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 first commandment of God’s holy moral law is unequivocal: “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 2o:3). In the ground (כִּ֣י) of the second commandment Yahweh Elohim declares, “I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the . . . Continue reading →
Paul, even with his views against women in positions of leadership, is not afraid to commend women who have “labored side by side with him” for the sake of the gospel. This is a profound statement given Paul’s views of women in . . . Continue reading →
I am not a political analyst and I do not play on TV or radio (nor in the pulpit) but Christians do live in a twofold kingdom and I was happy to talk with Chris Buskirk, host of Downstream Politics, about media, . . . Continue reading →
Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of . . . Continue reading →
Westminster Seminary was founded by a scholar of the New Testament, J. Gresham Machen, in 1929. Since that time, the study of the Scriptures, in their original language and setting, has been at the heart of what we do. It is central . . . Continue reading →
If there is any verse in Scripture that virtually everyone knows, even those who have never read the Bible, who have never been to Sunday School, it is Matthew 7:1. I suppose that most who quote this verse could not tell you where it found. It is very popularly held that by these words Jesus intended to say, “No one is qualified to make moral judgments.” A closer reading of the verse, in its context, shows us that such an interpretation of Jesus’ words is highly unlikely. We can also come to a better understanding of what the verse means if we compare it with parallels in the Luke and Mark (the other synoptic gospels). Continue reading →
As for that which they tax the ministers, to be ministers of the dead letter, one may plainly see the Lord’s taking vengeance upon the outrage offered unto his holy Word; smiting them with the spirit of giddiness, for having despised the . . . Continue reading →
The Protestant doctrine affirms that a sinner is made or constituted righteous by having Christ’s righteousness imputed to him; and that, being thus justified actually, he is also justified declaratively, when his acceptance is proved or attested, so as to be made . . . Continue reading →
In recent years, however, within ostensibly confessional Protestant circles, some have been advocating versions of a two-stage doctrine of justification. One version of this proposal is that we may be said to be justified initially by grace alone, through faith alone but only finally justified on the basis of our sanctification. Some give the whole basis of our final justification to our inherent sanctification and righteousness and others only part of the basis. Continue reading →
Biblicism is the attemp to read the bible by itself and by one’s self, i.e., in isolation from the church. Sola scriptura means that Scripture alone is the sole, final authority for faith and life but it does not mean to declare either . . . Continue reading →
On the sixteenth day of January, 1546, the Regent and cardinal arrived after night-fall at Elphingston Tower, in the neighbourhood of Ormiston, with five hundred men, and despatched the Earl of Bothwell to apprehend Wishart, holding themselves in readiness, if need were, . . . Continue reading →
One of the most disturbing developments in the latter phases of the decline of the neo-evangelical empire, as Carl Henry, Harold Ockenga et al came to be replaced by their baby-boomer successors was the influx at the same time of a Socinian . . . Continue reading →
The effect or manner of God’s love is, that God makes the person happy whom he loves. For he doth amply reward that joy and delight which he takes in the holiness and obedience of the Elect, while he pours plentifully upon . . . Continue reading →
To anticipate an objection: yes, language evolves but language also has a fixed core. There is a connection between language and the nature of things. There is a distinction in nature between the subject and the object. The languages with which I . . . Continue reading →
This communion and fellowship of man with God, was first founded on a covenant of works made with Adam in paradise. If he did obey, and did not eat of the forbidden fruit, he should have life both for himself and his . . . Continue reading →
On a quick trip to and from Washington D.C. I read P. J. O’Rourke, The Baby Boom And How It Got That Way…. As always O’Rourke is funny, insightful, and often right on the mark. I’m not sure that I’m convinced that . . . Continue reading →
Introduction There are varieties of Dispensationalism, e.g., classic (Darby, Scofield), modified (Chafer, Ryrie), and progressive (Bock, Blaising). To be sure there are varieties of covenant theology, e.g., classic e.g., that taught in the classical period that taught the covenant of redemption (pactum . . . Continue reading →
The vitriolic reaction of the LGBT lobby to honesty from Americans about their consciences, religious beliefs, scientific knowledge, and political stances shows that their agenda boils down to shutting down free speech. This sounds counter-intuitive. After all, the media and Hollywood conditioned . . . Continue reading →
We say the name of the Spirit so often and so quickly that perhaps we do not stop to consider what we have just said. Paul calls the Spirit, the “Spirit of Holiness,” the Spirit of separation and consecration to God, the . . . Continue reading →