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.

With The Laymen’s Lounge Podcast: What Are Proper Expectations For the Christian Life?

by R. Scott Clark on September 15, 2020

Jason Estopinal is the host of the podcast and he writes: “It’s been said that for fish that living under water, with all they’ve ever known is underwater living, and all the other fish around them also only know underwater living—that these . . . Continue reading →

Science Becomes Unsettled Again

by R. Scott Clark on September 15, 2020

A major correction has been issued by the American Journal of Psychiatry. The authors and editors of an October 2019 study, titled “Reduction in mental health treatment utilization among transgender individuals after gender-affirming surgeries: a total population study,” have retracted its primary . . . Continue reading →

Pourquoi Je ne Traverserai Pas le Tibre Avec Mark Galli

by R. Scott Clark on September 14, 2020

L’expression «traverser le Tibre» [swimming the Tiber] est une métaphore pour désigner la conversion du Protestantisme au Catholicisme Romain. Je n’ai pas été en mesure de déterminer ses origines, mais le Dictionary of Christianese online fait remonter l’expression à 1963, ce qui, . . . Continue reading →

Christian, Pray For Your Romans 13 Ministers

by R. Scott Clark on September 14, 2020

The Contested Legacy Of Singing God’s Inspired Songs In The Reformed Churches In South Africa

by R. Scott Clark on September 14, 2020

The scope of this article is focused on an investigation of song in worship in the period leading up to and including the 150-year history of the RCSA. It focuses on the period from the dissenting ‘Doppers’ to the adoption of the . . . Continue reading →

What Islamism And Wokeism Have In Common

by R. Scott Clark on September 11, 2020

It never occurred to me that free speech would come under threat in my newly adopted country. Even when I first encountered what has come to be known as “cancel culture”—in 2014 I was invited to receive an honorary degree at Brandeis . . . Continue reading →

Why I Will Not Follow Mark Galli Across The Tiber

by R. Scott Clark on September 10, 2020

The phrase “swimming the Tiber” is a metaphor for converting from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism. I have not been able to determine its origins but the online Dictionary of Christianese traces the expression to 1963, which, if true, would mean that it . . . Continue reading →

Justification And Sanctification: The Twofold Grace Of Salvation

by R. Scott Clark on September 10, 2020

It’s not uncommon to hear some people appeal to James 2:24 in order to argue that God saves people by faith plus works. In particular, some argue against the doctrine of justification by faith alone by appealing to this verse. They tend . . . Continue reading →

Before The Barbarians

by R. Scott Clark on September 10, 2020

This was exciting to those of us who began graduate school before political correctness set in. It made interpretation into a high-stakes game. You had to be wary to do it well, to focus acutely on the phenomena in front of you . . . Continue reading →

How Virtue Ethics Helps Address Final Salvation Through Works

by R. Scott Clark on September 9, 2020

Christian ethical theory has seen various changes over the centuries, but I believe that one of the reasons why some think that we need to teach the idea of final rewards in order to make obedience important owes to the dominance of . . . Continue reading →

New Resource Page: Political Correctness

by R. Scott Clark on September 8, 2020

Political correctness (PC) is a movement whose roots are in Marxist-Leninism and the Communist Revolution in Russia of 1917. According to this dogma, speech is said to be “politically correct” when it conforms to the dictates of the party. In its original . . . Continue reading →

Office Hours: Meet Brad Bitner

by R. Scott Clark on September 8, 2020

Forty years ago this fall semester, Westminster Seminary California welcomed its first incoming class of students. Our founding faculty members began to retire about 20 years ago. Now some of our second generation faculty have retired or been called to serve the . . . Continue reading →

Stella Morabito: The Significance Of Mobs

by R. Scott Clark on September 7, 2020

What’s the real purpose of the BLM harassment of people dining outdoors in Washington, DC, trying to force them to raise their fist in “solidarity” with the Marxist BLM trope? They do it in the same manner of the old childhood bully . . . Continue reading →

What Is God’s Will For You In The Ninth Commandment?

by R. Scott Clark on September 5, 2020

Q. 112. What is God’s will for you in the ninth commandment? A.That I never give false testimony against anyone, twist no one’s words, not gossip or slander, nor join condemning anyone rashly or without a hearing. Rather, I should avoid, under penalty . . . Continue reading →

QAnon, Evangelical Gnosticsm, Manichaeism, And The Kingdom Of The Cults

by R. Scott Clark on September 2, 2020

In the early 2nd century one of the gravest threats faced by the early Christians was a movement that we know as Gnosticism. It thrived by radically revising Christianity. According to the Gnostics, the material world is evil, the Creator God of the . . . Continue reading →

In His Covenant Faithfulness He Remembered Us In Our Low Estate

by R. Scott Clark on September 1, 2020

It is Yahweh who remembered us in our low estate, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever; and snatched us from our foes, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever; he who gives food to all flesh, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever. Give . . . Continue reading →

This Is Not Reformed Theology

by R. Scott Clark on September 1, 2020

Particular Baptist Covenant Theology was essentially the idea that the Covenant of Grace is synonymous with the New Covenant and was only revealed in the previous biblical covenants (Abrahamic, Davidic, etc.) but that the Biblical Covenants were not the Covenant of Grace . . . Continue reading →

The Particular Baptists Are Right About This

by R. Scott Clark on August 30, 2020

If one views the substance of the Covenant of Grace as synonymous with or being in substance the same as say the Abrahamic Covenant however, then paedobaptism is the logical conclusion. Ryan Davidson Five Reasons For Considering The 1689 Confession of Faith . . . Continue reading →

New: Resources On The Doctrine Of Justification

by R. Scott Clark on August 29, 2020

According to J. H. Alsted (1588–1638), “the article justification is said to be the article of the standing or falling of the church.” It was said to be such by the confessionally Reformed and Lutheran alike. The language was probably borrowed from . . . Continue reading →