Berkhof, Louis

Taking office during the troubled social and economic times of the Great Depression, Berkhof stressed the importance of maintaining orthodoxy in seminaries. Annual graduations from the seminary increased from 14 to 17 during his tenure. This modest increase occurred despite the fact that some felt the denomination's pulpits were over-supplied during the 1930s. Throughout he quietly sought to guide the denomination as well as the seminary through controversies that arose. A talented teacher and hard-working author, among his twenty-two books is Systematic Theology, which has been translated into several languages. In 1900 Berkhof married Reka Dijkhuis (d.1928). They had four children: Grace Meyer, William, Jean Stuk, and John. Later he married Dena Heyns- Joldersma (d.1984), who had two daughters, Joanne Heyns De Jong and Wilma Heyns Brouwer.

1931-1944

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Heritage Hall Photographs -- Calvin Seminary Presidents

Archives, Calvin College