A New Reformed Podcast: Jerusalem Chamber

by R. Scott Clark on March 7, 2017

Shawn Anderson, Kyle Borg, Nathan Eshelman, and Joel Wood are Reformed ministers in the RPCNA. They have a new podcast, The Jerusalem Chamber. The name is a reference to the room in which much of the work was done to draft the . . . Continue reading →

Sola Scriptura Protects Christian Liberty

by R. Scott Clark on March 7, 2017

In April 1521, when Martin Luther stood before the powers of this world at the Diet of Worms, he did so on the basis of the sole, unique, and final authority of God’s Word. Luther confessed that his conscience was bound by . . . Continue reading →

The Reformed Defense Of Christian Liberty In 1530

by R. Scott Clark on March 6, 2017

When, therefore, we saw very evidently that the chief men in the Church beyond the authority of Scripture assumed this authority so to enjoin fasts as to bind men’s consciences, we allowed consciences to be freed from these snares, but by the . . . Continue reading →

Office Hours: What’s In A Name? Julius Kim On Sola Fide

by R. Scott Clark on March 6, 2017

This is season 8 of Office Hours and we are celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. In confessional Protestant circles we use some short hand Latin phrases that we might not all understand, even though we use them frequently. Sola fide . . . Continue reading →

The Reformed Reject Lent In Basle In 1534

by R. Scott Clark on March 5, 2017

Article XI Concerning Things Commanded and Not Commanded Of self law (Autonomia) or power in the conscience, Relinquished to Christ alone in the church We confess that no one ought to command in any manner that which Christ has not commanded; also, . . . Continue reading →

The Westminster Divines On Holy Days

by R. Scott Clark on March 4, 2017

THERE is no day commanded in scripture to be kept holy under the gospel but the Lord’s day, which is the Christian Sabbath. Festival days, vulgarly called Holy-days, having no warrant in the word of God, are not to be continued. Nevertheless, . . . Continue reading →

The Disciples Confessed Christ’s Resurrection Because It Was Objectively True

by R. Scott Clark on March 4, 2017

…The belief of the disciples in the resurrection, according to the New Testament, was due simply to the fact of the resurrection. Those disciples came to believe that Jesus had risen from the dead for the simple reason that Jesus had risen . . . Continue reading →

“Relevance” Leads Back To Rome

by R. Scott Clark on March 2, 2017

In the Western church calendar Lent began yesterday on “Ash Wednesday.” Lent did not exist in any form in church law until 325 where the word appears in Canon 5 of the canons of Nicea. Even then there is no detailed prescription . . . Continue reading →

Lactantius (c. 250–c. 325): Where There Are Images There Is No Religion

by Heidelblog on March 1, 2017

Whoever, therefore, is anxious to observe the obligations to which man is liable, and to maintain a regard for his nature, let him raise himself from the ground, and, with mind lifted up, let him direct his eyes to heaven: let him . . . Continue reading →

The Gospel For Discontent Millennials (And Everyone Else)

by R. Scott Clark on March 1, 2017

HB reader David wrote to ask about a social program in which his congregation is involved and his question is one that I get regularly. My reading and experience with Millennials, i.e., those born between 1982 and 2004, tells me that there . . . Continue reading →

Epiphanius Of Salamis (c. 315–403): It Was Gnostics Not Christians Who Made Images Of Christ

by R. Scott Clark on February 28, 2017

They [the Gnostics] possess paintings—some, moreover, have images made of gold, silver and other materials—and say that such things are portraits in relief of Jesus, and made by Pontius Pilate! That is, the reliefs are portraits of the actual Jesus during his . . . Continue reading →

Machen On The Deity Of Christ

by R. Scott Clark on February 28, 2017

The Christian meaning of the term “deity of Christ” is fairly clear. The Christian believes that there is a personal God, Creator and Ruler of the universe, the God who is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. So when the Christian says that Jesus . . . Continue reading →

Heidelcast 124: I Am That I Am (2)—The Categorical Distinction

by Heidelcast on February 27, 2017

The Creator/creature distinction is fundamental to Christian theology. The Ancient Christian church defended it against the pagan doctrine of the eternality of matter. Scripture is very clear: “In the beginning God…”. On this point, the classical, confessional Reformed theologians built their distinction . . . Continue reading →

The Reformed Followed The Ancient Fathers In Rejecting Images Of Christ

by Heidelblog on February 27, 2017

Therefore we approved the judgment of Lactantius [c.250–325], and ancient writer, who says: “Undoubtedly no religion exists where there is an image.” We also assert that the blessed bishop Epiphanius [c.315–403] did right when, finding on the doors of a church a . . . Continue reading →

Hippolytus: The Heretics Make Images Of Christ

by R. Scott Clark on February 26, 2017

(Now these heretics) have themselves been sent forth by Satan, for the purpose of slandering before the Gentiles the divine name of the Church. (And the devil’s object is,) that men hearing, now after one fashion and now after another, the doctrines . . . Continue reading →

Jacques Lefèvre d’Étaples On Lent

by Heidelblog on February 25, 2017

“There are men nowadays who teach a foolish godliness instead of Christ’s doctrine. What does it profit me to fast new Lents or to pay my tithes? Why trust myself to formulas of prayer of unknown authors and leave aside the prescriptions . . . Continue reading →

Relics Remain

by R. Scott Clark on February 24, 2017

It is a general, if unstated, assumption among moderns that whatever the causes of the Reformation might have been, they must be long past. Often, however, that assumption is ill-founded. In fact, the fundamental causes for the Reformation (e.g., the Roman denial . . . Continue reading →

Why Is Anyone Still Talking About The Federal Vision?

by R. Scott Clark on February 24, 2017

Thomas Manton On Law And Gospel

by R. Scott Clark on February 23, 2017

A godly person observed that Christians are usually to blame for three things: 1) they seek in themselves what they can only find in Christ; 2) they seek in the law what will only be found in the gospel; and 3) they . . . Continue reading →

Gillespie On The Twofold Kingdom

by R. Scott Clark on February 23, 2017

One Instance more of his mis-alledging and perverting of testimonies. In the close he cites a passage of Mr. Case his Sermon August 22. 1645. “He (Christ) is King of Nations and King of Saints. As King of Nations he has a . . . Continue reading →