As a young and newly converted evangelical, I was quickly introduced to the evangelical pop sub-culture that included Contemporary Christian Music (CCM). In 1969 the famous CCM artist Larry Norman released “I Wish We’d All Been Ready.” …The premise of the song . . . Continue reading →
Author Archives: R. Scott Clark
Everything Is A Construct
The deconstructionists have a point: everything created is a construct. Continue reading
The Myth Of The Bell Rope
Events described by the author of the Savage manuscript, in other words, provide an opportunity to reimagine Edwards as an active promoter of the most radical dimensions of the evangelical new birth experience—a figure who, during the early months of the Awakening, . . . Continue reading →
The First Great Awakening: “A Confus’d But Very Affecting Noise”
It is difficult to imagine. Jonathan Edwards countenancing the “Confus’d, but very Affecting Noise” that erupted in Suffield, Massachusetts, on July 6, 1741. Yet there he stood, his loud voice rising in prayer above the din that emanated from an assembly of . . . Continue reading →
Office Hours: The Unfolding Word
The Bible is a big book. That’s what J. I. Packer told us seminary students in 1987. He was right. Not only that but it was written over 1,500 years, in three different languages, in multiple settings, under multiple governments, by multiple . . . Continue reading →
I’ve Had It With Organized Religion
Had I a nickel for every time someone has said “I’ve had it with the church” or “I’ve had it with organized religion” as they walked away from the visible church, I could retire the national debt. Walking away from the visible . . . Continue reading →
Upside Down Hermeneutics
To say that 1 Timothy 2:12 is “difficult” Continue reading
Eating Christ: What, Why, And How (John 6:53–56)
So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him (John 6:53–56; ESV). Continue reading →
The Queering Of The Zoomers
The percentage of Zoomers self-identifying as LGBTQ is up dramatically. Continue reading →
God Is A Problem For Deconstructionists
Deconstructionism is at war with nature and God. Christians who think that they can make a pet of that tiger will be eaten by it.
The Synopsis Of Purer Theology On The Law And The Gospel
While it is from the Law (about which we disputed above) that we come to know the contagion and defect of our spiritual illness, that is, of sin, it is from the Gospel that we learn the remedy for it. …In the . . . Continue reading →
What The Biden Administration’s “Equality Act” Would Do
Witness the so-called Equality Act, which candidate Biden vowed to make a priority and which is set to be voted on by the House this week. What’s the Equality Act? And who could be against equality? Don’t let the name fool you. . . . Continue reading →
Critical Theory Is A New Species Of Gnosticism
Now, what Voegelin saw in these ideologies is manifestly present in Critical Race Theory and the rest of the “woke” insanity now spreading like a cancer through the body politic. But it is also to be found in certain tendencies coming from . . . Continue reading →
Did Public Education Really Introduce Mass Literacy?
Most Americans were illiterate before the creation of our public education system in the 1830s. That seems to be a popular assumption, but is it true? If you’re looking for statistics, they’re notoriously hard to get when it comes to literacy rates . . . Continue reading →
Heidelblog Update: Clear Your Browser History
We fixed the comment function below each post. If it does not appear to be corrected it means that you need to clear the history in your browser. Thanks for bearing with us.
—The Management
41% Of Americans Report Online Harassment Because Of Their Religious Affiliation
Some 41% of U.S. adults have been harassed online in at least one of six ways covered in a Pew Research Center survey conducted in September 2020. Those who have been subjected to these experiences cite a number of reasons for why . . . Continue reading →
Advice To Young Preachers
Time was that church historians also taught church polity and what is sometimes called pastoral theology. This was, I suppose, because we used to recognize that the study of the history of the practice of the church gives a certain insight into . . . Continue reading →
Riddlebarger: In Honor Of Warfield’s Centenary
B. B. Warfield died of an apparent heart attack on February 16, 1921. I thought it might a fitting tribute to talk about Warfield bibliography. One hundred years after his death, Warfield’s collected works are still readily available: The ten-volume “Oxford” set . . . Continue reading →
In A Shocking About Face Some Americans Want To Go Back To The Pre-Civil Rights Era
I ask that Smith College stop reducing my personhood to a racial category. Stop telling me what I must think and feel about myself. Stop presuming to know who I am or what my culture is based upon my skin color. Stop . . . Continue reading →
Why Your Congregation Should Have An Evening Service
For a long time, it was assumed that Reformed churches would hold a service both on Sunday morning and Sunday evening. Although still practiced in many congregations, this pattern is no longer necessarily the expectation or assumption concerning how the Lord’s Day . . . Continue reading →