Strengthening the Church in the Comfort of the Gospel
Dr. Mark J. Larson
Professor of Systematic Theology
Education
Calvin Theological Seminary, Ph.D. in Historical Theology 2005
Westminster Theological Seminary, Th.M. in Systematic Theology 1989
Places of Service
Heidelberg Theological Seminary | Professor of Systematic Theology : Present
About Dr. Mark J. Larson
Reverend Dr. Mark J. Larson teaches courses in systematic theology at Heidelberg Theological Seminary. He was born in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and was raised in a Christian home. He trusted in Jesus Christ as his Savior at an early age and soon felt that God was calling him to be a preacher and teacher of the Word of God. He majored in biblical studies at Cedarville University and Baptist Bible School of Theology. He was awarded the Dean’s Scholarship at Regent University and studied political theory and international politics—
and was inducted into the Pi Sigma Alpha National Political Science Honors Society in 2013. He earned a Th.M. in systematic theology
at Westminster Theological Seminary (1989) and a Ph.D. in historical theology at Calvin Theological Seminary (2005). He has served the Lord as a teacher of Bible and theology in several schools (in the year 2000 his biography was included in Who’s Who among America’s Teachers) and has been a pastor of established congregations. He has also worked in the area of home missions in Wisconsin (1994-1996), Michigan (1998-2000), and South Carolina (2005-2007).
Some of his research interests include the following: John Calvin and the Jews; Jonathan Edwards and the New England theology;
the biblical interpretation of Cotton Mather; holy war in the Reformation and the English Civil War; Christian and Islamic political thought;
and prophecy and international politics. He has been a member of the Evangelical Theological Society and the Calvin Studies Society.
His publications listed below include minor articles, journal articles, encyclopedia entries, chapters in books, and three books.
Publications
BOOKS
The Reformers on War, Peace, and Justice. Co-authors Timothy J. Demy and J. Daryl Charles.
Eugene, Oreg.: Pickwick Publications, 2019.
Abraham Kuyper, Conservatism, and Church and State. Eugene, Oreg.: Wipf and Stock, 2015. Calvin’s Doctrine of the State. Eugene, Oreg.: Wipf and Stock, 2009.
BOOK CHAPTERS
“Peter Martyr Vermigli and Aquinas’s Justice of War Doctrine,” in Biblical Interpretation and
Doctrinal Formulation in the Reformed Tradition, ed. Arie C. Leder and Richard A. Muller,
95-110. Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 2014.
“Peter Martyr Vermigli, Scholasticism, and Aquinas’ Justice of War Doctrine,” in Church and
School in Early Modern Protestantism, ed. Jordan J. Ballor, David S. Sytsma, and Jason
Zuidema, 185-197. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2013.
ENCYCLOPEDIA ENTRIES
The following entries in War and Religion: An Encyclopedia of Faith and Conflict, ed. Jeffrey M.
Shaw and Timothy J. Demy (Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO Publishers, 2017):
“Against the Murderous, Thieving Hordes of Peasants”; “Beza, Theodore”; “Bullinger,
Heinrich”; “Calvin, John”; “Decades”; “Knox, John”; “Luther, Martin”; “Melanchthon,
Philip”; “On War against the Turk”; “Protestant Reformers and War”; “Vermigli, Peter
Martyr”; “Whether Soldiers, Too, Can Be Saved”; “Wollebius, Johannes”; and “Zwingli,
Huldrych”.
JOURNAL ARTICLES
“John Knox, Tyranny, and Radical Resistance Theory,” Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal 23
(2018): 77-85.
“Dabney’s Political Theory: Calvinian in an American Way,” Puritan Reformed Journal 6.1
(2014): 234-253.
“Pierre du Moulin on the Knowledge of God,” Puritan Reformed Journal 4.1 (2012): 75-90.
“The Holy War Trajectory among the Reformed: From Zurich to England,” Reformation and
Renaissance Review 8.1 (2006): 7-27.
“A Champion of the Original American Republic: The Political Thought of James
Thornwell,” Journal of Presbyterian History 82 (Winter 2004): 258-270.
“Three Centuries of Objections to Biblical Miracles,” Bibliotheca Sacra 160 (January-March
2003): 77-100.
“A Re-Examination of De Spiritu Sancto: Saint Basil’s Bold Defence of the Spirit’s Deity,”
Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology 19 (Spring 2001): 65-84.
“John Calvin and Genevan Presbyterianism,” Westminster Theological Journal 60 (1998): 43-69.
MINOR ARTICLES
“What Can We Learn from Job?” Reformed Herald 75 (May-June 2019): 4-5.
“Finding Happiness in God,” The Heidelbrief (April 2019): 1-3.
“Living with a Pure Heart in an Impure Age,” The Banner of Truth 667 (April 2019): 9-11.
“Joy in the Midst of Trials,” The Banner of Truth 653 (February 2018):1-4.
“Jesus, Loved and Hated,” The Outlook 67 (July/August 2017): 35-38.
“Martin Luther, the Ottoman Turks, and the Siege of Vienna,” The Outlook 65 (January/
February 2015): 30-31.
“Johannes Wollebius on the Defense of True Religion,” The Outlook 64 (September/October
2014): 38-39.
“The Hope of Salvation,” The Outlook 64 (July/August 2014): 38-39.
“Zwingli’s Theocracy,” The Outlook 64 (May/June 2014): 35-36.
“Pillars of Grace,” by Steven J. Lawson, Book Review, New Horizons 34 (June 2013): 23.
“Grace beyond Measure,” The Outlook 62 (September/October 2012): 21-22.
“America in the International Political Order,” Christian Renewal 29, no. 15 (June 29, 2011): 40-42.
“Our Prince and Savior, His Kingdom and Ambassadors,” The Outlook 61 (March/April 2011): 38-39.
“Calvin and Commerce: The Transforming Power of Calvinism in Market Economics,” by David W. Hall and Matthew D. Burton, Book Review, New Horizons 32 (February 2011): 21-22.
“What to Do with Hugo: The Dictator Neighbor Down Under,” Christian Renewal 28, no. 14
(April 14, 2010): 32-33.
“Theological Liberals,” The Outlook 60 (March/April 2010): 5-6.
“Four Favorites: Books on Church and State,” New Horizons 30 (November 2009): 18.
“The Suffering Servant,” The Banner of Truth 549 (June 2009): 17-21.
“Reforming the Courts,” Christian Renewal 27, no. 15 (April 29, 2009): 36-39.
“Courtside: The Problem with Raw Judicial Power,” Christian Renewal 27, no. 14 (April 15, 2009): 34-36.
“Paul’s Doctrine of Salvation,” The Outlook 59 (April 2009): 8-10.
“Elders in the Ecclesiology of Martin Bucer,” The Banner of Truth 544 (January 2009): 18-23.
“Salvation in Messiah the King: The Message of Mathew,” The Banner of Truth 542
(November 2008): 7-11.
“The Struggle for Religious Liberty,” Christian Renewal 26, no. 14 (April 30, 2008): 32-34.
“Pastoral Excellence according to John Calvin,” The Banner of Truth 535 (April 2008): 17-22.
“The Christian Life in a Prayer from Paul,” The Outlook 58 (February 2008): 5-7.
“Lessons on Suffering from Job,” The Banner of Truth 533 (February 2008): 9-12.
“Suffering on the Journey,” The Outlook 57 (November 2007): 19-21.
“Church Offices in Historic Reformed Doctrine,” The Outlook 57 (March 2007): 28-30.
“The Office of Deacon,” The Banner of Truth 520 (January 2007): 29-32.
“True Worship, Our Response to Grace,” The Outlook 56 (November 2006): 11-12.
“Bearing Good Fruit in Sanctification,” The Banner of Truth 517 (October 2006): 8-12.
“The Virtue of Self-Control,” The Banner of Truth 515-6 (August-September 2006): 29-33.
“John Calvin on Justification,” The Banner of Truth 513 (June 2006): 1-6.
“The Incarnate Word of God,” The Outlook 56 (April 2006): 24-26.
“True Enlightenment,” The Outlook 56 (February 2006): 11-12.
“Finding Happiness in God,” The Outlook 55 (October 2005): 24-25.
“The Trinity in the Gospel of John (Part II),” The Outlook (May 2005): 30-31.
“The Trinity in the Gospel of John (Part I),” The Outlook (April 2005): 28-30.
“About Preaching,” Ordained Servant 13, no. 2 (2004): 31-32.
“Moving beyond Zwingli: The Calvinist Doctrine of the Lord’s Supper” The Outlook 54 (April 2004): 11- 13.
Legalism: The Perennial Heresy,” The Outlook 53 (March 2003): 13-14.
“Openness Theology: What Shall We Think?” The Outlook 52 (July/August 2002): 21-23.
“Reality and Evangelical Theology: The Realism of Christian Revelation,” by Thomas F.
Torrance, Book Review, New Horizons 22 (April 2001): 24.
“Raised Up by the Lord: The Call of God to the Office of Pastor,” New Horizons 20 (October 1999): 6-7.
“Protestant Reflection upon the Canonization of Mother Teresa,” The Outlook 49 (October 1999): 8.