Office Hours: Where Are They Now? Bill Godfrey

by R. Scott Clark on June 12, 2017

The primary mission of Westminster Seminary California is to prepare men for pastoral ministry. This is has been our primary mission since 1980. We have graduated more than eleven hundred students. About 70% of our graduates go on to pastoral ministry. Indeed, . . . Continue reading →

French Confession (1559)

by R. Scott Clark on June 11, 2017

THE FRENCH SUBJECTS WHO WISH TO LIVE IN THE PURITY OF THE GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. To the King. Sire, we thank God that hitherto having had no access to your Majesty to make known the rigor of the persecutions . . . Continue reading →

If We May Pray Uninspired Words, Why May We Not Sing Them?

by R. Scott Clark on June 11, 2017

What the Fathers called the “rule of faith” (which included both doctrine and practice) and what Calvin called the “rule of worship” Christians in the Presbyterian and Reformed tradition have called the “regulative principle of worship” since the mid-20th century. That rule, . . . Continue reading →

Why The Reformed Churches Do Not Re-Baptize Roman Converts

by R. Scott Clark on June 11, 2017

XXVIII. In this belief we declare that, properly speaking, there can be no Church where the Word of God is not received, nor profession made of subjection to it, nor use of the sacraments. Therefore we condemn the papal assemblies, as the . . . Continue reading →

The Late-Modern Emperor Has No Clothes

by R. Scott Clark on June 11, 2017

…Perhaps the dumbest man in the room is not the man who cannot understand gibberish, but the man who cannot see gibberish for what it is. And perhaps the most dangerous people on campus are those who understand this human weakness and . . . Continue reading →

Luther Against Denying Communion In Two Kinds

by R. Scott Clark on June 9, 2017

I conclude, then, that it is wicked and despotic to deny both kinds to the laity, and that this is not within the power of any angel, much less of any pope or council. Nor does the Council of Constance give me . . . Continue reading →

Olevianus: Salvation Is By Grace Alone Or Jesus Is But Half A Savior

by R. Scott Clark on June 9, 2017

7. Q. If for the reasons given, then, the only way to eternal life is the crucified Jesus, truly God and truly human, does it not necessarily follow that all other religions or faiths, which present other ways and means to eternal . . . Continue reading →

Against The Star Trek Christology

by R. Scott Clark on June 7, 2017

The Reformed churches and theologians opposed the Anabaptists on a number of issues beyond the most obvious question, namely baptism, one of which was a widely held view of Christ’s humanity which the Melchiorites (followers of Melchior Hoffmann), Menno, and others taught: . . . Continue reading →

Vos Spotted Aspects Of Federal Vision Theology In Pareus And Davenant

by R. Scott Clark on June 7, 2017

Here and there in some Reformed theologians a conception intrudes that appears to function at the boundary of the orthodox system, so that one may doubt that it may still be called Reformed. There have been those who posit a kind of . . . Continue reading →

A Pulpit Is Not A Platform

by R. Scott Clark on June 2, 2017

A Pulpit Is Not A Platform Since the early 18th century, American Christianity has been dominated by personalities. George Whitefield, the Wesleys, and Jonathan Edwards feature prominently in any narrative of the history of eighteenth-century American Christianity. When we think of the . . . Continue reading →

How We Got Here

by R. Scott Clark on May 30, 2017

In virtually every class, I was told that all scientific knowledge, and even science itself was founded on Western cultural constructions and was to be regarded as hegemonic. And since each of the world’s various cultural viewpoints were enmeshed in their own . . . Continue reading →

More Evidence That Roe Should Be Overturned

by R. Scott Clark on May 30, 2017

The Roe decision by Justice Blackmun, as well as the dissents by then‐Justice Rehnquist and Justice White, with which Justice Scalia agreed, “are constitutionally unsound.” All permit “violation of the fetus’s constitutionally protected right to life without due process of law.” Returning . . . Continue reading →

1930 Or 2017?

by R. Scott Clark on May 30, 2017

The enemy is made the more dangerous because it is found within, rather than without, the Church. Definite opponents of the Christian religion could have been more easily met; but now as in ancient times Satan has preferred to labor for the . . . Continue reading →

Fitz Needs You

by R. Scott Clark on May 29, 2017

Fitz is in Austin, TX with a foster home. His adoption fees are minimal. Here is his Facebook page.

Calvin: Paul Excludes All Works, Even Those Wrought By The Spirit

by R. Scott Clark on May 29, 2017

This righteousness then, which God communicates to man, and accepts alone, and owns as righteousness, has been revealed, he says, without the law, that is, without the aid of the law; and the law is to be understood as meaning works; for . . . Continue reading →

Office Hours: Bob Looks Back

by R. Scott Clark on May 29, 2017

In the ordinary providence of God, the Lord uses people and means to accomplish his purposes. Heidelberg Catechism 65 says that God the Spirit uses the preaching of the gospel to bring his elect to new life and to true faith in . . . Continue reading →

On Memorial Day: All Christians Are Historians

by R. Scott Clark on May 29, 2017

In the United States, Memorial Day is day for remembering those who died in the service of the US military. It began as Decoration Day in 1868, on which day 5,000 people decorated the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington . . . Continue reading →

If God Helps Those Who Help Themselves, Christ Died For Nothing

by R. Scott Clark on May 27, 2017

Now take both Laws, the Ceremonial Law and the Moral Law or the Decalog. Imagine that by the merit of congruity you have made so much progress that the Spirit has been granted to you and that you have love. Of course, . . . Continue reading →

Turretin On The Fundamental Articles Of The Faith

by R. Scott Clark on May 25, 2017

I. The question concerning fundamental articles is difficult and important. It has been discussed by many who have erred both in defect and in excess. The Socinians err in defect who admit very few fundamentals (and those only practical, theoretical being almost . . . Continue reading →

Are The Remonstrants Heretics?

by R. Scott Clark on May 23, 2017

This question comes over the transom regularly. I think most confessional Reformed pastors would probably say that, though they disagree strongly with Arminianism, it is not heresy. Somewhere I read (or heard) that William Ames (1576–1633),   who served as an advisor . . . Continue reading →