David asks, The term “humanism” seem to incite disgust in most conservative Christians today but I have heard Calvin and other reformers referenced as “humanists.” What is the difference between the word’s use in that context and the present one? Renaissance humanism . . . Continue reading →
Author: 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 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.
Creator, Sustainer, Father (2)
In the first part we looked at the doctrine of God embedded in Heidelberg Catechism Q/A 26. The catholic (universal) Christian doctrine of God summarized in the catechism is in antithesis to modernist doctrine(s) of God in process or contingent upon us creatures. . . . Continue reading →
Dislocation, Fear, and Dependency
In her 1995 book Cults in our Midst, Margaret Thaler Singer (d. 2003) explores in detail the methods and processes of coercive persuasion. These methods are used not just by cult leaders, but by anyone who manipulates the behavior of others in . . . Continue reading →
Of Blood Moons, Lunatics, and Snark
John Hagee, the controversial leader of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio (anointed by none other than W. A. Criswell) has announced that the series of lunar eclipses (tetrads) that began about 2:00 AM today, which will be repeated in October 2014, April . . . Continue reading →
S. M. Baugh On The Pilgrim’s Prayer (pt 1)
Prayer is not as easy as it looks, especially when we are completely confused about those things for which we ought to ask. That was the situation in which the disciples found themselves. When they said to our Lord, “teach us how . . . Continue reading →
Not Your Opa’s GR
Most think of Grand Rapids as a bastion of Dutch Reformed identity. Again, the reality is somewhat different than the image. Right now, about 20% of the population is of Dutch ancestry, 80% is not. Sadly, while the Dutch (my own heritage, . . . Continue reading →
Uncreated, Immense, Eternal
But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one, the glory equal, the majesty coeternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit. The Father uncreated, the . . . Continue reading →
Samuel Miller Contra The Peculiar Institution
Pride, indeed, may contend, that these unhappy subjects of our oppression are an inferior race of beings; and are therefore assigned by the strictest justice to a depressed and servile station in society. But in what does this inferiority consist? In a . . . Continue reading →
Perkins: God Is In Perpetual Action
Hitherto we have spoken of the perfection of Gods nature: Now followeth the life of GOD, by which the Divine Nature is in perpetual action, living, and moving in it self. Psal. 42. 2. My soule thirsteth for God, even for the . . . Continue reading →
A Match Made From Heaven
Chris Gordon is the preaching pastor of the Escondido United Reformed Church. my pastor and the host of Abounding Grace Radio. He preaches God’s Word faithfully and graciously each week. This exposition of Genesis 29 is a fine example and an encouraging declaration . . . Continue reading →
Implicit Faith In Holy Scripture
Therefore, as regards the primary points or articles of faith, man is bound to believe them, just as he is bound to have faith; but as to other points of faith, man is not bound to believe them explicitly, but only implicitly, . . . Continue reading →
Northeast Escondido And Valley Center In Early April
This gallery contains 4 photos.
A Plan For Reforming Worship
Let’s say that a pastor decided that he wanted to reform the worship services of his congregation toward the earlier Reformed pattern of singing God’s Word without musical instruments. How would he go about it? Though we’re working with a concrete example, . . . Continue reading →
A Tour Of UK Accents
By The Seat Of His Celestial Pants
If an angel comes in here and says, “Wait a minute. You can’t get to heaven by trusting Christ and Christ alone, and having the imputation of His merit. And the angel came here and said, “For you to really be justified . . . Continue reading →
Morabito: Soft Show Trials
There’s a more “civilized and softer” side to the idea of show trials, which was brought to us this week by Mozilla. It means that when someone carries a belief in his heart that doesn’t meet the approval of the preachers of . . . Continue reading →
Does God Change?
In Reformed theology, the doctrine of God is at the headwaters. What we say about God touches every locus of theology. It shapes our theology, piety, and practice. When we say that humans are created in the image of God, we cannot . . . Continue reading →
Luther’s Judgment On Images
With regard to Luther’s judgment on images, we are not in the dark. In his report to his confidant Nikolaus Hausmann on the situation he found in Wittenberg, he was unambiguous: “Damno imagines.” The elimination of images, however, should be brought about . . . Continue reading →
Helm Critiques Frame’s Perspectival Theism
In The Doctrine of God (2002) we find Frame discussing God’s relationship to time and space. (The sections are reproduced almost verbatim in Frame’s recently published doorstopper, his one volume Systematic Theology. (On God and time compare pages 557f. of The Doctrine . . . Continue reading →
Office Hours: Horton On Calvin’s Doctrine Of The Christian Life
John Calvin is one of the most influential writers in the Reformed tradition, so much so that Richard Muller has argued that, in the modern period, Calvin has been over emphasized to the neglect of the rest of the Reformed tradition. Nevertheless, . . . Continue reading →







