In our ancient church course we have been working through the basic ideas and foundational figures in the Gnostic movement of the second century AD.
Valentinus, Marcion, And Contemporary Christianity
Author Archives: R. Scott Clark
Another Salvo (This One From The Left) Against The 1619 Project
On a hot, drowsy August Saturday, a copy of the New York Times Magazine devoted entirely to something called The 1619 Project landed on my doorstep, and immediately grabbed my attention. It took me little time to comprehend the project’s purpose, or . . . Continue reading →
A Meditation On The Virtue Of Truthfulness (And Against Deconstructionism)
A meditation on truthfulness from Galatians 4:16, Ephesians 4:15; John 18:38; and 1 John 2:21–24. Continue reading →
Is Missing Church A Sin?
Joe writes, “Is missing church a sin? Like if my child has a game, if I’m on vacation, or have to work?” Over the years many people have asked me some version of this question. It is an important question, one faced by the New Testament church and by the church in the twenty-first century. Continue reading →
Proof Of The Pauline-Augustinian Doctrine Of Human Depravity And Why Apologists Should Stay In Their Lane
Debra J. Saunders is an old-school journalist who, like other writers who are escaping the corrupt and corrupting media structure, has fled to Substack to publish. Continue reading
Were The Protestant Reformers Missionary Failures? Challenging The Nineteenth-Century Narrative
One of the stories told about the Reformation in missiological circles is that the reformers weren’t interested in seeing the gospel go to the ends of the earth.
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The Heart Of The Romanist Appeal To Protestants: Skepticism
Protestants are told that they cannot trust their own interpretations of Scripture, church history, the church fathers, or anything else for that matter. They cannot trust their own evaluations of the evidence. They cannot trust themselves to tell the difference between black and white. Their sensory and rational faculties are attacked at every point. Those who buy into this way of thinking start to doubt everything, and they start to wonder where they can find stable ground. The Roman apologist is waiting to tell them that the only ground of certainty is Rome. Rome will tell you what is black and what is white. Continue reading →
The Need Of The Hour: Repentance
Dear Christians, the great need of the hour is collective humility and repentance for our sins, for our selfishness, for our idolatries, and our attempts to make our home in this world in denial of our heavenly citizenship. And we shouldn’t miss the silver lining in all of this. We are still able to publish the best news ever, a lamp is still shining in Babylon, and a voice is still sounding out, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Continue reading →
Seeker, Franchise, Or Reforming: Moving Beyond Some Current Models In Reformed Church Planting To Recover The Whole Mission
The need is great, the mission is great but our God is greater and his grace is greater than all our sin and weakness. Pray for the harvest. Organize for the mission (to plant churches) and ask yourself where your congregation falls in the seeker — franchise — reforming continuum: is there a passion for the whole mission? Continue reading →
What If What The Church Needs Is Not A New Christendom?
Christianity is greatest when…
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Video: With Chris Coleman On The Grounds, Reason, And Fruit Of The Second Service On The Lord’s Day
A video discussion with Pastor Chris Coleman on the biblical and historical grounds for and the fruit of the second service on the Lord’s Day. Continue reading →
What To Do About Halloween On The Sabbath?
There are three major questions here: Halloween, the Sabbath, and how Christians ought to relate their faith in Christ to their life in the broader culture. Continue reading →
Therapeutic-Gnostic Pentecostalism?
If the mainstream of American evangelicalism has become entirely captive to what Christian Smith, in 2009, called “moralistic therapeutic deism” much of the rest of it has become a subsidiary: Gnostic therapeutic pentecostalism. Continue reading →
Riddlebarger: It Is Not A Sin Not To Have All The Answers
It is not a sin, after all, not to have all the answers. Continue reading →
Advocates Of Religious Liberty Should Care About Federal Vaccine Mandates
Although much of the rhetoric surrounding the new federal vaccine mandates focuses on individual rights—“how dare they force me to inject something into my body?”—the government can generally regulate its own employees, or those it funds with Medicaid/Medicare dollars, so the strongest . . . Continue reading →
Is The Neo-Evangelical Coalition Worth Saving?
Yesterday Trevin Wax crystalized the case for preserving the neo-evangelical coalition, which emerged after World War II and in so doing, for Reformed confessionalists, he has also made the case against the neo-evangelical coalition. What is that coalition and what are its attractions . . . Continue reading →
Trueman On Casting The First Stone
Winston Churchill famously quipped that history would be kind to him, for he intended to write it. That line came to mind last week when I saw a tweet about America’s slave-owning past. It pointed out the rather obvious fact that Jonathan . . . Continue reading →
What If Students Were Praying In Jesus’ Name?
A local paper reports that the Thomas More Society, which specializes in religious liberty litigation, has sued the State of California over its inclusion of an Aztec prayer in the curriculum as an activity. Continue reading
Are Mental Images Of God Unavoidable?
Q. 109. What sins are forbidden in the second commandment? A. The sins forbidden in the second commandment are, all devising, counseling, commanding, using, and any wise approving, any religious worship not instituted by God himself; the making any representation of God, . . . Continue reading →
Another Sign Of The Collapse Of Liberal Education
Talk About "Systemic" Issues
The more I spoke out about these issues, the more retaliation I faced. Continue reading →