In Stephen J. Nichol’s fine biography on J. Gresham Machen, he refers to historian Bradley Longfield’s description of the real problem within the church during the modernist controversy: namely, the moderates, whom Machen called the “indifferentists.” Machen wrote in a letter to . . . Continue reading →
Author Archives: R. Scott Clark
Why The Gospel Is Not In The Stars: Nature Is Not Grace
In 1882 the Lutheran minister Joseph A. Seiss (1823-1904) published the provocative volume, The Gospel in the Stars, Or, Prímeval Astronomy (Philadelphia: E. Claxton & company, 1882). Evidently it found an audience and it has been reprinted as recently as the early . . . Continue reading →
Machen’s Other Opponents: The Moderates
Machen considered the church in the book’s final chapter, where he argued that since modernism was a different religion altogether, the honorable thing for modernists to do was to withdraw from the church. Knowing this to be unlikely, Machen appealed to moderates . . . Continue reading →
The Question Of The Hour In The PCA
The question of the hour is whether missional contextualization requires celibate gay/same-sex-attracted (SSA) “Side B” pastors. The supporters of (or tolerators of) Side B ministers and the novel doctrine that goes along with them would not say that mission-driven cultural accommodation (per . . . Continue reading →
Would You Send Your Child Away From The Dinner Table Unfed Weekly?
I can understand why evangelicals and others, who do not have a covenantal theology, would exile their children during public worship but I do not understand why so many ostensibly Reformed congregations have adopted the practice of dismissing their covenant children from . . . Continue reading →
Dear Wandering Sheep
Dear Wandering Sheep, You were baptized into the visible church. You were catechized. You made a profession of faith but, for one reason or another, you wandered away from the church. This letter is addressed to you. Why People Wander: The Visible . . . Continue reading →
There Is No Such Thing As A “Five Point” Calvinist
There are, therefore, more than five points and — as far as the confessions and the Reformed dogmaticians from Calvin to Kuyper are concerned — there cannot be such a thing as a “five-point Calvinist” or “five-point Reformed Christian” who owns just . . . Continue reading →
From Commune To Christ
The breaking point, for me, came during a weeklong music festival known as Vortex I. Funded jointly by the Portland counterculture and the Oregon government, it was meant to divert attention from an appearance by President Nixon and put a peaceful face . . . Continue reading →
Trueman: The Reformed Church Is A Home For Exiles
We live in a time of exile. At least those of us do who hold to traditional Christian beliefs. The strident rhetoric of scientism has made belief in the supernatural look ridiculous. The Pill, no-fault divorce, and now gay marriage have made . . . Continue reading →
Why You Should Pay Attention To The Reconstructionists In Moscow, ID
Previous accounts of Christian Reconstructionists have tended to focus on these believers’ theocratic vision of a future Christian polity rather than their separation from mainstream society. Today, Gribben concludes, these practitioners of “strategies of hibernation” may no longer be as marginal as . . . Continue reading →
GRN To Former Moderators: You Are Not Building Trust
The first is that a preemptive disparaging of opponent’s concerns is not likely to achieve the letters’ stated goal of unity in the PCA. When Christian leaders ask, “Are we being biblically faithful?” an answer that derides the nature and motive of . . . Continue reading →
Confessional Concerns And Conflict In The PCA With Presbycast
As always good, Presbyterian, fun was had with PCA Ruling Elder Brad “Chortles” Isbell and Wresbyterian on Presbycast last night as we discussed the Open Letter, the essay by the founder of the National Partnership, and the status and function of the . . . Continue reading →
In The Wake Of The SBC: Baptists Are Neither Reformed Nor Calvinist
The Southern Baptist Convention met and fought this week. Some who lost are talking about “leaving.” Continue reading
Discovering The Reformed Confession Across The Globe
The HB receives email and comments from across the globe on a regular basis. Two comments came in yesterday that were particularly poignant. Continue reading
Heads (Or Ears) Up: Presbycast Tonight On The Open Letter And Reaction
I am scheduled to talk with Brad “Chortles” Isbell on the Presbycast this evening Continue reading
Abrahamic Bookends
Father Abraham “Father Abraham has many sons, many sons has father Abraham…”. Amen! How many American evangelicals have sung that youth-group chorus without appreciating the implications of what they were singing? The Apostle Paul writes, What then shall we say was gained . . . Continue reading →
More Thoughts About The PCA: Liberal v Conservative Is The Wrong Paradigm
I have had some interesting and illuminating responses to my analysis and critique of the anonymous “Open Letter” (OL) to the PCA published last week. Continue reading
Your Favorite Apologist Does Not Define Christianity
Apologetics is an important, necessary discipline. Christians are called by Scripture to give a reason for our hope to everyone who asks (1 Pet 3:15). There is a long history of apologists, however, damaging Christian doctrine in order to defend the faith and laity are tempted to follow them. Continue reading
Trueman: Gay Pride Month Is A Window On The West
Pride month, and its commercial sponsors, is an appropriate key to understanding the priorities of the modern West. It celebrates hedonistic self-assertion. It mocks the values of the past. It uses the language of inclusion to exclude anybody who will not wholeheartedly . . . Continue reading →
How “The Letter” Reads To An Outsider
Someone, probably an unofficial committee of some sort within the PCA, has published an open letter to others in the PCA.