prepared by Patrick J. O’ Banion M A. (Westminster Seminary California), 2001 Orthodox Reformed Writers Available in the Early English Books (all reel numbers are from the 1475-1640 series unless otherwise noted) Alsted: The beloved city: the saints reign on earth for . . . 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.
Office Hours: Hebrews 10
The congregation was facing particular pressures and Hebrews 10 reflects this. The pastor wrote, “But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being . . . Continue reading →
It’s Never Been About Civil Rights
The Late Modern War Against Nature
(HT: Mike Opelka) In this video, Lesbian activist Masha Gessen makes explicit what’s been known underground in the homosexual community for a long time: Homosexual marriage is not about civil rights. It never has been. Camille Paglia exposed that story in the . . . Continue reading →
Recovering Nature
Helping Millennials to Look Beyond the Screen
Until very recently presidents and presidential candidates, even if they didn’t believe it, had to say that they were in favor of marriage as historically understood and opposed to homosexual marriage. Now, they don’t. What changed and how did that change come . . . Continue reading →
Of Zombies and Resurrections
Through the history of humanity the pagans have always counterfeited the truth, whether it was ancient creation stories that mimicked aspects of the biblical story, or Gnostics counterfeiting Christianity, or the Qur’an’s tedious one-upmanship. The latest counterfeit is the zombie craze. In . . . Continue reading →
“Common” is Not “Neutral”
An HB Classic
One of the more frequent criticisms of the attempt to appropriate the older Reformed “two kingdoms” (or as Calvin put, “a twofold kingdom”) approach to Reformed ethics for a post-Constantinian setting, as distinct from the “transformationalist” or some versions of neo-Kuyperianism, is . . . Continue reading →
Who Was Franciscus Junius?
Todd Rester, at the newly-founded Junius Institute, (HT: Jordan Ballor) explains: Franciscus Junius (1545-1602) is a significant figure in the development of Reformed theology in the era of early Reformed orthodoxy. Junius studied under John Calvin Geneva, pastoring churches throughout Europe and . . . Continue reading →
Complaint By Ruling Elder Gerald Hedman to SJC in the Leithart Case
Complaint To Dr. Roy Taylor, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America. And now, this fourteenth day of May, A.D. 2012, comes RE Gerald Hedman and complains against the action of Pacific Northwest Presbytery on April 27, . . . Continue reading →
The Old Covenant
One of the most difficult questions in describing the history of redemption is to give a clear, concise, account of the differences between the old and new covenants. When I say “old covenant” I’m not referring to everything that happened before the . . . Continue reading →
Trading Liberty for Security: Margaret Thatcher on Freedom
As Rush Limbaugh said a while back, in certain ways, Margaret Thatcher was an American. She understood what the founders understood. The understood the view of liberty (as freedom from constraint in civil life) held forth in the founding documents. It’s fascinating . . . Continue reading →
“I’m Not That Guy”
According to TMZ (hey, it’s a low-information age) actress Reese Witherspoon and her husband was recently arrested for a DUI. As part of her apology for threatening the arresting officer she wrote, “The words I used that night definitely do not reflect . . . Continue reading →
Now in Czech: What Pastors Shouldn’t Tell Their Wives
Narcissus Lives!
Narcissus is a mythological story about a young man who became so fascinated with his own reflection it cost him his life. Narcissism is a psychological disorder that confuses subjective experience for objective reality. In Recovering the Reformed Confession I described the . . . Continue reading →
American Evangelicalism: From David Joris to David Koresh
NPR has a story today reminding us that the Branch Davidian episode was twenty years ago (HT: Ann Althouse). The story is worth hearing. Ann Althouse raises the question whether NPR is turning our attention to the Branch Davidians in order to . . . Continue reading →
Boston and Free Choice
First, some cautions. Believers should be very careful about attempting to interpret providence just as we should be careful about seeking to know his hidden will. The truth is, according to Jesus (Luke 13), we don’t know why God permits evil in the . . . Continue reading →
Heidelscribe: Get the HB By Email
There are a variety of ways to get your daily dose of vitamin HB. You can subscribe to the RSS feed, you can try to remember to visit each day, or you can Heidelscribe by email. About three-quarters of the way down . . . Continue reading →
The Heidelberg Catechism Rocks Her World
An HB Classic
A correspondent to the HB writes: About 7 years ago during a study of Romans in BSF, God rocked my theological world! My thinking was turned upside down as I embraced the doctrines of grace and began to see God and myself . . . Continue reading →
Selective Skepticism
HB correspondent Dave writes with this quotation from someone else: “my parents taught me that the bible is up for interpretation, and it is not the spoken truth.” This is widely held as a truism and it is widely used as a . . . Continue reading →
Office Hours: Hebrews 9 on the Covenant
Hebrews 9 is challenging because it speaks about Christ and his covenant in ways that are, at first glance anyway, unfamiliar to us. As we’ll see, if we read chapter 9 in light of all of the Scriptures and if we reflect . . . Continue reading →
ITEOTWAWKI (It’s The End Of The World As We Know It)
And I Don't Feel Fine
An eighth grader Union Grove elementary (Milwaukee, WI) brought home a politically-charged homework assignment recently. It was a crossword puzzle with obviously prejudiced characterization of a particular political position. When the assignment was publicized via social media the teacher, school, and school . . . Continue reading →

















