Office Hours Season 8 Celebrated The 500th Anniversary Of The Reformation

R. Scott Clark

on June 26, 2019 | 1 Comment

The Protestant Reformation was one of the most important theological, social, religious, and political episodes in Western history. It is reasonable to divide all Western history in two: before the Reformation and after. Nevertheless, in our time, the Reformation is not well . . . Continue reading →

Calvin: Musical Instruments Were Intended Only For God’s Ancient People

R. Scott Clark

on August 12, 2019

The musical instruments he mentions were peculiar to this infancy of the Church, nor should we foolishly imitate a practice which was intended only for God’s ancient people. But the Psalmist confirms what has been already mentioned, that their religious assemblies which . . . Continue reading →

Calvin Rejected Theonomy In Favor Of Natural Law

R. Scott Clark

on January 17, 2020 | 2 Comments

I would have preferred to pass over this matter in utter silence if I were not aware that here many dangerously go astray. For there are some who deny that a commonwealth is duly framed which neglects the political system of Moses, . . . Continue reading →

Was Sola Scriptura A Reformation Slogan And Doctrine?

R. Scott Clark

on March 5, 2020 | 3 Comments

Introduction: What Sola Scriptura Is and Is Not Recently, in a couple of places (online and in print) I have run across the claims, which, in different ways question the Reformation bona fides of the slogan and doctrine, sola scriptura. In one place an . . . Continue reading →

Calvin: Sinners Are Justified Only By Free Acceptance Is The Forgiveness Of Sins And The Imputation Of Christ’s Righteousness

R. Scott Clark

on August 29, 2020

To be justified in the sight of God, to be Justified by faith or by works. A man is said to be justified in the sight of God when in the judgment of God he is deemed righteous, and is accepted on . . . Continue reading →

Updated Calvin Resource Page

R. Scott Clark

on April 21, 2021

John Calvin (1509-64) was one of the most significant figures in the history of the West. He was among the major Protestant Reformers in the sixteenth century. He contributed significantly to the Reformed wing of the Reformation. He was an industrious Bible . . . Continue reading →

Calvin: The Whole Doctrine Of Godliness Rests Upon The Doctrine Of Salvation Through Free Grace

R. Scott Clark

on April 21, 2021

The principal design of preaching the Gospel is, that men may be reconciled to God, and this is accomplished by the unconditional pardon of sins; as Paul also informs us, when he calls the Gospel, on this account, the ministry of reconciliation, . . . Continue reading →

The Weber Thesis Is Still Wrong (Updated)

R. Scott Clark

on June 25, 2021 | 6 Comments

Introduction The one thing Political Science profs (I earned a BA in Poli Sci, University of Nebraska, 1984) think they know about John Calvin (1509–64) is that his doctrine of predestination created grave doubts in the hearts and minds of his followers . . . Continue reading →

There Is No Evidence That Calvin Bowled On The Christian Sabbath

R. Scott Clark

on July 20, 2021 | 4 Comments

A remarkably durable anecdote about John Calvin, the great Protestant Reformer of Geneva, is often related by those critical of the Puritan view of the Sabbath…The goal seems to be to demonstrate that the Reformers were not tainted with that ‘pharisaical’ of . . . Continue reading →

Calvin As Theologian Of Comfort

R. Scott Clark

on August 14, 2021

Wikipedia, that ubiquitous source of unimpeachable scholarship, defines “consolation” as “something of value, when one fails to get something of higher value….” That is precisely the opposite of what John Calvin (1509–64) meant by “consolation.”For Calvin, the consolation that Christ gives to his people, by the gospel, through the Spirit, is not second prize but to be valued above that which we lost. When we consider Calvin, “consolation” might not be the thing we first associate with him. The dominant perception of Calvin our culture is that of a tyrannical, dyspeptic fellow, who delighted in nothing more than to dispatch a few heretics to the flames before breakfast. That caricature, however, was one drawn by his enemies during his lifetime and sadly, despite the facts, it has stuck for a variety of reasons. Continue reading →

Asking For A Friend: How To Love A Jerk

Who Says That Calvin Was Not Practical?

R. Scott Clark

on August 31, 2021 | 3 Comments

…But how do we do that with someone we might think to be unworthy of our love and good deeds? How do you love a jerk? You might say take a look in the mirror. Humbly realizing that we’re all unworthy jerks . . . Continue reading →

The Reformation Was Not As Radical As You Think: Calvin And Virtue Ethics

Heidelblog

on February 7, 2022

There is a widely held perception today—shared by ethicists, historians of ethics, and theologians—that the Reformation inaugurated a sharp break from earlier forms of eudaimonist virtue ethics prevalent in the medieval period (Rehnman 2012, 473–75, 490; Herms 1982). The assumption that the . . . Continue reading →

Jerome Bolsec (1): The Primary Source Of Most Of Calvin’s Bad Press

Heidelblog

on March 17, 2022

The facts of the controversy are rather simple. Jerome Bolsec who was a Carmelite monk and doctor of theology in Paris, was drawn to the Reformation and so forced to leave France. By early 1551 he had settled in the canton of . . . Continue reading →

This Is A Good Book And Now Very Affordable

Heidelblog

on March 31, 2022 | 11 Comments

This is a fine little volume that makes a good entry point to the Reformation. Bob Godfrey published this several years ago. These chapters are based on his lectures, which he gave for decades as Professor of Church History at Westminster Seminary . . . Continue reading →

Calvin On Romans 7: Paul Writes About The Believer’s Struggle With Sin

Heidelblog

on April 29, 2022

Paul begins now to make a closer comparison between the law and the nature of man, in order that the origin of the wickedness which leads to death may be more clearly understood. He then sets before us the example of a . . . Continue reading →

What A Confessional Presbyterian Learned from Luther

Tony Phelps

on May 24, 2022 | 15 Comments

“What is a nice OPC minister like you doing constantly quoting Martin Luther on Twitter?” is the familiar refrain after people take a gander at my feed. Normally, I admit when I am guilty as charged, but there is no great guilt . . . Continue reading →

Calvin Against The Chiliasts

Heidelblog

on May 28, 2022 | 2 Comments

But Satan has not only befuddled men’s senses to make them bury with the corpses the memory of resurrection; he has also attempted to corrupt this part of the doctrine with various falsifications that he might at length destroy it. I pass . . . Continue reading →

Calvin: Repentance Is A Fruit Of Faith

Heidelblog

on June 18, 2022 | 11 Comments

Even though we have taught in part how faith possesses Christ, and how through it we enjoy his benefits, this would still remain obscure if we did not add an explanation of the effects we feel. With good reason, the sum of . . . Continue reading →

Imprisoned And Faithful: A Letter From Marie Durand

Heidelblog

on July 5, 2022

[Marie Durand] would be born in 1711 in Bouchet-de-Pranles into a community with a hoary past of linguistic, cultural, political, and religious autonomy. She was born into a church whose beliefs and practices were deeply rooted in the sixteenth-century Reformation and the . . . Continue reading →

Heidelminicast: Tadaka Maruyama On Calvin’s Response To The Anabaptists

Heidelcast

on December 7, 2022

These are some of our favorite Heidelquotes. Something to think about from the Heidelcast. If you are subscribed to the Heidelcast or the Heidelblog (see below) you will receive these episodes automatically. Heidelminicast Series: Contra Postmillennialism All the Episodes of the Heidelcast How . . . Continue reading →

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