R. C. Sproul Explained

R. C. Sproul
Birth Name:Robert Charles Sproul
Birth Date:February 13, 1939
Birth Place:Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.[1]
Death Place:Altamonte Springs, Florida, U.S.[2]
Spouse:[3]
Children:2, including R. C. Sproul Jr.
Tradition Movement:Reformed (Presbyterianism)

Robert Charles Sproul (; February 13, 1939 – December 14, 2017) was an American Reformed theologian and ordained pastor in the Presbyterian Church in America. He was the founder and chairman of Ligonier Ministries (named for the Ligonier Valley just outside Pittsburgh, where the ministry started as a study center for college and seminary students) and could be heard daily on the Renewing Your Mind radio broadcast in the United States and internationally. Under Sproul's direction, Ligonier Ministries produced the Ligonier Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, which would eventually grow into the 1978 Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy. Along with Norman Geisler, Sproul was one of the chief architects of the statement.[4] Sproul has been described as "the greatest and most influential proponent of the recovery of Reformed theology in the last century."[5] [6] [7]

Education and personal life

Sproul was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as the second child of Robert Cecil Sproul, an accountant and a veteran of World War II and his wife, Mayre Ann Sproul (née Yardis).[8] [9] Sproul was an avid supporter of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pittsburgh Pirates as a youth, and at the age of 15, he had to drop out from high school athletics in order to support his family.[9] He obtained degrees from Westminster College, Pennsylvania (BA, 1961), Pittsburgh Theological Seminary (MDiv, 1964), the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Drs., 1969), and Whitefield Theological Seminary (PhD, 2001). He taught at numerous colleges and seminaries, including Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando and in Jackson, Mississippi, and Knox Theological Seminary in Ft. Lauderdale.[10]

One of Sproul's mentors was John H. Gerstner, being one of his professors at Pittsburgh-Xenia Theological Seminary. The two of them, along with Arthur Lindsley, another of Gerstner's students, co-authored the book Classical Apologetics in 1984. Sproul's ministry, Ligonier Ministries, made recordings of Gerstner teaching various courses on theology and the Bible. John M. Frame records that Gerstner was Sproul's "main intellectual influence."[11]

Gerstner convinced Sproul to study under G. C. Berkouwer at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Free University of Amsterdam) in Holland, where he initiated study in 1964.[12] Sproul was granted leave in 1965 due to his wife's second pregnancy and mother's illness (during which he was appointed to teach philosophy at Westminster College), and later resumed study at distance. He returned to Holland in 1969 to receive a doctorandus degree.

He married Vesta Voorhis in 1960 and had two children, Sherrie Dorotiak and Robert Craig Sproul.

Sproul was a passenger on the Amtrak train that derailed in the 1993 Big Bayou Canot train wreck, and sometimes gave firsthand accounts of the story.[13]

Career

Ligonier Ministries hosts several theological conferences each year, including the main conference in Orlando, FL, at which Sproul was one of the primary speakers.[14] Sproul served as co-pastor at Saint Andrew's Chapel, a congregation in Sanford, Florida.[15] He was ordained as an elder in the United Presbyterian Church in the USA in 1965, but left that denomination around 1975 and joined the Presbyterian Church in America. He was also a Council member of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. Being a staunch critic of the Catholic Church and Catholic theology, Sproul denounced the 1994 ecumenical document Evangelicals and Catholics Together.

Sproul was an advocate of Calvinism in his many print, audio, and video publications, and advocated the Thomistic (classical) approaches to Christian apologetics, less common among Reformed apologists, most of whom prefer presuppositionalism. A dominant theme in his Renewing Your Mind lessons is the holiness and sovereignty of God. Sproul taught that headcovering should be practiced in churches as the ordinance is "rooted and grounded in creation".[16] [17]

Sproul was a critic of postmodern philosophy. Having examined the effects of relativism on Western society, Sproul considered the 21st century to be "the most narcissistic generation in the history of the human race."[18]

In 1996, Sproul gave a lecture on irresistible grace, titled Divine Sovereignty and Man’s Helplessness. During a Q & A session, he misattributed to Jonathan Edwards an analogy regarding the "holy rape of the soul," claiming that "some people are violently offended by that language—I think it's the most graphic and descriptive term I can think of, to how I was redeemed," taking into consideration theological themes surrounding total depravity and being in a state of spiritual death prior to conversion. With regard to the terminology "rape", a key topic in debate between Arminian and Reformed theologians is the hermeneutic employed to understand the meaning and strength of the verb "draws" (Greek helkysē) in John 6:44, where Jesus states, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day."[19] Sproul first uses the analogy in his 1984 novel Johnny Come Home, where Scooter, the main character, designed to be a "composite of John Guest, Jim Boice, and [himself],"[20] converts to Christianity in "a docile submission to the holy rape of the soul."[21] Sproul also uses the analogy in his 1989 teaching series A Shattered Image,[22] where discussing the Pelagian controversy, Sproul states that "the only way you will ever choose Christ is if God melts your heart, if God softens that stone cold recalcitrant heart, if God the Holy Spirit rapes your soul and puts in you a desire for Christ."[23] By 2002, Sproul had abandoned the analogy for a revised perspective:

In 2003, a Festschrift was published in his honor. After Darkness, Light: Essays in Honor of R. C. Sproul included contributions from Robert Godfrey, Sinclair Ferguson, O. Palmer Robertson, Michael Horton, Douglas Wilson, John F. MacArthur, and Jay E. Adams.

At the 2008 Together for the Gospel biennial conference, Sproul gave a sermon titled The Curse Motif of the Atonement.[24] The sermon details the theological significance of the crucifixion of Jesus from an expository perspective. Tim Challies, who attended the conference, recounts that "there is no doubt this was one of the most earnest, one of the most solemn sermons ever heard by that audience. I was there that day, I can tell you, there was a holy hush over that room as we were all forced to consider the sheer horror of what Jesus Christ endured on our behalf."[25] Kevin DeYoung praised it as "one of the best sermons I’ve ever heard."[26]

Health and death

On April 18, 2015, Sproul suffered a stroke and was admitted to a hospital.[27] Five days later, on April 23, Sproul went home from the hospital, suffering no ill effects. He was, however, diagnosed with a diabetic condition "that [would] be addressed through diet and regular medical attention."[27]

Sproul had long suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and was hospitalized on December 2, 2017, because of difficulty breathing, the result of an apparent infection, an “exacerbation of his emphysema due to the flu” (“not pneumonia”).[28] After a twelve-day period of intermittent fever, and sedation and ventilator-assisted breathing, with effort given to restore his respiratory function, Sproul died on December 14, 2017 (at age 78).[28] [29] [30]

Publications

Some of Sproul's best-known books are The Holiness of God, Essential Truths of the Christian Faith, and What Is Reformed Theology? He is also well known for Chosen by God, a book about predestination and the sovereignty of God.[31] Through Ligonier Ministries and the Renewing Your Mind radio program and conferences, Sproul generated numerous audio and video lectures on the subjects of history of philosophy, theology, Bible study, apologetics, intelligent design, and Christian living. In addition, Sproul wrote more than 100 books and many articles for evangelical publications.[32] He signed the 1978 Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, which affirmed the traditional view of Biblical inerrancy, and he wrote a commentary on that document titled Explaining Inerrancy. He also served as the general editor[33] of the Reformation Study Bible, which has appeared in several editions and was also known as the New Geneva Study Bible. In addition, Sproul was executive editor of Tabletalk magazine.[34]

Published books

Crucial Questions series

St. Andrew's Expositional Commentary series

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Nichols, Stephen J. . R. C. Sproul: A Life . . 2021 . 978-1-4335-4477-4 . Wheaton, IL . 16–17 . en . January 11, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240111033649/https://books.google.com/books?id=FnCTzQEACAAJ . January 11, 2024 . live.
  2. News: Banks . Adelle M. . December 15, 2017 . R.C. Sproul, theologian and religious broadcaster, dies at 78 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240111040523/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/12/15/r-c-sproul-theologian-and-religious-broadcaster-dies-78/955229001/ . January 11, 2024 . January 11, 2024 . USA Today.
  3. Book: Nichols, Stephen J. . R. C. Sproul: A Life . . 2021 . 978-1-4335-4477-4 . Wheaton, IL . 51–52 . en . January 11, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240111033649/https://books.google.com/books?id=FnCTzQEACAAJ . January 11, 2024 . live.
  4. Web site: Stations - Renewing Your Mind. Renewing Your Mind. December 29, 2017.
  5. News: Prominent theologian R.C. Sproul of Sanford dies at 78. Comas. Martin E.. Orlando Sentinel. December 16, 2017.
  6. Web site: A Bright and Burning Light: Robert Charles Sproul, February 13, 1939-December 14, 2017. albertmohler.com. December 15, 2017.
  7. News: Obituary: Rev. R.C. Sproul, Presbyterian theologian, founded Ligonier Ministries. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. December 16, 2017.
  8. Web site: Robert "R.C." Sproul. Legacy.com. December 16, 2017.
  9. Web site: Taylor, Justin. R.C. Sproul (1939–2017). The Gospel Coalition. December 14, 2017.
  10. Web site: Dr. R.C. Sproul – The Founder and President of Ligonier Ministries. . July 30, 2008 . Ligonier Ministries . September 15, 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080915074819/http://www.ligonier.org/about_founder.php . dead .
  11. Book: Frame, John M. . A History of Western Philosophy and Theology . . 2015 . 978-1-62995-084-6 . Phillipsburg, NJ . 536–537 . en . https://web.archive.org/web/20240721005156/https://books.google.com/books?id=pefwrQEACAAJ . July 21, 2024 . live.
  12. Web site: Taylor . Justin . December 14, 2017 . R. C. Sproul (1939–2017) . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240721012020/https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/r-c-sproul-1939-2017/ . July 21, 2024 . July 21, 2024 . The Gospel Coalition.
  13. Web site: Train Wreck. Ligonier Ministries. December 29, 2017.
  14. Web site: Conferences. Ligonier Ministries. July 30, 2008. September 15, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080915130051/http://www.ligonier.org/conferences.php. dead.
  15. Web site: Dr. R.C. Sproul. July 30, 2008. Saint Andrew's Chapel. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20080625100317/http://www.saintandrewschapel.org/staff/rcsproul.php. June 25, 2008. mdy-all.
  16. Web site: Sproul . R.C. . Do Paul's instructions about head coverings apply today, since he appeals to creation, not culture? . . 30 May 2022 . English.
  17. Web site: Barth . Paul J. . Head Coverings in Worship? . Purely Presbyterian . 10 April 2022 . English . 15 July 2019 . R.C. Sproul writes, “The wearing of fabric head coverings in worship was universally the practice of Christian women until the twentieth century.” Incidentally, I remember talking with my mother some years back, and she told me that when she went to church as a little girl, she and her sister wore hats to church. And she was not Presbyterian – that was the case across all American Christianity. “What happened?” Sproul asks, “Did we suddenly find some biblical truth to which the saints for thousands of years were blind? Or were our biblical views of women gradually eroded by the modern feminist movement that has infiltrated the Church of Jesus Christ which is ‘the pillar and ground of the truth’ (1 Tim. 3:15)?”.
  18. Web site: Sproul . R. C. . April 3, 2010 . How Does Today's Postmodernism Affect the Popular Understanding of the Atonement? . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240512072735/https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/how-does-todays-postmodernism-affect-popular-understanding-atonement . May 12, 2024 . May 12, 2024 . Ligonier Ministries.
  19. ESV
  20. Book: Nichols, Stephen J. . R. C. Sproul: A Life . . 2021 . 978-1-4335-4477-4 . Wheaton, IL . 144 . en . July 14, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240111033649/https://books.google.com/books?id=FnCTzQEACAAJ . January 11, 2024 . live.
  21. Book: Sproul, R. C. . Johnny Come Home: A Novel . Regal Books . 1984 . 978-0830709373 . 71 . en . https://web.archive.org/web/20240714102221/https://books.google.com/books?id=GYtbyqFcBFYC . July 14, 2024 . live.
  22. Book: Nichols, Stephen J. . R. C. Sproul: A Life . . 2021 . 978-1-4335-4477-4 . Wheaton, IL . 352 . en . July 18, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240111033649/https://books.google.com/books?id=FnCTzQEACAAJ . January 11, 2024 . live.
  23. Web site: Sproul . R. C. . The Extent of Our Sin . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240714084613/https://www.ligonier.org/learn/series/shattered-image/the-extent-of-our-sin . July 14, 2024 . July 14, 2024 . Ligonier Ministries.
  24. Web site: Sproul . R. C. . R.C. Sproul: The Curse Motif of the Atonement . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240716083729/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lgwpd0SKpmc . July 16, 2024 . July 16, 2024 . YouTube.
  25. Web site: Challies . Tim . May 22, 2018 . How R.C. Sproul Blessed the Church by Preaching the Curse . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240716085030/https://www.challies.com/vlog/how-r-c-sproul-blessed-the-church-by-preaching-the-curse/ . July 16, 2024 . July 16, 2024 . Tim Challies.
  26. Web site: DeYoung . Kevin . December 14, 2017 . R. C. Sproul on the Curse Motif of the Atonement . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240716083629/https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevin-deyoung/one-best-sermons-ive-ever-heard/ . July 16, 2024 . July 16, 2024 . The Gospel Coalition.
  27. Postponed: A Google Hangout with John MacArthur and R.C. Sproul . Ligonier Ministries . April 21, 2015 . April 21, 2015.
  28. An Update on Dr. Sproul's Health . Ligonier Ministries . December 12, 2017 . December 14, 2017.
  29. Web site: Dr. R.C. Sproul, Called Home to the Lord. Ligonier Ministries. December 29, 2017.
  30. Web site: RC Sproul Dies at 78. The Christian Post. December 14, 2017 . December 29, 2017.
  31. News: A Letter to the Church from R.C. Sproul (1939-2017), His Theology, and His Work in the Gospel. The Exchange A Blog by Ed Stetzer. December 15, 2017.
  32. Web site: R.C. Sproul's Book Release Schedule. Ligonier Ministries. December 15, 2017.
  33. Web site: The Reformation Study Bible edited by R.C. Sproul. The Reformation Study Bible. December 15, 2017.
  34. Web site: R.C. Sproul, Founder Ligonier Ministries. Ligonier Ministries. December 16, 2017.

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