Heidelcast 130: I Am That I Am (8)—Against Social Trinitarianism

Heidelcast

on December 31, 2017 | 5 Comments

In the last few episodes we have been considering the biblical, ecumenical (or creedal) doctrine of the Trinity. The God who is, is one in three persons. The historic doctrine of the Trinity is very clear. It is also great mystery but . . . Continue reading →

Heidelcast 129: I Am That I Am (7)—The Trinity In The New Testament

Heidelcast

on December 10, 2017 | 1 Comment

Augustine of Hippo used to say that what was concealed in the Old Testament is revealed in the New Testament and that is certainly true in case of the biblical doctrine of the Trinity. As we have discussed so far in the . . . Continue reading →

Heidelcast 128: I Am That I Am (6)—The Trinity And The Covenant Of Redemption

Heidelcast

on December 4, 2017 | 1 Comment

I am excited to back behind the Heidelmic again and judging from the discussions I am seeing in print and online it looks like it is none too soon. James Dolezal has published an important new book, All That Is In God: . . . Continue reading →

Wake Up And Smell The Coffee

R. Scott Clark

on December 1, 2017 | 15 Comments

…in this book Dolezal argues that a number of contemporary evangelical and Reformed theologians, whether wittingly or unwittingly, have rejected and/or wrongly redefined elements of classical Christian theism. In other words, they have rejected and/or wrongly redefined elements of the Christian doctrine . . . Continue reading →

Differences Between The Reformed And Remonstrants On The Trinity

R. Scott Clark

on May 22, 2017

3. The practical use of the doctrine of the Trinity. Thus the orthodox not only state the doctrine of the Trinity as the ground of all other Christian doctrine—they also state it as an eminently practical doctrine, as illustrated by the practical . . . Continue reading →

Heidelcast 127: I Am That I Am (5)—The Trinity

Heidelcast

on May 7, 2017 | 1 Comment

There strong indications in the Hebrew Scriptures that the God of the Bible is not only personal, but that he is multi-personal. In Genesis 1:1, Scripture says that Elohim (God) created the heavens and the earth. In the very next verse, however, . . . Continue reading →

Heidelcast 126: I Am That I Am (4)—The Trinity

Heidelcast

on April 12, 2017

Traditionally, at this place in theology, we should address the divine attributes in relation to the divine being/essence. Otto Weber (1902–66) challenged this approach by arguing that because Scripture reveals God first of all as Triune and his attributes in the light . . . Continue reading →

Heidelcast 125: I Am That I Am (3)—More On The Categorical Distinction

Heidelcast

on March 27, 2017

So far in this series we have been talking about what I call the categorical distinction, i.e., the Creator/creature distinction. At the 1518 Heidelberg Disputation Martin Luther unveiled what he called his theology of the cross, (theologia crucis) against what he described . . . Continue reading →

Heidelcast 124: I Am That I Am (2)—The Categorical Distinction

Heidelcast

on February 27, 2017 | 2 Comments

The Creator/creature distinction is fundamental to Christian theology. The Ancient Christian church defended it against the pagan doctrine of the eternality of matter. Scripture is very clear: “In the beginning God…”. On this point, the classical, confessional Reformed theologians built their distinction . . . Continue reading →

Ursinus On The Distinction Between Essence And Persons In The Trinity

R. Scott Clark

on February 14, 2017

We may now readily perceive the difference between the Essence of God, and the Persons, subsisting in the divine essence. By the term, Essence, we are to understand, in reference to this subject, that which the eternal Father, Son, and Holy Spirit . . . Continue reading →

Heidelcast 123: I Am That I Am (1)—The Categorical Distinction

Heidelcast

on February 13, 2017 | 4 Comments

This is the 1st episode of our series on the doctrine of God, ““I AM That I AM.” In older histories of theology it used to be said of the Reformed that they started with the divine decree and deduced (i.e., drew . . . Continue reading →

We Are Not Merely Discussing Economic Subordination

R. Scott Clark

on September 8, 2016 | 9 Comments

So Burk argues that Christ’s not grasping for equality with God belongs not only to the economic but to the ontological Trinity. That is an extraordinary claim! He is asserting far more than a simple acknowledgement that the Father and Son are . . . Continue reading →

Turretin Defended Divine Simplicity Against The Socinians

R. Scott Clark

on August 26, 2016

Is God most simple and free from all composition? We affirm against Socinus and Vorstius I. The Socinians agitate this controversy with us since they deny that simplicity can be attributed to God according to the Scriptures and think it should be . . . Continue reading →

Bavinck On Divine Simplicity

R. Scott Clark

on August 25, 2016 | 9 Comments

Now Christian theology has always been more or less conscious of this calling. On the whole, its teaching has been that God is “simple,” that is, sublimely free from all composition, and that therefore one cannot make any real [i.e., ontological] distinction . . . Continue reading →

Voetius Contra Middle Knowledge

R. Scott Clark

on August 13, 2016 | 2 Comments

From the points which have been so far upheld against middle knowledge it is clear that the whole difficulty in the present controversy reduces to this one point: Could free conditioned things, from eternity indifferent by nature to futurition or nonfuturition, have . . . Continue reading →

Turretin Contra Middle Knowledge

R. Scott Clark

on August 12, 2016 | 2 Comments

I. Although the knowledge of God is one and simple intrinsically no less than his essence, yet it can be considered in different ways extrinsically as to the objects. But it is commonly distinguished by theologians into the knowledge of simple intelligence . . . Continue reading →

Biblical, Ecumenical Christian Doctrines Are Not Adiaphora

R. Scott Clark

on July 15, 2016 | 3 Comments

Rachel Miller writes: “I hope that those who have read and recommend Dr. Grudem’s Systematic Theology will go back and reconsider what is being taught.” Continue reading →

Maybe It Comes Down To Method?

R. Scott Clark

on July 9, 2016 | 3 Comments

We understand that some strands of Baptist and evangelical life have not typically learned the habit of creedal thinking but have tended to emphasize independent Biblicism and personal exegesis. Perhaps that lies at the root of much of this dispute. But this . . . Continue reading →

Function And Subsistence Are Distinct Categories

R. Scott Clark

on July 9, 2016

Both the unity of the divine essence and the distinction of the persons within that essence are matters of ontology, of the divine being. Some, like Wollebius, define the divine persons as “the essence of God, with a certain manner of subsisting” . . . Continue reading →

What Heresy Is, Who Gets To Say, And Why?

R. Scott Clark

on July 4, 2016

Part of the problem has been that in using the word ‘heresy’ (which I didn’t but do now) we have been talking past each other. Heresy is not a word to be used carelessly and hurled indiscriminately at anyone who dares to . . . Continue reading →

The Heidelblog

Doctrine of God