Elijah was gone, taken directly to heaven (2 Kgs 2:1). The kingdom of Israel was a corrupt mess. Ahaziah had instructed his people to inquire of Baal-zebub, god of Ekron, to see if he would recover. This was a fatal decision (2 Kgs 1:2–4, 16). Continue reading →
Christian Liberty
Heidelminicast Q&A: Can The Church Bind A Christian’s Conscience Contrary To God’s Word?
In this episode Dr Clark answers a question about Christian liberty and explains what sola Scriptura means. Continue reading →
Should We Curse God and Die?
As Christians in America, and especially the PCA, are still reeling and grieving with our brothers and sisters at Covenant Presbyterian Church and the Covenant School in Nashville, there is an understandable and appropriate righteous indignation that we have all felt welling . . . Continue reading →
Regarding Gambling
I do not write this out of any concern that gambling is necessarily a widespread practice among Christians, though I would not be surprised to find it so, since “Do not be conformed to this age” does not appear to be energetically pursued today. I write, instead, because I am surprised at the virtual silence on the question of the propriety of gambling among professing Christians. Continue reading →
Is It A Sin If I Do Not Read The Bible Every Day?
As a young evangelical convert, I learned three things right away: God commands us to pray and read our Bibles every morning (the quiet time), if we listen closely enough we can hear direct revelation from God apart from Scripture (the still, . . . Continue reading →
Review: J. M. Vorster’s The Gift of Life (Part 1): Political Liberalism Or Liberation Theology?
North-West University Professor J. M. Vorster’s The Gift of Life: Toward an ethic of human personhood (2021) represents a crowning of his career as a Reformed Pastor, theologian, and ethicist in the South African context.1 I review this volume as a fellow . . . Continue reading →
Ursinus Against The Antinomians, Libertines, And Similar Fanatics Who Deny That The Decalogue Is For Teaching in the Christian Church (Objection 6)
Obj. 6. Christians are not governed by the law, but by the Spirit of regeneration, according as it is said, “The law is not made for a righteous man.” (1 Tim. 1:9.) Therefore, the law ought not to be taught among Christians. . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 203: A Christmas Story (With A Santa Clause)
We’re interrupting our series on the Apostles’ Creed to talk about Christmas. Usually at this time of year I post or repost some of the essays on the Heidelblog about Christmas but this year I thought it might be useful to talk . . . Continue reading →
The Nature And Value Of Christian Liberty
Do you ever feel like other people are better Christians than you are? Maybe they read their Bibles more, give more money to the church, pray more for others, are involved in church ministry, do more good deeds, or never seem to . . . Continue reading →
Who Is The Legalist?
There is much antinomianism in the modern evangelical church. By antinomianism I mean the rejection of a fixed moral law and specifically to the rejection of God’s moral law as summarized in the Ten Commandments and applied in the New Testament to . . . Continue reading →
Three Benefits Of The Reformed Confession
…We do this first, by our agreed upon confession. Presbyterians confess as biblical the statement of faith found in the Westminster Confession of Faith, which says: “All synods or councils, since the Apostles’ times, whether general or particular, may err; and many . . . Continue reading →
William Perkins On Nicodemism
“First, among the Gentiles at Antioch, he uses Christian liberty in eating things forbidden by the ceremonial law. Yet after the coming of certain Jews from Jerusalem, he separates himself from the Gentiles and plays the Jew among the Jews. Like to . . . Continue reading →
Gothard Replaced The Covenant Of Grace With A Covenant Of Works
One of the formative experiences of the earliest part of my Christian life was my exposure to Bill Gothard and the Institute of Basic Youth Conflicts. Each night for several nights we piled into the church bus (it was a Southern Baptist . . . Continue reading →
New Resource Page: On Christian Liberty
The doctrine of Christian liberty was one of the principal achievements of the Protestant Reformation. The medieval church had come to think that there are two streams of authority, Scripture and an alleged unwritten apostolic tradition curated by the church. Over time . . . Continue reading →
With Presbycast In The Cantina On Common Grace, Nature And Grace, Eschatology, And Christian Liberty
The Presbycast guys are at it again, this time they have set up an online Star Wars Cantina. It is a rough neighborhood but they took good care of me and I escaped unhurt. I cannot speak for all the other guests . . . Continue reading →
Why Not Stick To History? Short Answer: The Twofold Kingdom (Duplex Regimen)
A popular political commentator published a book a few years ago titled Shut Up And Sing, in which she argued that famous athletes and other entertainers should keep their political and cultural opinions to themselves and not seek to use their fame to . . . Continue reading →
Of Masks And The Weaker Brothers
Introduction One of the stranger controversies to emerge in the broader Christian community and within congregations in the course of the Covid-19 pandemic has been over masks, whether the state has the authority to require citizens to wear masks, whether the church . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 151: Christ, Culture, And Covid-19
The Covid-19 Shutdown of 2020 has begun to produce a reaction, at least in the USA. Recently we have seen demonstrations large and small in several states and particularly here in California. The various orders issued by governors, mayors, and county executives . . . Continue reading →
Samuel Rutherford: “The Whole Bulk Of The Judicial Laws…Is Expired”
That this Author saith, God commanded those that transgressed his holy Law with an high hand, and presumptuously to be killed, lest they should live and profane his holy things; I defend not: But sure Erastus erreth, who will have all such . . . Continue reading →
Christian Liberty: A Product Of Sola Scriptura
October is Reformation month for confessional Protestants, i.e., those Reformed, Lutheran, and Anglican Churches that trace their roots to the Protestant Reformation. One of the basic tenets of the Reformation was sola Scriptura, according to Scripture alone. By “Scripture alone” we do . . . Continue reading →