by Louis Berkhof
in ePub, .mobi & .pdf formats
After the publication of my Systematic Theology, the publisher requested me to prepare for publication a more compendious work on Christian doctrine, which might be fit for high school and college classes, and might also be used profitably by our older catechumens. Mindful of the great importance of the proper indoctrination of the young people of the Church, I did not have the courage to refuse, but undertook to prepare a brief manual. The work seemed particularly important to me 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 that are springing up like mushrooms on every side. 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. I have tried to give a rather comprehensive and yet concise statement of our Reformed conception of the truth, and sincerely hope that its clarity may not have suffered through its brevity. At the end of every chapter I have given a list of questions which will help the student to test his knowledge of what it contains. In my references for further study I have been rather sparing, since I did not desire to overload the student in any way Moreover, I have limited myself almost exclusively to Reformed authors. I hope it will not seem presumptuous that I have invariably referred first of all to my own work on Systematic Theology, since this Manual is based on the larger work throughout and can best be understood in the light of its more detailed discussion of Christian doctrine. May the King of the Church make this Manual a blessed influence in the instruction of our covenant youth.
L. BERKHOF.
Grand Rapids, Mich.
May 10, 1933.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface
INTRODUCTION
Religion
Revelation
Scripture
THE DOCTRINE OF GOD AND HIS CREATION
THE BEING OF GOD
The Essential Nature of God
The Names of God
The Attributes of God
The Trinity
THE WORKS OF GOD
The Divine Decrees in General
Predestination
Creation
Providence
THE DOCTRINE OF MAN IN RELATION TO GOD
MAN IN HIS ORIGINAL STATE
The Constitutional Nature of Man
Man as the Image of God and in the Covenant of Works
MAN IN THE STATE OF SIN
The Origin and Essential Character of Sin
Sin in the Life of the Human Race
MAN IN THE COVENANT OF GRACE
The Covenant of Redemption
The Covenant of Grace
THE DOCTRINE OF THE PERSON AND WORK OF CHRIST
THE PERSON OF CHRIST
The Names of Christ
The Natures of Christ
The States of Christ
THE WORK OF CHRIST
The Offices of Christ
The Atonement through Christ
THE DOCTRINE OF THE APPLICATION OF THE WORK OF REDEMPTION
The Common Operations of the Holy Spirit
Calling and Regeneration
Conversion
Faith
Justification
Sanctification
Perseverance of the Saints
THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH AND THE MEANS OF GRACE
THE CHURCH
Nature of the Church
The Government of the Church
The Power of the Church
THE MEANS OF GRACE
The Word as a Means of Grace
The Sacraments in General
Christian Baptism
The Lord's Supper
THE DOCTRINE OF THE LAST THINGS
INDIVIDUAL ESCHATOLOGY
Physical Death
The Intermediate State
GENERAL ESCHATOLOGY
The Second Coming of Christ
The Millennium and the Resurrection
The Last Judgment and the Final State
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