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 is professor emeritus of church history and historical theology at Westminster Seminary California, where he taught for 29 years. He also taught at Wheaton College, Reformed Theological Seminary, and Concordia University. He has hosted the Heidelblog since 2007 and the Heidelcast since 2009.
The efficacy of baptism is not tied to that moment of time wherein it is administered; yet, notwithstanding, by the right use of this ordinance, the grace promised is not only offered, but really exhibited, and conferred, by the Holy Ghost, to . . . Continue reading →
“Indifferentism about doctrine makes no heroes of the faith.” Continue reading →
Here is the audio only version: RESOURCES Subscribe To The Heidelblog! Download the HeidelApp on Apple App Store or Google Play Browse the Heidelshop! The Heidelblog Resource Page Heidelmedia Resources The Ecumenical Creeds The Reformed Confessions The Heidelberg Catechism The Heidelberg Catechism: . . . Continue reading →
Recently, a Roman Catholic laywoman and a male companion (who stood behind her with his rosary, saying prayers) came to my door on behalf of St. Mary Catholic Church in Escondido. She asked if there were any Catholics in the house. I . . . Continue reading →
Law and Gospel By definition, the command to pray presupposes faith. One cannot ask anything of God unless he believes that God has made a promise. Part of the Roman problem is that they do not distinguish the law and the gospel: . . . Continue reading →
On September 10, 2020, the Calvin University newspaper, Chimes, reported that Neland Avenue Christian Reformed Church (CRC) had appointed a deacon who is in a same-sex marriage.1 It appeared that the CRC was about to take a dramatic step toward the so-called . . . Continue reading →
The Problem of Sin and Free Will In A Reformed Catholic, Perkins’s first charge against Rome, which he notes is not the principal issue, is that the Roman communion has corrupted the doctrine of sin. It comes under the heading of free . . . Continue reading →
There is a cadre of enthusiastic Gen-Z Presbyterians led by Richard Ackerman, a student at Dubuque Theological Seminary, who has announced plans to “reconquer” the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. (PCUSA) as part of a broader plan to take control of the mainline churches . . . Continue reading →
There are truly important works that simply have been forgotten or unjustly ignored. One of these is William Ames’s Fresh Suit Against Human Ceremonies in defense of the Reformed theology and practice of worship. Another is William Perkins’s 1597 treatise A Reformed Catholic, subtitled Or . . . Continue reading →
In preparing for its 250th anniversary, I reread the Declaration of Independence. What it says and does not say is fascinating. In between hot dogs, slices of apple pie, and before dusk falls and the fireworks commence in earnest, every American ought . . . Continue reading →
Happy 250th Birthday America! Continue reading →
Paul knows and affirms to the church at Corinth that the pagan world surrounding them was comprised of the sexually immoral, swindlers, the greedy, revilers, drunkards, and idolaters, but they (and the culture they created) were not his concern. What concerned Paul was not what was happening out there but what was happening in here, in the Corinthian congregation. It was not the gross sexual immorality of the pagans in Corinth that kept him up at night. Continue reading →
“We have met the enemy and he is us.” This is the line Walt Kelly popularized in his Pogo comic strip in 1970 and 1971.1 Kelly appropriated and modified a famous quote from Master Commander Oliver Perry regarding the American defeat of . . . Continue reading →
At Synod Calgary, held June 8–11 by the United Reformed Churches in North America (URCNA),1 as delegates debated whether or how to adopt a statement that had been adopted by several other sister churches, one pastor rose to say that three families . . . Continue reading →
Too much of a good thing? Continue reading →
The attack perpetrated by two teen-agers upon a San Diego mosque, on May 18 of this year, is just the latest in a string of violent acts that include the assault on the White House Correspondents’ Dinner (April 25, 2026), the murder . . . Continue reading →
What Is Salvation? In order to understand the biblical teaching we must first ask what is salvation? From what must we be saved? To what is salvation? Scripture is abundantly clear. The thing from which we must be saved is God’s holy . . . Continue reading →
It is being argued in some evangelical quarters that same-sex attraction (SSA) or homosexual attraction is “natural” and that it SSA (sexual desire for someone of the same sex) is not per se sinful. One writer who defends this view quotes John Cheever who said that . . . Continue reading →
For decades John Piper has taught the substance of what he wrote in the preface to Tom Shreiner’s 2015 book, Faith Alone: The Doctrine of Justification. The claim is that Christians should believe that we “attain heaven” by more than faith, i.e., by . . . Continue reading →
Canons Of Dort Day Is Coming! Continue reading →