this subject.
- It helps us understand the history of the church in its theological struggles throughout the centuries, as well as recognize differences between denominations.
- It is a boost to faith. The theology of the Bible is an intricate system of related teachings in a logical relationship with every other doctrine. Over a period of 1600 years with more than twenty writers in three languages, these teachings blend together into a coherent and consistent system. As a phenomenon, this could have only one possible source—God!
Materials
- English Standard Version Bible
- Systematic Theology by Christian Reformed theologian Louis Berkhof, edition 1996, electronic format, PDF: https://bit.ly/2LWmXTl
- Handout essays by Roger Smalling
Why Louis Berkhof’s Systematic Theology?
Berkhof’s style is concise and to the point, avoiding the wordiness of other systematics. The well-defined outline of key points helps the student. Refutations of erroneous views are presented in a factual and nonoffensive way. One volume covers it all.
Lesson 1: Existence of God – pp. 20-21; 26-28
Purpose: Explain the two main approaches to apologetics: evidentialism and presuppositionalism.
General versus special revelation
Theologians separate revelation about the existence of God into two categories: general and special.
General revelation refers to those aspects of the created order we call nature, of which we are a part. This includes the created order as a whole along with the human sense of morality we call conscience. For this reason, general revelation is often called natural revelation.
Special revelation refers to those truths that cannot be deduced by observation of the created order. Jesus Christ and the Bible are the primary examples of special revelation.
Evidentialism
The view that the fallen man, by his own unaided reason, perceives the existence of God through natural evidence: creation and conscience. The knowledge of God is therefore revealed to every sentient human being.
Mankind, however, suppresses this knowledge to maintain autonomy from God and a preference for ungodliness. The means of suppression are philosophy and pagan religion. Such behavior warrants the wrath of God on mankind. The key Bible texts for this view are Romans 1:18-22; Psalm 19:1.
Strengths and weaknesses
Evidentialism finds overwhelming support in Romans 1. Paul declares in four different ways that he clearly reveals the evidence to everyone so that no excuse exists for atheism and agnosticism.
Critics claim that evidentialists fail to take into account the corruption of fallen man. Sinners tend to reject anything that would threaten autonomy from God. Critics also claim that evidentialism starts with the autonomous reason of man, which they see as a wrong starting point.
Evidentialists reject this view on the basis of Romans 1, that autonomous reason is not sinful. Sin enters as people use their reason to suppress the revelation they perceive in nature and conscience.
Presuppositionalism – pp. 20-21
The view that the evidence of God does indeed exist, but fallen man is incapable of perceiving it unless he is enlightened by God through Scripture.
Presuppositionalism says we must presuppose the existence of God, and through that we will see how theism corresponds to the real world. Presuppositionalists insist that it is a manifestation of our corrupt nature to start with our own autonomous reason.
Strengths
Presuppositionalism underscores strongly man’s fallen nature and his total depravity and inability. It claims that man cannot understand natural revelation for what it is except through Scripture. It also strongly insists that we should not begin the process of reasoning with our own minds, but rather start with God.
Weaknesses
It fails to account adequately for Romans 1:18-22. Scripture does not support the assumption that starting with one’s own reason is sinful. To decide not to “start” with God, a person must use reason. Such reasoning tends toward anti-intellectualism.
The most serious weakness in presuppositionalism, with its insistence on presupposing the existence of God as a starting point, is this question: With which god shall we start, and why? If the presuppositionalist refers to natural revelation at this point, he has contradicted himself and is no longer a presuppositionalist.
Berkhof on apologetics
The student will note that Berkhof takes the presuppositionalist approach. His feelings are so strong at this point that he fails to present the evidentialist view adequately. He even mocks it in part. The teacher, therefore, should supplement Berkhof, presenting the pros and cons of each position.
Berkhof gives the impression, by using the name of Schleiermacher, that reasoning on the part of mankind is humanism. The insinuation is that Schleiermacher is liberal. Therefore anything he says is liberalism.
It is historically false that everything Schleiermacher said was liberal. Schleiermacher asserted the moral argument (conscience), which leads to God. Aquinas and others used this argument, and they were not liberals. Berkhof commits here the fallacy of guilt by association.
Discuss the difference between rational theistic proofs and the inability of man to submit to God. The evidence exists and is sufficient. Carnal man, because of his pride, will not admit it.
Explain here the two grounds of liberal theology: pantheism and relativism.
Pantheism: God is everything.
Relativism: Truth is relative to the individual and is merely a subjective experience.
The five “proofs” of Aquinas—pp. 26-28
Thomas Aquinas, the 12th-century Italian bishop, d. 1274, expounded on five “proofs” of God’s existence in his monumental work, Summa Theologiae (Summary of Theology).
Ontological: The concept of perfection exists, and therefore a perfect being exists.
Cosmological: Argument from cause and effect. There is a creation; therefore, a creator must exist. This argument also incorporates the unmoved mover concept, first expounded by Aristotle. It means that material objects have no power of motion or change in themselves. This power must therefore be acquired from a source that is neither material nor moved by anything else. This can only be God.
Teleological: Argument from the complexity and harmony of creation.
Ethnological: Every culture believes there is a God.
Moral: A sense of moral law exists in everyone. We call this call the conscience. If there is universal moral law, there must be a universal lawgiver.
Note: The cosmological and moral arguments are the only ones used by Scripture, Romans 1:18-20; 2:13-16.
From this lesson we learn…
- General revelation is God showing his existence through nature and conscience.
- Special revelation is God’s revelation of himself to the elect only through the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
- Presuppositionalism is an approach to apologetics that presupposes the existence of God without reference to evidence.
- Evidentialism is the approach to apologetics based on evidence in nature and human conscience.
- The five proofs of Aquinasfor the existence of God are ontological, cosmological, teleological, moral, and ethnological.
Homework reading: Handout, Smalling’s Debate on Apologetics; Berkhof, pp. 61-79, in preparation for the next class.
Continue with the complete course
The material above is only a sample of the complete course. The full Teacher’s Guide contains 30 lessons covering the major divisions of Reformed systematic theology, together with a glossary, supplemental readings, bibliography and index. The accompanying Student Notes provide space for students to follow the lessons and complete the course exercises.
Teacher’s Guide — View or download PDF
Student Notes — View or download PDF
Berkhof’s Systematic Theology — View or download PDF
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Related resources
Unlocking Grace
For further study of salvation and the doctrines of grace.
Joyfully Justified
For a fuller treatment of justification by faith.
Who is the Holy Spirit? Faith, Phobias and Fantasies
For further study of the person and work of the Holy Spirit.
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About the author
Roger Smalling, D.Min., is a retired Presbyterian missionary and theological educator who served for many years in Latin America. He has taught theology and ministry students internationally and writes from a Reformed perspective with an emphasis on making biblical doctrine clear and useful for Christian ministry.