R. C. Sproul: Difference between revisions

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'',{{Efn|This was later republished in 1988 as ''Thy Brother's Keeper''.<ref>https://books.google.com/books?id=x1kYa2PyPy4C</ref>}} 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:

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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]].