We must read the injunctions to “sing a new song” in light of what the New Testament teaches us about types, (fore)shadows, and copies. Continue reading →
Does “Sing To Him A New Song” Justify Praise Songs?
Author Archives: R. Scott Clark
Regensburg And Regensburg II: Trying To Reconcile Irreconcilable Differences On Justification
Introduction When in 1618 the Reformed theologian J. H. Alsted (1588–1638) declared that the Protestant doctrine of justification is that “article of faith by which the church stands or falls” (articulus stantis et candentis ecclesiae), he was only repeating what all Protestants . . . Continue reading →
Luther On Bound Choice: Celebrating The Recovery Of The Doctrine Of Sola Gratia (Part 1)
In 1580, when the Lutherans and the Reformed met at Montbeilard, when the topic turned to predestination, Theodore Beza (1519–1605) rose, lifted his copy of Luther’s Concerning Bound Choice (De servo arbitrio), and said, “We stand with Luther.”1 The Lutheran representatives suggested . . . Continue reading →
A Meditation On Divine Immensity
One of the turning points of my early Christian life was reading J. I. Packer’s Knowing God.1 That book did what better books should do: it helped me understand Scripture and thereby to know God in a true and more profound way. . . . Continue reading →
James K. A. Smith’s Bad Argument Is An Indicator Of Improving Health In The CRC
Regular readers of this space are aware that there is something of a confessional renaissance within the Christian Reformed Church in North America. For example, in 2023, Synod rejected decisively an appeal by a prominent progressive CRC congregation against Synod’s decision upholding . . . Continue reading →
Suffered Under Pontius Pilate
The first part of the fourth article of our “undoubted Christian faith” (Heidelberg Catechism 22), which we confess in the Apostles’ Creed, says Christ “suffered under Pontius Pilate” (passus sub Pontio Pilato). This is a remarkable thing to say. After all, we . . . Continue reading →
Do Reformed Christians Confess The Sabbath?
Justin Taylor has posted material from Tom Schreiner’s 40 Questions About Christians and Biblical Law, which argues, “I do not believe the Sabbath is required for believers now that the new covenant has arrived in the person of Jesus Christ.”1 Schreiner considers the . . . Continue reading →
Was Paul Mean?
I was meditating on Paul’s words in 2 Thessalonians 3:6–12. Paul was concerned about those in the congregation who were obsessed with and confused over Jesus’ return (parousia). They had what theologians (rightly) call an “over realized eschatology.” In their anticipation of . . . Continue reading →
Review: The Gospel in the Stars By Joseph A. Seiss
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 1970s and . . . Continue reading →
Christ Did Not Change But The Water Did
I was walking amidst the rows of desks as I was engaging the students in a discussion about the humanity of Christ. When I reached the end of the room, as I recall, I was leaning against the wall. Trying to drive . . . Continue reading →
So What? How Does Homosexual Marriage Affect Me?
Last Friday, KFI (AM 640 Los Angeles) afternoon talker John Kobylt made the argument that one reason Prop 8 was overturned is that proponents of Prop 8 could not show that homosexual marriage actually creates any adverse effects or bad outcomes. I . . . Continue reading →
When Pastors Do Not Pay Attention
Remarkably, after two decades of controversy over the self-described Federal Vision movement, there are pastors and teachers who do not seem to understand it.1 One can see why one might have been confused in the early days of the discussion, but now, . . . Continue reading →
You Are Not The Judge Of Your Sanctification: God’s Word Is
Someone told me in high school that if I passed human physiology we would get to see cadavers. But in order to take human physiology I had to take biology, so I spent a fair bit of time my senior year studying . . . Continue reading →
That He Might Bear In His Humanity
Already in the New Testament, the church faced one of its greatest and deadliest heresies: the denial of Jesus’ humanity. The Greeks had room for men becoming gods and human-like behavior by the gods, but they had no room for a God-Man. Continue reading →
The Order Of Love (Ordo Amoris): Proximity, Not Ethnicity (Part 3)
So far in this brief series I have alluded to Aquinas’ discussion of the ordo amoris (order of love). It was by reading Thomas that I was sent back to Augustine but now we come to Aquinas’ own discussion of the order . . . Continue reading →
Why Evangelicals Cannot Be Trusted With The Bible
Carolyn Arends wants to give an argument for the benefits of God’s moral law, but she lacks the categories by which to do it. Her argument has only two categories: good/bad, and relationships. The title and subtitle of her essay should alarm . . . Continue reading →
Thoughts On Bible Translations
We live in an uncertain age. One German sociologist characterizes our time as defined by liquidity. This is a term we might associate with financial matters, but it applies to vocation and to virtually every other sphere of life. There was a . . . Continue reading →
Sexual Liberation, Natural Law, And The Modern Resistance To Fixed Moral Norms
In the 1960s it was common to hear American civil rights leaders appeal to natural justice and natural law in defense of the extension of civil rights to oppressed peoples, namely African Americans. Those arguments were compelling to Americans because they are . . . Continue reading →
No Barbarian Or Scythian
On February 21 of this year, near the end of the annual American observance of Black History Month, a congregation in the Presbyterian Church in America, held a special dinner. The church website said, “This is a dinner with our special speaker, . . . Continue reading →
Of Militants And Moderates
Darryl Hart (as always) has a provocative (in the best sense) article at Old Life.1 His use of the categories “militants” and “moderates” is very useful and helpful. To anticipate a criticism: yes, Reformed people can sometimes be jerks.2 Neither Darryl nor . . . Continue reading →