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.

AGR On The State Of Modern Preaching (1) With W. Robert Godfrey

R. Scott Clark

on October 10, 2018

Scripture says: “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, . . . Continue reading →

Prayer, Privacy, And Piety

R. Scott Clark

on October 7, 2018 | 8 Comments

When teaching his disciples about prayer, our Lord said: And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. . . . Continue reading →

Does Hebrews Teach That Jesus Was The First Christian?

R. Scott Clark

on October 6, 2018 | 15 Comments

There has long been an attempt in certain segments of Christianity to make Jesus into the first Christian. Thomas Jefferson did it. He removed the portions of the New Testament that he did not like, especially those parts that taught the divinity . . . Continue reading →

Niebuhr On The Marcionite Character Of Theological Modernism

R. Scott Clark

on October 4, 2018 | 15 Comments

A God without wrath bought men without sinto a Kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross. H. Richard Niebuhr, The Kingdom of God in America (New York: Harper, 1937), 193. (HT: David Chin)

Does Calvinism Lead To Domestic Violence?

R. Scott Clark

on October 3, 2018 | 6 Comments

Few bogeyman frighten Moderns as much as Calvin apparently does. He has been frightening them since about the onset of the European, British, and American Enlightenment movements and has served as a bogeyman for longer than that. He was caricatured during his . . . Continue reading →

AGR on Romans: The Power of God For Salvation (3)

R. Scott Clark

on October 2, 2018

Romans is one of the greatest resources available to the Christian faith and life. Written in the mid-to late AD 50s to the congregation in Rome, Paul sent this pastoral letter to make clear the gospel, that salvation is from the Lord, . . . Continue reading →

Jesus Saves The Prince Of The Publicans

R. Scott Clark

on October 2, 2018 | 4 Comments

One of the more persistent charges leveled against Jesus is that he associated with the wrong sort of people. One of the best examples of the tension between the way Jesus understands the Kingdom of God and the way that his critics . . . Continue reading →

Ritual Defamation: A Rite Of Political Correctness

R. Scott Clark

on October 1, 2018 | 1 Comment

Defamation is the destruction or attempted destruction of the reputation, status, character or standing in the community of a person or group of persons by unfair, wrongful, or malicious speech or publication. For the purposes of this essay, the central element is . . . Continue reading →

Office Hours: On Being Reformed

R. Scott Clark

on October 1, 2018

By the early 17th century, at the Synod of Dort in 1618–19, when the Reformed churches sent delegates from the British Isles, the German Palatinate, and the Dutch provinces to consider and respond to the challenges to Reformed theology, piety, and practice . . . Continue reading →

With The Regular Reformed Guys On The Heidelberg Catechism

R. Scott Clark

on September 30, 2018 | 1 Comment

The first job of the HB is to call attention to the Heidelberg Catechism, an outstanding Reformed catechism published in 1563 in the Palatinate, the capital of which was Heidelberg. Composed of 129 questions and answers about the Christian faith beginning with . . . Continue reading →

Millennial Perfectionism And The Social Media Covenant Of Works

R. Scott Clark

on September 29, 2018 | 2 Comments

If you are a Millennial, relax. This is not another critique. I do spend a fair bit of time with Millennials, however, and I have observed some interesting trends. One of these observations was reinforced recently in an article by Thomas Curran . . . Continue reading →

Trueman On Education And Gulags

R. Scott Clark

on September 29, 2018 | 1 Comment

I am over fifty. I no longer care what anyone except my wife thinks about me. That particularly applies to anyone under the age of thirty-five. You should therefore feel free to disagree with me on anything I say because it is . . . Continue reading →

Church History For Children: A Colorful Past

R. Scott Clark

on September 28, 2018 | 2 Comments

One important way to connect children to the past is through family pictures. Our house is a little old-fashioned and we have family photos in our hall way and living room that go back to the late 19th century. Church history is . . . Continue reading →

James Ussher On General Equity

R. Scott Clark

on September 28, 2018 | 2 Comments

What call you the Judicial Law? That wherein God appointed a Form of Politic and Civil Government of the Common-wealth of the Jews: Which therefore is ceased with the Dissolution of that State, for which it was ordained; saving only in the . . . Continue reading →

AGR on Romans: The Power of God For Salvation (2)

R. Scott Clark

on September 27, 2018

This is part 2 of our series on Romans. for Abounding Grace Radio. Romans is one of the greatest resources available to the Christian faith and life. Written in the mid-to late AD 50s to the congregation in Rome, Paul sent this . . . Continue reading →

With Presbycast On Theonomy

R. Scott Clark

on September 26, 2018 | 7 Comments

In its narrow, strict sense theonomy is the belief in the “abiding validity” of the judicial laws of the old (Mosaic) covenant “in exhaustive detail.” It is, as W. Robert Godfrey writes, an appealing movement, which is strongly supported by their Postmillennial . . . Continue reading →

Canons Of Dort (3): Synod Approaches

R. Scott Clark

on September 25, 2018 | 7 Comments

We live now in a “victim culture.” The best example of this is so-called “intersectionality.” This is a reference to the different ways in which one has been victimized. They intersect in the victim. It is like a game, the one with the great number of claims to victim status wins. Heather MacDonald explains: “‘Intersectionality’ refers to the increased oppression allegedly experienced by individuals who can check off several categories of victimhood—being female, black, and trans, say.” Continue reading →

The English Congregationalists And Presbyterians Confessed The Rule Of Worship

R. Scott Clark

on September 22, 2018 | 7 Comments

XVI. That God is to be worshipped according to His own will, and that only in and through Jesus Christ. A New Confession of Faith (1654) in James T. Dennison Jr., ed., Reformed Confessions of the 16th and 17th Centuries in English . . . Continue reading →

Heidelcontest: First Person To Answer This Question Wins A Free Copy Of On Being Reformed (UPDATED)

R. Scott Clark

on September 21, 2018 | 6 Comments

Thanks to the generosity of Crawford Gribben (who organized the project and did the thankless work of herding cats), we have a copy of On Being Reformed: Debates Over A Theological Identity to give away. Be the first person to call the . . . Continue reading →

Conspiracy Theories Are Bunk

R. Scott Clark

on September 21, 2018 | 13 Comments

Henry Ford (1863–1947), founder of the Ford Motor Company, famously said, “History is bunk.” That may be sometimes true. Historians do make mistakes. This is why all histories must be read with a critical eye. Not all theories of history are equally . . . Continue reading →

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