history of apologetics and prolegomena, followed by a history of the doctrine of God, a history of christology, and so forth. The histories appear in a topical order and in the shape of a theological system. Louis Berkhof’s follows the same pattern, and ought, in fact, to be understood more as a prolegomenon to his Systematic Theology than as an independent historical exercise. Both Shedd and Berkhof were, after all, primarily systematic theologians searching out the historical roots of their theologies.