Studies in Dogmatics
Berkouwer wrote a new theological short essay in almost every issue of the GKN weekly Gereformeerde Weekblad, which garnered responses from clergy and laity all over the Netherlands and beyond. A good part of the articles arose from class lectures to his students at VU, where the newspaper letters of response might carry some weight and sometimes occasioned Berkouwer's refinements for his students. The newspaper theological-articles, letters of response, and classroom refinements in turn led to the publication of books over many years under the general series name, Studies in Dogmatics (the last word usually being rendered in English as systematic theology).
The number of titles in the series eventually came to a total of 14 in English, due to the combination of some paired Dutch volumes into a single volume in English. Among key works were The Person of Christ, The Work of Christ, two volumes on Sin, a volume on The Providence of God (which refers to Herman Dooyeweerd's philosophy), General Revelation (again refers to Dooyeweerd), and The Image of God (which especially made the growing movement of philosophers, scientists, and theologians whose thinking was akin to the ideas of Vollenhoven and Dooyeweerd much more comfortable than they had been under Hepp).
Berkouwer's leadership within the denomination to which most of them belonged was strengthened by this openness of the leading GKN theologian, and it contributed to Berkouwer's developing in turn his own position in tandem with that of his friend Berkhof. In an end-of-career work published in English but not Dutch, Two Hundred Years of Theology: A Report of a Personal Journey (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1989), Berkhof assessed – along with many other philosophers, philosophical theologians, and systematic theologians – a few leading Gereformeerde historical figures, including Abraham Kuyper and Berkouwer. Berkhof said of the latter, who was in his Studies so leery of speculation, that he suffered from being "not speculative enough."
But he added that since Berkouwer wanted to produce work in systematic theology that was grounded in careful exegesis of the biblical texts for all doctrinal teaching, according to a Reformed tradition of interpretation of the Bible, he mentions few philosophers and interacts sparingly with only one contemporary philosopher, Dooyeweerd, who theologically seems to have had some kinship with Berkouwer and Berkhof's Middle Orthodoxy.
Books
The full list in the Dutch originals with their publication dates and pages is presented below with the corresponding list of the English translation titles, publication dates, and total pages. Please note that in subsequent reprints of the English, paginations vary from the original English edition. Also, technical matter in the Dutch that referred to earlier theological debates in that historical context have sometimes been removed in the English translations. The original publisher of the Dutch series is Kok (Amsterdam, the Netherlands); the English, Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA).
More information Dutch title (Kok: Amsterdam), Date ...
Dutch title (Kok: Amsterdam) | Date | Pages | English title (Eerdmans: Grand Rapids) | Date | Pages |
Geloof en Rechtvaardiging | 1949 | 220 | Faith and Justification | 1952 | 207 |
Geloof en Heiliging | 1949 | 222 | Faith and Sanctification | 1952 | 193 |
Geloof en Volharding | 1949 | 215 | Faith and Perseverance | 1958 | 256 |
De Voorzienigheid Gods | 1950 | 336 | The Providence of God | 1952 | 280 |
De Algemene Openbaring | 1951 | 280 | General Revelation | 1955 | 336 |
De Persoon van Christus | 1952 | 334 | The Person of Christ | 1954 | 368 |
Het Werk van Christus | 1953 | 387 | The Work of Christ | 1965 | 358 |
De Sacramenten | 1954 | 407 | The Sacraments | 1969 | 304 |
De Verkiezing Gods | 1955 | 414 | Divine Election | 1960 | 336 |
De Mens het Beeld Gods | 1957 | 416 | Man: The Image of God | 1962 | 376 |
De Zonde I | 1958 | 230 |
Sin |
1971 |
599 |
De Zonde II | 1960 | 360 |
De Wederkomst van Christus I | 1961 | 311 |
The Return of Christ |
1972 |
477 |
De Wederkomst van Christus II | 1963 | 282 |
De Heilige Schrift I | 1966 | 234 |
Holy Scripture |
1975 |
377 |
De Heilige Schrift II | 1967 | 463 |
De Kerk I Eenheid en Katholiciteit | 1970 | 260 |
The Church |
1976 |
438 |
De Kerk II Apostoliciteit en Heiligheid | 1972 | 273 |
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