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.

Office Hours: The Struggle Of Sanctification In The Psalms (1)

by R. Scott Clark on January 13, 2014 |

Of the psalter (the 150 psalms) John Calvin (1509–164) wrote: “The varied and resplendid riches which are contained it this treasury it is no easy matter to express in words; so much so, that I well know that whatever I shall be . . . Continue reading →

True Religion At The Mall

by R. Scott Clark on January 12, 2014 |

During a recent trip to the mall I looked up to see a large sign over a store declaring, “True Religion.” Yikes! Of course it got my attention and, I admit, it made my dead orthodox pulse race just a little. These . . . Continue reading →

Prairie In Winter

by R. Scott Clark on January 11, 2014 |

This gallery contains 5 photos.

Millennial Confusion About Masculinity

by R. Scott Clark on January 10, 2014 |

In unguarded moments, the young men I work with acknowledge their disengagement, and more than that, they articulate a confusion and even ambivalence about what it means to be a man. They can make jokes about traditional male identity until the cows . . . Continue reading →

A Little Less Crowd-Pleasing

by R. Scott Clark on January 9, 2014 |

Can the Church commit itself to becoming more serious, more—may I say it?—devout, a little more courageous, a little less crowd-pleasing, a little less self-preoccupied, and a little less comfortable? Can the Church become the Church as it is supposed to be? . . . Continue reading →

Three Benefits Of Confessions

by R. Scott Clark on January 8, 2014 |

Although not particularly popular, either in our present secular milieu or in bearing our present ecclesiological amnesia, I continue to believe that having, holding, and requiring a confession is good for us. In short, a confession is good for our health, even . . . Continue reading →

Fear, Firstborn, And Fire

by R. Scott Clark on January 7, 2014 |

“For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to . . . Continue reading →

No Truth Is More Needed Today

by R. Scott Clark on January 7, 2014 |

No truth today seems more self-evident in our culture than the fact that God is love. But this is not understood in its biblical setting where John immediately defines the nature of this love by saying that Christ was sent “to be . . . Continue reading →

Ben Is A Straight Shooter

by R. Scott Clark on January 6, 2014 |

We live in a time when telling the truth is not fashionable, when it’s considered a little gauche (unsophisticated, awkward) to speak the truth plainly. More than that it’s considered a little old-fashioned to talk about truth at all. As far as . . . Continue reading →

Office Hours: Hywel Jones On The Role Of The Holy Spirit In Sanctification

by R. Scott Clark on January 6, 2014 |

The Holy Spirit has sometimes been described as the forgotten member of the Trinity. Whether that is true it is important to recognize the Spirit’s role in progressive sanctification, that gradual, gracious renewal to the image of Christ. He is the Spirit . . . Continue reading →

“Calvinism” Is Hip Again (Again)

by R. Scott Clark on January 6, 2014 |

Just when one might have thought that the Young, Restless, and Reformed movement(s) might be waning—they aren’t getting any younger—comes a piece in last Friday’s New York Times by Mark Oppenheimer on the Calvinist revival among evangelicals. Of course it begins with TULIP . . . Continue reading →

It’s Not Divine Simplicity And Complexity. It’s Just Simplicity. Period.

by R. Scott Clark on January 6, 2014 |

In earlier generations simplicity was regarded as an indispensable aspect of an orthodox doctrine of God. Anglicans, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and Baptists all confessed that God is “without parts” and the Belgic Confession even made divine simplicity its opening affirmation: “We all believe . . . Continue reading →

“Did God Leave Me When I Went To Seminary?”

by R. Scott Clark on January 4, 2014 |

Ryan at Sola Gratia raises a question that many first-semester seminary students ask. In essence the question is this: Before I came to seminary I had an active devotional life and a vital, immediate, experience of God and now things have changed. . . . Continue reading →

Ironically, Gnosticism Is A Nasty Business

by R. Scott Clark on January 3, 2014 |

In preparing to reach CH601 (Ancient Church) this fall, I’ve been reading a lot of primary and secondary texts that I’ve not read or that I’ve not read for a long time. One of the more interesting has been Simon Gathercole’s book, The . . . Continue reading →

Todd Is Recovering The Reformed Confession

by R. Scott Clark on January 3, 2014 |

From the end of 2008 to 2013 I was the lead teaching pastor of a large non-denominational church in the northeast. During my time there I was told by various elders to lead the church in a more “broadly evangelical” direction. By . . . Continue reading →

A Peevish, Grudging Rancor Against Men

by R. Scott Clark on January 2, 2014 |

A peevish, grudging rancor against men has been one of the most unpalatable and unjust features of second- and third-wave feminism. Men’s faults, failings and foibles have been seized on and magnified into gruesome bills of indictment. Ideologue professors at our leading . . . Continue reading →

Rational Responses To Attacks From Advocates Of Homosexual Marriage

by R. Scott Clark on January 1, 2014 |

Attack 1: You’re intolerant–you reject me just because I’m different from you. Reply: Let’s be honest with each other. We both know you’re the one who rejects what is different from yourself. You reject the challenge of the other sex. Attack 2: . . . Continue reading →

The Danger Of A Falling Church

by R. Scott Clark on January 1, 2014 |

If possible, I wish to raise an alarm without being an alarmist. The Reformed theologian, J. H. Alsted (1588-1638) said that the doctrine of justification is the article of faith by which the church stands or falls. Of course, he was only . . . Continue reading →

Happy New Year From The Heidelblog

by R. Scott Clark on December 31, 2013 |

Since the revival of the HB 2.0 in September 2012 there have been nearly a million views. This year alone there have been almost 200,000 thousand readers (and listeners) from 185 countries (including Togo and Mauritania). There have been nearly 8,000 comments. . . . Continue reading →

Beyond Plagiarism: The Politics Of A Cult

by R. Scott Clark on December 31, 2013 |

Wilson was gracious to me in all of these private interactions, but he made it clear that if I disagreed with him publicly I would be undermining his work for God’s kingdom. As he wrote in one e-mail, “either you remain out . . . Continue reading →