R. C. Sproul: Difference between revisions

'''Robert Charles Sproul''' (February 13, 1939 – December 14, 2017) was an American [[Reformed theology|Reformed]] [[theologian]], Christian apologist, and ordained pastor in the [[Presbyterian Church in America]]. He was the founder and chairman of [[Ligonier Ministries]], 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.<ref>{{Citation | last = Shellnutt | first = Kate | title =Died: R. C. Sproul, Reformed Theologian Who Founded Ligonier Ministries | journal = [[Christianity Today]] | date = December 14, 2017 | url = http://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2017/december/died-r-c-sproul-reformed-theologian-ligonier-ministries-pca.html}}</ref><ref>http://renewingyourmind.org/stations</ref> Sproul has been described as "the greatest and most influential proponent of the recovery of Reformed theology in the last century."<ref>http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-rc-sproul-obituary-20171215-story.html</ref><ref>https://albertmohler.com/2017/12/14/bright-burning-light-robert-charles-sproul-february-13-1939-december-14-2017/</ref><ref>http://www.post-gazette.com/news/obituaries/2017/12/16/Obituary-Rev-R-C-Sproul-Presbyterian-theologian-founded-Ligonier-Ministries/stories/201712150131</ref>

One of Sproul's mentors was [[John Gerstner|John H. Gerstner]], being one of his professors at [[Pittsburgh Theological Seminary|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 Frame (theologian)|John M. Frame]] records that Gerstner was Sproul's "main intellectual influence."<ref>https://books.google.com/books?id=pefwrQEACAAJ</ref>

| text = When I was a seminary student&nbsp;... I was selected to preach the senior sermon before the whole student body, the whole faculty, and also the presbytery who met there that day. And I preached that day on sin, and I made reference to some of the definitions of sin that we had learned at seminary: that sin, you know, was [[wikipedia:Existentialism#Authenticity|existential, inauthentic existence]], or sin was some kind of [[neurosis]]&nbsp;... And I said, you know, we may be neurotic, and we may be doing everything that we know how to destroy what authenticity of existence we may have, but&nbsp;... the meaning of sin, as [Scripture and] our own confession says, is that it's "any want of conformity to, or transgression of, the law of God."<ref>https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/westminster-shorter-catechism}</ref>&nbsp;... Well, the student body that was largely liberal&nbsp;... congratulated me, and they were very positive. I go make my way to the back of the church, and the dean of the institution comes up to me, and he's irate. [He physically threw me up against a wall and accused me of distorting the Bible.]<ref>https://books.google.com/books?id=sMT9SAAACAAJ<ref>https://books.google.com/books?id=sMT9SAAACAAJ</ref> And he looked at me, and he said,&nbsp;... "Every Christian in heaven from [[Paul the Apostle|Paul]] to [[B. B. Warfield]] is rejoicing at the sermon that you preached in this house today."&nbsp;... I was so relieved to hear his evaluation.<ref>https://renewingyourmind.org/2021/06/14/the-parable-of-the-unjust-judge</ref>

Ligonier Ministries hosts several theological conferences each year, including the main conference in [[wikipedia:Orlando, Florida|Orlando, FL]], at which Sproul was one of the primary speakers.<ref>http://www.ligonier.org/conferences.php</ref> Sproul served as co-pastor at Saint Andrew's Chapel, a congregation in [[Sanford, Florida]].<ref name="Sproulbio" /><ref name="SaintAndrews">http://www.saintandrewschapel.org/staff/rcsproul.php</ref> 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 [[ecumenism|ecumenical]] document ''[[Evangelicals and Catholics Together]].<ref>http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/1996/october7/6tb054.html</ref>''

Sproul was an advocate of [[Calvinism]] in his many print, audio, and video publications, and advocated the [[Thomism|Thomistic]] (classical) approaches to [[Christian apologetics]], less common among Reformed apologists, most of whom prefer [[presuppositional apologetics|presuppositionalism]]. A dominant theme in his ''Renewing Your Mind'' lessons is the [[Sacred|holiness]] and [[sovereignty]] of God. Sproul taught that [[Christian head covering|headcovering]] should be practiced in churches as the ordinance is "rooted and grounded in creation".<ref>https://www.ligonier.org/learn/qas/do-pauls-instructions-about-head-coverings-apply-today-since-he-appeals-to-creation-not-culture</ref><ref name="Barth2019">https://purelypresbyterian.com/2019/07/15/head-coverings-in-worship/</ref>

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.{{Efn|A recording of the lecture was released by Ligonier Ministries on cassette tape. On total depravity and spiritual death, see (Romans 2:14–16), (Romans 3:9–20), and (Ephesians 2:1–10|ESV. With regard to the terminology "rape", a key topic in debate between [[Arminianism|Arminian]] and Reformed theologians is the [[Hermeneutics|hermeneutic]] employed to understand the meaning and strength of the verb "draws" (Greek ''helkysē'') in , 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." (John 6:44 (ESV)) Sproul first uses the analogy in his 1984 novel ''Johnny Come Home'', where Scooter, the main character, designed to be a "composite of [[Coalition for Christian Outreach|John Guest]], [[James Montgomery Boice|Jim Boice]], and [himself],"<ref>https://books.google.com/books?id=FnCTzQEACAAJ</ref> converts to Christianity in "a docile submission to the holy rape of the soul."<ref>https://books.google.com/books?id=GYtbyqFcBFYC</ref>This description was criticised in the foreword to ''Grace for All: The Arminian Dynamics of Salvation'', edited by [[Clark H. Pinnock]] and John D. Wagner.<ref>https://books.google.com/books?id=GXLDCAAAQBAJ</ref> Sproul also uses the analogy in his 1989 teaching series ''A Shattered Image'',<ref>https://books.google.com/books?id=FnCTzQEACAAJ</ref> where discussing the [[Pelagianism#Pelagian controversy|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."<ref>https://www.ligonier.org/learn/series/shattered-image/the-extent-of-our-sin</ref> By 2002, Sproul had abandoned the analogy for a revised perspective:<blockquote>The person that God, the Holy Spirit, draws to Jesus comes to Jesus, not because he's raped, not because he's coerced, not because he's dragged, kicking and screaming against his will, but because God, the Holy Spirit, in that act of effectual drawing, changes the heart of the person. Where that person previously was blind to the things of God, now the scales of the eyes have been removed, and that which was unpleasant to the soul now is shown to be sweet, attractive, and something that is altogether desirable. So the heavenly drawing of God is one by which God changes the attitude or the inner disposition of the soul of the person so that when the Father draws them to His Son, they come to His Son.<ref>https://www.ligonier.org/learn/series/knowing-christ</ref></blockquote>In 2003, a ''[[Festschrift]]'' was published in his honor. ''After Darkness, Light: Essays in Honor of R. C. Sproul'' (ISBN 0875527043) included contributions from [[W. Robert Godfrey|Robert Godfrey]], [[Sinclair Ferguson]], [[O. Palmer Robertson]], [[Michael Horton (theologian)|Michael Horton]], [[Douglas Wilson (theologian)|Douglas Wilson]], [[John F. MacArthur]], and [[Jay E. Adams]].

* ''How Can I Be Right with God?'' (2017) (ISBN 978-1642890617)

* ''What Can We Know About God?'' (2017) (ISBN 978-1642890624)

* ''What Do Jesus' Parables Mean?'' (2017) (ISBN 978-1642890631)

* ''Are People Basically Good?'' (2016) (ISBN 978-1642890600)

* ''How Can I Be Blessed?'' (2016) (ISBN 978-1642890594)

* ''How Should I Think About Money?'' (2016) (ISBN 978-1642890587)

* ''Can I Lose My Salvation?'' (2015) (ISBN 978-1642890570)

* ''What is the Great Commission'' (2015) (ISBN 978-1642890563)

* ''Are These the Last Days?'' (2014) (ISBN 978-1642890556)

* ''What Is Repentance?'' (2014) (ISBN 978-1642890532)

* ''What Is the Relationship Between Church and State'' (2014) (ISBN 978-1642890549)

* ''How Can I Develop a Christian Conscience?'' (2013) (ISBN 978-1642890501)

* ''What Is the Lord's Supper?'' (2013) (ISBN 978-1642890518)

* ''What Is the Church?'' (2013) (ISBN 978-1642890525)

* ''Does God Control Everything?'' (2012) (ISBN 978-1642890495)

* ''Who is the Holy Spirit?'' (2012) (ISBN 978-1642890488)

* ''Can I Have Joy in My Life?'' (2012) (ISBN 978-1642890471)

* ''What Can I Do with My Guilt?'' (2011) (ISBN 978-1642890440)

* ''What Is the Trinity?'' (2011) (ISBN 978-1642890457)

* ''What Is Baptism?'' (2011) (ISBN 978-1642890464)

* ''What Is Faith?'' (2010) (ISBN 978-1642890433)

* ''What Does it Mean to Be Born Again?'' (2010) (ISBN 978-1642890419)

* ''Can I Be Sure I'm Saved?'' (2010) (ISBN 978-1642890426)

* ''Does Prayer Change Things?'' (1984 as ''Effective Prayer''; revised 2009) (ISBN 978-1642890389)

* ''Can I Know God's Will?'' (1984 as ''God's Will and the Christian''; revised 2009) (ISBN 978-1642890396)

* ''How Should I Live in This World?'' (1983 as ''Ethics and the Christian''; revised 2009) (ISBN 978-1642890402)

* ''Can I Trust the Bible?'' (1980 and 1996 as ''Explaining Inerrancy: A Commentary''; revised 2009) (ISBN 978-1642890372)

* ''Who Is Jesus?'' (1983; revised 2009) (ISBN 978-1642890365)

* ''Matthew'' (2013) (ISBN 978-1433531750)

* ''1-2 Peter'' (2011) (ISBN 978-1433522895

* ''Mark'' (2011) (ISBN 978-1567692655)

* ''Acts'' (2010) (ISBN 978-1433522734)

* ''Romans'' (2009) (ISBN 978-1433506857)

* ''John'' (2009) (ISBN 978-1567691856)