R. Scott Clark

R. Scott Clark

Professor of Church History and Historical Theology

Dr. Clark has taught at Westminster Seminary California since 1997, during which time he also served as Academic Dean (1997–2000); he has also taught at Wheaton College; Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson; and Concordia University, Irvine. He has been a minister in the Reformed Church in the United States and is presently a minister in the United Reformed Churches in North America. He has served congregations in Missouri and California.

Dr. Clark is author of The Heidelberg Catechism: A Historical, Theological, and Pastoral Commentary (Lexham Press, 2025); Recovering the Reformed Confession (P&R, 2008); Caspar Olevian and the Substance of the Covenant (Reformation Heritage Books, 2008); Baptism, Election, and the Covenant of Grace (Reformed Fellowship, 2007); and has contributed to several volumes on Reformed orthodoxy, covenant theology, John Calvin, and the history of Reformed theology, including On Being Reformed: Debates Over a T heological Identity (Palgrave Pivot, 2018; contributor); Always Reformed: Essays in Honor of W. Robert Godfrey (Westminster Seminary California, 2012; co-editor and contributor); Covenant, Justification, and Pastoral Ministry (P&R, 2007; editor and contributor); Protestant Scholasticism: Essays in Reassessment (Paternoster, 1999; co-editor and contributor). He has also written for the Southern Baptist Journal of Theology, The Westminster Theological Journal, The Concordia Theological Quarterly, The Confessional Presbyterian, and for a variety of popular books, magazines, and websites. Dr. Clark is the series co-editor for Classic Reformed Theology (Reformation Heritage Books) and founder of the Heidelberg Reformation Association, including the Heidelblog and the Heidelcast.

Dr. Clark and his wife, Barbara, have two children and reside in Escondido.

Education
BA University of Nebraska;
MDiv Westminster Seminary California;
DPhil Oxford University

Other Affiliations
Minister, United Reformed Churches in North America
Series Editor, Classic Reformed Theology, Reformation Heritage Books
American Society of Church History
American Academy of Religion
Calvin Studies Society
Reformation Studies Society
Host of Office Hours, a WSC audio production

What I Want to Instill in My Students
“I want to connect my students with their past and let the past influence them, teach them, and guide them inasmuch as it can and should, and help them to think well biblically and Christianly about the faith, about the Scriptures, about themselves, about this world, and about their place in it.”

Areas of Interest and Research
Church history, Reformation and post-Reformation studies.

An Interview with R. Scott Clark