Systematic Theology

I bought the Kindle edition Louis Berkhof's "Systematic Theology" because of its low price. I had never read a book of systematic theology before, so I didn't have any idea of what to expect. It turmes out there are many good aspects to this book. Unfortunately, the good parts are offset by just as many bad parts.First the good: Louis Berkhof (1873-1957) an American-Dutch Reformed theologian was a very good writer. To a large degree, he presented his theology in clear, lively, and relatively understandable writing style for a layperson such as myself. On a few occasions, he does include some dense and hard-to-follow passages, but fortunately these passages are far and few between. I gained a great deal of understanding about what systematic theology is in general, and specifically what Dr. Berkhof's theological positions are.This leads to what I found bad about this book: Dr. Berkhof spends nearly one-half of the book explaining why every other theology besides his own position - Reformed Protestantism (Calvinism) - is wrong. Now, I understand that it's important for a theologian to defend their position - no theologian worth their salt would do less. But Dr. Berkhof defends his positions so forcefully that, to me, this book became less about explaining theology systematically and more about trying to convince me that his theology is the only one that is correct.One particular feature of this book I found very annoying: on many occasions, Dr. Berkhof quotes different theologians in their original language (mostly Dutch and German), but does not bother to provide a translation into English of these quotations in the text. I found myself continually forced to use an online translator to discover what these quotations meant.I did learn a great deal from Dr. Berkhof's "Systematic Theology," but, at the end of the day, I found its usefulness to me to be quite limited. Recommended, but with serious reservations.

The online "inside look" view is deceiving. Since the content of this book is so valuable, I do not understand why you would produce ANY book in so small a print and expect to sell it at such a price. I was willing to pay the price thinking that I was getting a book like what I already have (this was a gift) which includes the Prolegomena and be reasonably readable. Trying to read what you published would in and of itself be an unpleasant and tedious experience to say the least. Please do honor to Berkhof!

I've heard so much about Berkhof's "Systematic Theology" that I finally bought it. John MacArthur, R. C. Sproul (I believe), Ligon Duncan, etc., are scholars who I admire and respect who have suggested this book for students interested in Reformed, fundamentalist theology.

Louis Berkhof's Systematic Theology is hands down the 'creme de la creme' of systematic theologies. I would say, however, if you are teaching theology, it would behoove you to present Berkhof's material "John Frame style," as Frame has a very friendly teaching manner. Not that Berkhof is all that difficult; he just uses some vocabulary terms 21st century readers may not be familiar with. Still, if you want the systematic theology by which others are measured, get Berkhof's Systematic Theology.

At the time I purchased this book, there were four different kindle versions listed, each with a different price, and the reviews for all of these plus all print editions were combined together. I could find only two reviews which addressed the kindle format, and both mentioned particular issues. But I have no idea which version they had originally been attached to. I checked the sample, and it looked hopeful, so I went ahead and bought the version with ASIN B01N6YQU6A.Navigation: On a Kindle, one can use the GO TO function to get to any chapter. In between the Cover and the Preface there is a full table of contents with links to divisions and subdivisions within the chapters. So if you know where the content you want is located, you can get there in a few steps.But I did not see any sort of index. If you do not already know where the content you are interested in is located, you would need to use the search feature and hope that the key word(s) you select will be the same ones the author used in at least part of his discussion of the topic.The lack of an index will not be a large problem for those wanted to read entire sections, and who can find the desired entire section in the table of contents. But depending on how well your device handles searches and its own indexing, the lack of an index could be an issue for some readers. I debated whether the lack of an index was enough to lower the rating from 5 stars to 4, but left it at 5 stars.I have yet to read the entire book, but my initial skimming is consistent with my high hopes for it. Other reviewers have addressed the actual content in much greater detail, and I refer you to them on that subject.

Bought the Devoted Publishing edition of Berkhof's Systematic Theology. Got it out of the box and was greeted with a not-good product. The back cover of the book has a typo; the preface is missing from the book; the print is painfully small and squeezed together; the layout of the text is bad; and the pages have a gray shading printed on them (I guess to make the paper look antique?) which, combined with the small font, makes the text even more frustrating to read. In case you're wondering how small the font really is: I am 26 years old with perfectly fine vision and it's incredibly annoying to try and read from this book. Future buyers should definitely choose another edition of this book from a different publisher.

I don’t know if I just didn’t read the description but you certainly couldn’t tell from the two pictures provided that this book was of such poor quality.It’s like looking at a photo copy made on an old Xerox machine. For this price, I sure expected better. As excited as I was for study the work, I literally can’t get through half a page without getting frustrated and putting the book away.I guess I’m going to see if I can return it.This is really really bad.

What's not to like? I got Berkhof's systematic theology for 99p! This invaluable reference book is a basic of a good Christian library and well-worth owning. It doesn't take up any shelf-space in the Kindle edition, either, and is available to me wherever I go.

Great value of you can cope with the dated and somewhat patronising language.

I was expecting the book for a long time,now it is in my hands, looks good,and my heart is fullfilled with happiness.

I am finding that this book is full of both challenging and fascinating ideas. I am learning a lot about Protestantism: I am sort of a Catholic, if anything, and did not know much about the Reformers of the Church.Will be picking it up and will continue studying it for a long time.

El libro ya es un clásico, no solo en inglés también en español. La presente edición se complementa con otro libro de introducción a la teología. Presentar las dos obras juntas representa una nueva forma de lectura y de consulta. Por generaciones la teología sistemática de Berkhof seguirá instruyendo a pastores y estudiantes como a creyentes en general.