Putting it under ‘research’ gives us a little bit of an overhang over the whole thing. If you have someone in a really anti state who’s going to be doing this for you, they’re probably going to get caught. —Savita Ginde, MD, . . . Continue reading →
Author Archives: R. Scott Clark
Human. Body. Parts. For. Sale.
Human. Body. Parts. For. Sale.
Heidelberg 103: The Christian Sabbath (2)
There are three parts to the Christian faith: theology, piety, and practice. Theology is what we confess and teach the Scriptures to reveal. Piety is our relation to God and practice is the practical outworking of those things. There is a Reformed . . . Continue reading →
Even The Pagans Understood Marriage
They do not write a marriage contract between males: for though the pagans are assumed to practice homosexuality, and in fact, do practice it, they are not so far gone in derision of the commandment against it as actually to write a . . . Continue reading →
Audio: With Rick Wiles On Reformation And The Creeds
I talked with Rick Wiles on Monday. The show is Trunews and it is heard on radio stations all over America, across the globe, and on the web at TruNews.com. We discussed the problem of the fracture of the church, how to . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 103: The Christian Sabbath (1)
If there was a time when the church needed to stop its business, to rest, to worship, and to set aside time for the care of the poor in their midst, that time is now. At no time in its history has . . . Continue reading →
Office Hours: Calvin And Voltaire
When most of us think about the history of Reformed theology, if we think about it at all, we tend to think first of Calvin and then we typically jump to Jonathan Edwards, then perhaps to Princeton and thence to our own . . . Continue reading →
Eliot: Half The Harm Done In This World
Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don’t mean to do harm—but the harm does not interest them. Or they do not see it, or they justify it because they . . . Continue reading →
You Shall Not Worship Yahweh Your God That Way
You shall not worship Yahweh your God in that way. But you shall seek the place that Yahweh your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation there. There you shall go, and there . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 99–100: Sanctifying The Lord’s Name
In 2013 there was a court case in Miami in which a teen-ager was sentenced to 30 days for showing disrespect to a judge and to the court. The defendant did not seem to be able to comprehend that she was in . . . Continue reading →
Video: S. M. Baugh On Adoption
Heidelberg 96–98: Worshiping The True God Truly (2)
The regulative principle of worship, however, does distinguish confession Reformed and Presbyterian churches from the broad evangelical traditions, many of whom are descended from the Pietists and the Anabaptists. The confessional Lutheran churches, the Anglican church, and the Romanists all operate on the normative principle. That principle works for many things in daily life. May one cross this street? Yes, certainly. It is not forbidden. The regulative principle, however, does not work for daily life. “Must I cross this street?” It was never intended to applied to daily life, outside of public worship. In the same way, the normative principle does not work for public worship. Continue reading →
The Shepherd Of Hermas Is A Dull Novel
Dr. Bunsen calls it “a good but dull novel,” and reminds us of a saying of Niebuhr (Bunsen’s master), that “he pitied the Athenian3 Christians for being obliged to hear it read in their assemblies.” —F. Crombie, “Introductory Note to the Pastor . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 96–98: Worshiping The True God Truly (1)
Few topics are more incendiary in the church than that of public worship. Yet no topic is more important to the Christian faith and life than public worship. This is a recipe for a crisis, which is where we find ourselves. Feelings . . . Continue reading →
Bloom Was More Right Than He Knew
In 1987, who could have envisioned the two-year nadir of 2009‒10, when not only the Democrats, but indeed, the very caricatured and politically correct academia of Bloom’s nightmares, would come to control the entire government of the United States: both houses of . . . Continue reading →
The Coin In The Coffer
I just renewed the contract with the web hosting company. This reminds me of three things: 1) Thank you to those of you who support the HB faithfully. I realize that it’s been a while since I’ve produced an episode of the Heidelcast. . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 94 and 95: What Does God Require In The First Commandment?
On one level it’s easy to tell the difference between idols and the God who is. We did not fabricate him and we cannot change or kill him. He just is (Gen 1:1; Exodus 3:14). Idols, on the other hand, are not necessarily. An idol might exist or it might not exist. Its existence, as such, is contingent upon the will of its human creator. Of course, we confess with the Apostle Paul that “an idol has no real existence” (1 Cor 8:4). Whether we fabricate them with our hands, in our minds, or in our hearts, idols change. They come and go. When they disappoint us, we chuck them and make another hoping for a better outcome. Continue reading →
What Jenner And Nucatola Have In Common: Narcissism
Healthy personal relationships need a foundation of common reality and common language through which people can communicate. Most of all, they need a common belief that there is inherent worth and dignity in all human beings, not just themselves. So as more . . . Continue reading →
Hume: Pulling Back The Veil
Heidelberg 93: How Is The Decalogue Organized?
In Exodus 34:27 Scripture says that Yahweh spoke directly to Moses to say, “Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel” (ESV). Thus, whatever follows was an essential part of the . . . Continue reading →