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A Summary of Christian Doctrine

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:38:00 +0000

Book Description

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.

Table of Contents Expand ↓

	Introduction
1	Religion	1
2	Revelation	5
3	Scripture	10
	The Doctrine of God and Creation
4	The Esssential Nature of God	17
5	The Names of God	21
6	The Attributes of God	24
7	The Trinity	31
8	The Divine Decrees	35
9	Creation	39
10	Providence	46
	The Doctrine of Man in Relation to God
11	Man in His Original State	51
12	Man in the State of Sin	57
13	Man in the Covenant of Grace	62
	The Doctrine of the Person and Work of Christ
14	The Names and Natures of Christ	71
15	The States of Christ	76
16	The Offices of Christ	83
17	The Atonement through Christ	89
	The Doctrine of the Application of the Work of Redemption
18	The Common Operations of the Holy Spirit: Common Grace	95
19	Calling and Regeneration	99
20	Conversion: Repentance and Faith	105
21	Justification	111
22	Sanctification and Perseverance	116
	The Doctrine of the Church and the Means of Grace
23	The Nature of the Church	123
24	The Government and Power of the Church	128
25	The Word of God and the Sacraments in General	135
26	Christian Baptism	140
27	The Lord’s Supper	145
	The Doctrine of the Last Things
28	Physical Death and the Intermediate State	149
29	The Second Coming of Christ	155
30	The Resurrection, the Last Judgment, and the Final State	161

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Historia: Doctrinas Cristianas

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:38:00 +0000

Book Description

Historia: Doctrinas Cristianas

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The History of Christian Doctrines

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:37:00 +0000

The study of doctrinal truth, apart from its historical background, leads to a truncated theology. There has been too much of this in the past, and there is a great deal of it even in the present day. The result has been the lack of a sound understanding and a proper evaluation of the truth. There was no appreciation of the fact that the Holy Spirit guided the Church in the interpretation and development of the truth as it is revealed in the Word of God. The checks and the road-signs of the past were not taken into consideration, and ancient heresies, long since condemned by the Church, are constantly repeated and represented as new discoveries.

The lessons of the past are greatly neglected, and many seem to feel that they should strike out entirely on their own, as if very little had been accomplished in the past. Surely, a theologian must take account of the present situation in the religious world, and ever study the truth anew, but he cannot neglect the lessons of the past with impunity. May this brief study of the history of doctrines serve to create a greater interest in such historical study, and lead to a better understanding of the truth.

A companion volume to the author’s Systematic Theology, also available from Banner of Truth.

The Evangelical Quarterly: ‘This work is a truly great one and it promises to retain for a long time its place among the most valuable books in theology. It is especially serviceable as a handbook on the special subject dealt with.
As might be expected from a man holding so high a position in the theological world as to be in line with such princely theologians as Charles Hodge and Benjamin Warfield, the book is ably executed, and forms a worthy companion to those by the same author, which preceded it. It makes a fitting completion of the set on Dogmatics.
The matter is so well arranged and marked, that as a textbook, and for convenience of reference by the ordinary reader, it is ideal in construction. Attached to each section also is a number of questions as aids to further study. A list of books on each subject is also given. These add very considerable to the value of this volume.’

Table of Contents Expand ↓

	Prolegomena
I:	THE SUBJECT-MATTER OF THE HISTORY OF DOGMA
	1. The meaning of the word ‘dogma’	15
	2. The origin and character of dogmas	16
II:	THE TASK OF THE HISTORY OF DOGMA
	1. Its presuppositions	20
	2. Its subject-matter	23
III:	METHOD AND DIVISIONS OF THE HISTORY OF DOGMA
	1. Divisions of the history of dogma	25
	2. Method of treatment	26
IV:	HISTORY OF THE HISTORY OF DOGMA
	1. Factors that gave rise to the history of dogma as a separate discipline	29
	2. Earlier works on the history of dogma	31
	3. Later works on the history of dogma	32
	Preparatory doctrinal development
I:	THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS AND THEIR DOCTRINAL VIEWS
	1. Their reputed writings	37
	2. Formal characteristics of their teachings	38
	3. Material contents of their teachings	40
II:	PERVERSIONS OF THE GOSPEL
	1. Jewish perversions	44
	2. Gentile perversions: Gnosticism	45
III:	REFORM MOVEMENTS IN THE CHURCH
	1. Marcion and his movement of reform	52
	2. The Montanist Reformation	54
IV:	THE APOLOGISTS AND THE BEGINNINGS OF THE CHURCH’S THEOLOGY
	1. The task of the apologists	56
	2. Their positive construction of the truth	57
	3. Their significance for the history of dogma	59
V:	THE ANTI-GNOSTIC FATHERS
	1. The anti-Gnostic Fathers; Biographical	62
	2. Their doctrines of God, Man, and the history of redemption	63
	3. Their doctrine of the Person and work of Christ	64
	4. Their doctrines of Salvation, the Church, and the last things	67
VI:	THE ALEXANDRIAN FATHERS
	1. The Alexandrian Fathers; Biographical	70
	2. Their doctrines of God and Man	71
	3. Their doctrine of the Person and work of Christ	73
	4. Their doctrines of Salvation, the Church, and the last things	74
VII:	MONARCHIANISM
	1. Dynamic Monarchianism	77
	2. Modalistic Monarchianism	78
	The doctrine of the Trinity
I:	THE TRINITARIAN CONTROVERSY
	1. The background	83
	2. The nature of the controversy	84
	3. The Council of Nicaa	86
	4. The aftermath:
	[a] Unsatisfactory nature of the decision	87
	[b] Temporary ascendancy of semi-Arianism in the Eastern Church	87
	[c] The turning of the tide	89
	[d] The dispute about the Holy Spirit	90
	[e] Completion of the doctrine of the Trinity	91
II:	THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY IN LATER THEOLOGY
	1. The doctrine of the Trinity in Latin theology	94
	2. The doctrine of the Trinity in the period of the Reformation	95
	3. The doctrine of the Trinity after the period of the Reformation	96
	The doctrine of Christ
I:	THE CHRISTOLOGICAL CONTROVERSIES
	1. The first stage of the controversy:
	[a] The background	102
	[b] The parties to the controversy	103
	[c] The decision of the Council of Chalcedon	107
	2. The second stage of the controversy:
	[a] Confusion after the decision of the Council	108
	[b] The Monothelitic Controversy	109
	[c] The construction of the doctrine by John of Damascus	110
	[d] The Christology of the Western Church	111
II:	LATER CHRISTOLOGICAl DISCUSSIONS
	1. In the Middle Ages	114
	2. During the Reformation	115
	3. In the nineteenth century	117
	[a] The view of Schleiermacher	118
	[b] The conceptions of Kant and Hegel	119
	[c] The Kenotic theories	120
	[d] Dorner’s conception of the Incarnation	121
	[e] Ritschl’s view of the Person of Christ	122
	[f] Christ in modern theology	122
	The doctrine of sin and grace and related doctrines
I:	THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF THE PATRISTIC PERIOD
	1. The importance of anthropological problems	127
	2. The anthropology of the Greek Fathers	127
	3. The gradual emergence of another view in the West	129
II:	THE PELAGIAN AND AUGUSTINIAN DOCTRINES OF SIN AND GRACE
	1. Augustine and Pelagius	131
	2. The Pelagian ___ of sin and grace	132
	3. The Augustinian view of sin and grace	133
	[a] Augustine’s view of sin	134
	[b] His view of grace	135
	4. Pelagian and Semi-Pelagian controversies	137
III:	THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF THE MIDDLE AGES
	1. The views of Gregory the Great	140
	2. The Gottschalkian controversy	141
	3. The contribution of Anselm
	[a] His doctrine of sin	142
	[b] His doctrine of the freedom of the will	143
	4. Peculiarities of Roman Catholic anthropology	144
IV:	THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF THE PERIOD OF THE REFORMATION
	1. The anthropology of the Reformers	147
	2. The Socinian position	149
	3. Arminian anthropology	150
	4. The position of the Synod of Dort	151
	5. The position of the School of Saumur	153
V:	ANTHROPOLOGICAL VIEWS OF POST-REFORMATION TIMES
	1. Divergent views:
	[a] A modification of the Arminian view in Wesleyan Arminianism	155
	[b] A modification of the Reformed view in New England theology	156
	2. Some modern theories of Sin:
	[a] Philosophical	157
	[b] Theological	158
	The doctrine of the atonement or of the work of Christ
I:	THE DOCTRINE OF THE ATONEMENT BEFORE ANSELM
	1. In Greek patristic theology	165
	2. In Latin patristic theology	168
II:	THE DOCTRINE OF THE ATONEMENT FROM ANSELM TO THE REFORMATION
	1. The doctrine of the atonement in Anselm	171
	2. Abelard’s theory of the atonement	174
	3. Reaction to Abelard in Bernard of Clairvaux	175
	4. Syncretistic views of the atonement
	[a] Peter the Lombard	176
	[b] Bonaventura	176
	[c] Thomas Aquinas	177
	5. Duns Scotus on the atonement	179
III:	THE DOCTRINE OF THE ATONEMENT IN THE PERIOD OF THE REFORMATION
	1. The Reformers improve on the doctrine of Anselm	182
	2. The Socinian conception of the atonement	182
	3. The Grotian theory of the atonement	186
	4. The Arminian view of the atonement	188
	5. The compromise of the School of Saumur	190
IV:	THE DOCTRINE OF THE ATONEMENT AFTER THE REFORMATION
	1. The Marrow controversy in Scotland	192
	2. Schleiermacher and Ritschl on the atonement	193
	3. Some of the more recent theories on the atonement:
	[a] The governmental theory in New England theology	195
	[b] Different types of the moral influence theory	196
	[c] The mystical theory of the atonement	198
	The doctrine of the application and appropriation of Divine Grace
I:	THE SOTERIOLOGY OF THE PATRISTIC PERIOD
	1. The soteriology of the first three centuries	203
	2. The soteriology of the remaining centuries of the Patristic Period	205
II:	THE SOTERIOLOGY OF THE SCHOLASTIC PERIOD
	1. The scholastic conception of grace	211
	2. The scholastic conception of faith	212
	3. The scholastic conception of justification and merit	213
III:	REFORMATION AND POST-REFORMATION SOTERIOLOGY
	1. The Lutheran order of salvation	217
	2. The Reformed order of salvation	219
	3. The Arminian order of salvation	221
	4. Minor conceptions of the order of salvation
	[a] Antinomian	222
	[b] Mystical	223
	The doctrine of the Church and the Sacraments
I:	THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH
	1. In the Patristic Period	227
	2. In the Middle Ages	232
	3. During and after the Reformation
	[a] The Lutheran view	236
	[b] The Anabaptist view	237
	[c] The Reformed view	237
	[d] Divergent Post-Reformation views	238
II:	THE DOCTRINE OF THE SACRAMENTS
	1. The sacraments in general:
	[a] Development of the doctrine before the Reformation	242
	[b] The doctrine of the Reformers and of later theology	245
	2. Baptism:
	[a] Development of the doctrine before the Reformation	247
	[b] The doctrine of the Reformers and of later theology	249
	3. The Lord’s Supper:
	[a] Development of the doctrine before the Reformation	251
	[b] The doctrine of the Reformers and of later theology	254
	The doctrine of the last things
I:	THE INTERMEDIATE STATE	259
II:	THE SECOND ADVENT AND THE MILLENNIAL HOPE	262
III:	THE RESURRECTION	265
IV:	THE LAST JUDGMENT AND FINAL AWARDS	267
	Literature	273
	Index of names	277
	Index of subjects	280

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Systematic Theology

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:37:00 +0000

BERKHOF’S SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY IN AN EXPANDED EDITION CONTAINING THE INTRODUCTORY VOLUME.

Book Description

Professor Berkhof died in 1957, at the age of 83. He was an outstanding American teacher and the author of some 22 books. After two pastorates, he began his long career as professor at Calvin Seminary, Grand Rapids, in 1906. Here he remained for 38 years, devoting his talents and immense stores of knowledge to the training of men for the ministry. His ‘Systematic Theology’ was his magnum opus, being revised and enlarged during his lifetime until it reached its present final form.

Berkhof’s loyalty to the well-defined lines of the Reformed Faith, his concise and compact style and his up-to-date treatment have made this work the most important twentieth century compendium of Reformed Theology. ‘The work seemed particularly important to me’, writes the author, ‘in view of the widespread doctrinal indifference of the present day, of the resulting superficiality and confusion in the minds of many professing Christians, of the insidious errors that are zealously propagated even from the pulpits, and of the alarming increase of all kinds of sects. If there ever was a time when the Church ought to guard her precious heritage, the deposit of the truth that was entrusted to her care, that time is now’.

Table of Contents Expand ↓

	INTRODUCTORY VOLUME
	The Idea and History of Dogmatic Theology
I.	Names Applied to the Systematic Presentation of Theology	3
II.	The Nature of Dogmas	6
III.	The Idea of Dogmatic Theology	25
IV.	The Task, Method, and Distribution of Dogmatics	44
V.	History of Dogmatics	69
	The Principia of Dogmatics
I.	Principia in General	87
II.	Religion	93
III.	The Principium Cognoscendi Externum (Revelation)	112
IV.	The Inspiration of Scripture	142
V.	The Principium Cognoscendi Internum	170
	Select Literature	189
	Index of Authors	193
	Index of Subjects	197
	SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY
	Part One – THE DOCTRINE OF GOD
	The Being of God
I.	The Existence of God:	19
II.	The Knowability of God:	29
III.	Relation of the Being and Attributes of God:	41
IV.	The Names of God:	47
V.	The Attributes of God in General:	52
VI.	The Incommunicable Attributes:	57
VII.	The Communicable Attributes:	64
VIII.	The Holy Trinity:	82
	The Works of God
I.	The Divine Decrees in General:	100
II.	Predestination:	109
III.	Creation in General:	126
IV.	Creation of the Spiritual World:	141
V.	Creation of the Material World:	150
VI.	Providence:	165
	Part Two – THE DOCTRINE OF MAN IN RELATION TO GOD
	Man in His Original State
I.	The Origin of Man:	181
II.	The Constitutional Nature of Man:	191
III.	Man as the Image of God:	202
IV.	Man in the Covenant of Works:	211
	Man in the State of Sin
I.	The Origin of Sin:	219
II.	The Essential Character of Sin:	227
III.	The Transmission of Sin:	237
IV.	Sin in the Life of the Human Race:	244
V.	The Punishment of Sin:	255
	Man in the Covenant of Grace
I.	Name and Concept of the Covenant:	262
II.	The Covenant of Redemption:	265
III.	Nature of the Covenant of Grace:	272
IV.	The Dual Aspect of the Covenant:	284
V.	The Different Dispensations of the Covenant:	290
	Part Three – THE DOCTRINE OF THE PERSON AND WORK OF CHRIST
	The Person of Christ
I.	The Doctrine of Christ in History:	305
II.	The Names and Natures of Christ:	312
III.	The Unipersonality of Christ:	321
	The States of Christ
I.	The State of Humiliation:	331
II.	The State of Exaltation:	344
	The Offices of Christ
I.	Introduction: The Prophetic Office:
II.	The Idea of the Offices in History	356
III.	The Prophetic Office	357
IV.	The Priestly Office:
V.	The Scriptural Idea of a Priest	361
VI.	The Sacrificial Work of Christ	362
VII.	The Cause and Necessity of the Atonement:
VIII.	The Moving Cause of the Atonement	367
IX.	Historical Views Respecting the Necessity of the Atonement	368
X.	Proofs for the Necessity of the Atonement	370
XI.	Objections to the Doctrine of the Absolute Necessity of the Atonement	371
	The Nature of the Atonement:
I.	A. Statement of the Penal Substitutionary Doctrine of the Atonement:	373
II.	Divergent Theories of the Atonement:	384
	The Purpose and Extent of the Atonement:	392
III.	A. The Purpose of the Atonement	392
	B. The Extent of the Atonement	393
IV.	The Intercessory Work of Christ:	400
V.	The Kingly Office:	406
	Part Four – THE DOCTRINE OF THE APPLICATION OF THE WORK OF REDEMPTION
I.	Soteriology in General:	415
II.	The Operation of the Holy Spirit in General:	423
III.	Common Grace:	432
III.	The Mystical Union:	447
IV.	Calling in General and External Calling:	454
V.	Regeneration and Effectual Calling:	465
VI.	Conversion:	480
VII.	Faith:	493
VIII.	Justification:	510
IX.	Sanctification:	527
X.	Perseverance of the Saints:	545
	Part Five – THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH AND OF THE MEANS OF GRACE
	The Church
I.	Scriptural Names of the Church and the Doctrine of the Church in History:	555
II.	Nature of the Church:	562
III.	The Government of the Church:	579
IV.	The Power of the Church:	593
	The Means of Grace
I.	The Means of Grace in General:	604
II.	The Word as a Means of Grace:	610
III.	The Sacraments in General:	616
IV.	Christian Baptism:	622
V.	The Lord’s Supper:	644
	Part Six – THE DOCTRINE OF THE LAST THINGS
	Individual Eschatology
I.	Introductory Chapter:	661
II.	Physical Death:	668
III.	The Immortality of the Soul:	672
IV.	The Intermediate State:	679
	General Eschatology
I.	The Second Coming of Christ:	695
II.	Millennial Views:	708
III.	The Resurrection of the Dead:	720
IV.	The Final Judgment:	728
V.	The Final State:	735
	Bibliography	739
	Index of Authors	747
	Index of Subjects	751

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