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.

Idea: Let’s Try Every Way But Christ’s Way

by on February 3, 2023 | 5 Comments

This essay was my response to an 2007 article by Nancy Morganthaler on the failure of the church growth movement (HT: Justin Taylor). It is necessarily somewhat autobiographical. My criticisms of the church growth movement are partly theoretical and partly practical, to borrow an . . . Continue reading →

Why You Should Care About The Christian Past

Church History Is Family History

by on February 1, 2023 | 8 Comments

The value of church history is not always immediately obvious to everyone. In particular, Americans seem generally allergic to history. This is true of American Christians who are influenced by the American prejudice against history. Look at the History Channel (but only . . . Continue reading →

How Not To Train Pastors (Part 3)

by on January 27, 2023 | 9 Comments

I wrote this and “How Not To Train Pastors (Part 1)” and “How Not To Train Pastors (Part 2)” near the very beginning of the Heidelblog in 2007. This portion of the essay began as a response to a correspondent on the . . . Continue reading →

How Not To Train Pastors (Part 2)

by on January 25, 2023 | 13 Comments

I wrote this and How Not To Train Pastors (Part 1) near the very beginning of the Heidelblog in 2007. As high-speed internet service was becoming more widespread, online education was beginning to catch on and many seminaries were beginning to adopt it. . . . Continue reading →

How Not to Train Pastors (Part 1)

by on January 23, 2023 | 2 Comments

I wrote this near the very beginning of the Heidelblog in 2007. As high-speed internet service was becoming more widespread, online education was beginning to catch on and many seminaries were beginning to adopt it. The world has changed since then. The . . . Continue reading →

Saturday Psalm Series: The Psalm I Want Sung At My Graveside

by on January 14, 2023 | 4 Comments

To my friends, no I am not, as far as I know, in imminent danger of death. My enemies shall have to wait a bit longer. My reflections this morning are inspired by a series of posts at TGC including “The Song Scott . . . Continue reading →

What Is And Is Not New About The New Covenant

by on January 11, 2023 | 17 Comments

Because the Baptist tradition(s) operate from a set of assumptions that are, in certain important ways, distinct from those with which the Reformation churches operate regarding the history of redemption it can be a challenge for those of us within the Reformed . . . Continue reading →

Lordship Salvation, The Federal Vision, And The Covenant Theology That The Reformation Rejected

Or Why History Is Useful

by on January 9, 2023 | 14 Comments

More than twenty years ago, in the summer of 2001, Mike Horton and I were sitting beside a hotel swimming pool one evening during Synod Escondido, along with several ministers from our federation (denomination) of churches (the United Reformed Churches in North . . . Continue reading →

Embracing The Reformation Doctrine Of Salvation Is Not “Wearying From The Battle”

by on January 2, 2023 | 17 Comments

John MacArthur is the old lion of modified Dispensationalism, which has been a gateway for many into the Reformation, but which has also been an obstacle to the Reformation. State Of The Controversy One way in which that has been true is . . . Continue reading →

One Major Difference Between The Reformed And The Evangelicals

by on December 30, 2022 | 8 Comments

American evangelical religion, whether one traces it to Edwards, Whitefield, and Wesley or to the nineteenth-century revivalists (e.g., Charles Finney), has always been oriented around personalities. Reasonably, American evangelical Christians nurtured in the personality-oriented tradition assume that pattern as the norm when . . . Continue reading →

Polity Matters: How Reformed Churches Might Have Handled The Chandler Situation

by on December 23, 2022 | 6 Comments

Matt Chandler is the lead pastor of The Village Church, a megachurch of about 14,000 members in Flower Mound, TX, which is a northern suburb in the Dallas-Ft Worth metroplex (it is the top of the triangle of the three). After the . . . Continue reading →

On Cancelling The Christian Sabbath And The Means Of Grace

Or Why Christ Is More Important Than Christmas

by on December 19, 2022 | 13 Comments

Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the . . . Continue reading →

Saturday Psalm Series: Keith Getty’s Critique Of Contemporary Worship Music Is A Step In The Right Direction

by on December 17, 2022 | 7 Comments

In 2008, Mike Horton called attention to the phenomenon of a radically subjective turn in American evangelicalism, in Christless Christianity. Unfortunately, a single book diagnosing the deep sickness of American evangelical Christianity was not enough to turn the tide. In that volume, Mike . . . Continue reading →