It’s that time again. This is the year that was with the top HB posts (with some comment) for 2013. As always thanks for making the HB a regular part of your day and thanks to all those who made the coffer clink.

10. Are There Two Distinct Reformed Views Of The Sabbath?. It is widely thought that there is a bright line between the so-called “Continental” view of the Sabbath and the so-called “Puritan” view. Source documents from the classical period make it more difficult to maintain that bright line
9. The Leithart Verdict Is In: The News is Not Good for Orthodoxy. And again. Check out the Heidelcast where we’ve been discussing the consequences of the various cases in the PCA.
8. Is John Piper Reformed? Or Holding The Coalition Together (Updated). Everyone organization must have a hierarchy of values. Is the coalition about the gospel or about the coalition?
7. A Response To Rachel Held Evans Regarding Wilson And The Definition Of “Reformed.” More dittos. She apologized for not distinguishing Wilson from the orthodox Reformed but she spoke for a lot of folk who can’t see the difference. Of course, given post #5, we can’t really blame them, can we?
6. Contra Leithart: No, The Reformation Isn’t Over. No, I didn’t misunderstand PL. I understand exactly what he’s about: set up a caricature of opposition to Romanism and portray himself as a more enlightened but sympathetic critic of Romanism. The effect of his account of Rome and her critics is to subvert the Reformation.
5. For Elders Thinking Of Inviting Arminius Into Their Pulpit. Since c. 2010 I’ve tried to move on from the Federal Vision controversy but they just keep pulling me back in.
4. Why (Some) Reformed People Are Such Jerks. This is a classic from HB 1.0 with an audio link added.
3. The Attraction Of Legal Preaching. This was an attempt to try explain why people hanker after legal preaching and why preachers fall into this trap so easily.
2. In Order for Leviathan to Flourish He Must First Kill Natural Law. There aren’t a ton of comments on this post. The popularity of this post puzzles me but I’m glad people are reading it.
1. What Pastors Shouldn’t Tell Their Wives. I’m genuinely surprised at the response this post received. I’ve been blogging since 2006 and I’ve learned that one never knows which posts will hit a nerve. I write what I think and what I hope will be helpful. That pastors should keep consistory/session business in the consistory/session room seems like common sense but apparently that idea is controversial. Who knew?

Posts I Wish Were In The Top 10

The internet is still driven by controversy. That’s true of other media (e.g., print, broadcast), so this isn’t exactly an indictment of the web. Nevertheless, the popularity of posts on controversial topics says something about human nature. I don’t write controversial posts to drive traffic. It wouldn’t work anyway. HB readers are too intelligent and thoughtful and they’re busy.

Here are 20 posts from 2013 that you should read:

1. What is True Faith?
2. What’s Your Super-Secret Decoder Ring?
3. Sometimes “Nazis” Really Are Nazis
4. Uzzah, Delusions, and Good Intentions
5. So We Still Believe In Reality
6. To Split Or Stay?
7. If It’s News Is It Still A Slippery Slope?
8. Less A Problem of What the Spirit is Doing and More a Problem of What We Say
9. Of Grace and Second Chances
10. Collision Avoidance Systems
11. Of Implicit Faith And The Cult Of Personality
12. Meet The New Boss, Same As The Old Boss
13. Joel’s Not So Bad After All?
14. Slouching Toward New Orleans
15. The Context Of The Republication Debate
16. S-T-O-P Means Stop
17. Untangling Webs Of Assumptions About Baptism
18. Surrounded By Constantinians
19. There Is A Christian Worldview
20. On Good Intentions, Spiritual Disciplines, and Christian Freedom

Post authored by:

• R. Scott Clark

  

  R.Scott Clark is the President of the Heidelberg Reformation Association, the author and editor of, and contributor to several books and the author of many articles. He has taught church history and historical theology since 1997 at Westminster Seminary California. He has also taught at Wheaton College, Reformed Theological Seminary, and Concordia University. He has hosted the Heidelblog since 2007.

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