Author Archives: R. Scott Clark

About 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. Read more» He has hosted the Heidelblog since 2007.

The Nazis Were Socialists

by on February 15, 2014 |

It is now clear beyond all reasonable doubt that Hitler and his associates believed they were socialists, and that others, including democratic socialists, thought so too. The title of National Socialism was not hypocritical. —George Watson, “Hitler And The Socialist Dream”

Did the Reformation Spawn A Million Churches?

Or Who's The Modernist Here?

by on February 15, 2014 |

Note: This post first appeared 5 years ago. The links to the original posts at Emergent Village and Daily Scroll are gone. I searched for the original post on the EV sub-site on Patheos.com but did not find it. What I did . . . Continue reading →

Tour Neustadt With Ursinus

by on February 13, 2014 |

2013 was the 450th anniversary of the publication of the Heidelberg Catechism (1563) but the Heidelpalooza continues. March through July of this year, Michael Landgraf, head of the religious pedagogical center Neustadt, portrays Zacharias Ursinus (1534—83), principal author of the Heidelberg Catechism, . . . Continue reading →

Why Did Arminianism “Win”?

by on February 13, 2014 |

Sometime back Howard wrote to ask, “How and when did Arminianism become the predominate view?” That’s a good question. First, we should distinguish between Jacob Arminius (James Hermanzoon) and the Arminians (or the Remonstrants). Relative to the conclusions Arminian/Remonstrant theology later reached, Arminius . . . Continue reading →

The Utopia Of Leisure

by on February 13, 2014 |

in communist society, where nobody has one exclusive sphere of activity but each can become accomplished in any branch he wished, society regulates the general production and thus makes it possible for me to do one thing today and another tomorrow, to . . . Continue reading →

The Essence Of Communism

by on February 11, 2014 |

In this sense, theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property. —Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto

The Michael Sam Case: Is Being Homosexual The Same As Being Black?

by on February 11, 2014 |

Late at night and sometimes in the middle of the night I listen to sport-talk radio as a distraction, so I can sleep. Sports-talk radio is usually inconsequential and it works. Sometimes, however, real life intrudes into Nebraska football talk. That happened . . . Continue reading →

Office Hours: Bob Godfrey On Public Worship And Sanctification

by on February 10, 2014 |

When we think about sanctification, that gracious, gradual renewal of believers by  through faith, which results in our gradual conformity to the image of Christ, we may first think of private prayer and worship. Those are important and even indispensable to Christian . . . Continue reading →

The Weight Of Particularity

by on February 7, 2014 |

Worldview theology strives for a universal triumphant ideal without the weight of particularity. As such it comes dangerously close to making the gospel ancillary to ideology. Christ and Christianity are not ideas competing in a marketplace of ideas. Christ does not contend . . . Continue reading →

Useful Myths And Reformed Identity Markers

by on February 6, 2014 |

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) first provides multiple definitions of the word “myth.” The first says, “A traditional story, typically involving supernatural beings or forces, which embodies and provides an explanation, aetiology, or justification for something such as the early history of . . . Continue reading →