Sunday, February 11, 2018

In Thanksgiving and Remembrance for R.C. Sproul

by Charles A. Collins, Jr.
Published in the February 2018 issue of the Carolina Compass, a publication of the Charleston Mercury.

St. Paul charged his disciple Timothy to “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15 ESV) Christians are to be growing and learning more about the faith as they deepen their faith and that is accomplished in a variety of ways – catechesis (a practice that had fallen into neglect but is happily undergoing a bit of a revival of late) and in many churches confirmation (of which catechesis should form a part). Most clergy and some other people are sent to seminary or theological college, but a Presbyterian minister named R.C. Sproul, who died on December 14, 2017, sought to bridge the gap “between Sunday School and seminary” and did so masterfully.

Robert Charles Sproul was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1939 and is so often the case with Pittsburghers (and even some friends who have gone to school in the area), was a passionate fan of the PittsburghSteelers and the Pittsburgh Pirates as well as being an accomplished athlete himself in his youth before dropping out of high school athletics at the age of fifteen to help support his family (although he remained an enthusiastic and skilled golfer for much of his life [playing with, among others, Rock and Roll legend Alice Cooper who, despite his on-stage persona shares Sproul's commitment to Christ]). He was educated at Westminster College (B.A.), Pittsburgh-XenaTheological Seminary (B.D.), the Free University of Amsterdam (Drs), and Whitfield Theological Seminary (Ph.D.). While in seminary he was deeply influenced by the late John Gerstner, a Jonathan Edwards specialist and commited Evangelical on a faculty that did not share those convictions. He taught at a number of seminaries including the Jackson, Mississippi, and Orlando, Florida, campuses of ReformedTheological Seminary and at Knox Theological Seminary, and lectured at countless other seminaries and colleges. The academy, however, was not where he left his deepest mark.

In 1971 he founded the Ligonier Study Center, which had as its stated goal “"to awaken as many people as possible to the holiness of God by proclaiming, teaching, and defending God’s holiness in all its fullness” and it was through that ministry that he accomplished his greatest work through a magazine Tabletalk, a daily radio broadcast, RenewingYour Mind, a multitude of taped lectures and teaching series, an undergraduate institution, Reformation Bible College, and several hundred books. He was a popularizer of theology and had a gift for making deep theology understandable for the common man – not unlike the stated goal of fourteenth century Bible translator John Wycliffe to make the common plowboy able to read the Scriptures for himself.

Sproul was an unapologetic Calvinist who was well-versed in the ancient Church and had a deep sense of the holiness of God – one of his best-known works was in fact entitled The Holiness of God– and was deeply reverential in his worship; that was reflected in St. Andrew's Chapel in Sanford, Florida, where he served as Co-Pastor in his latter years. His works and lectures are deep but eminently readable and this writer deeply benefited from reading and listening to him through the years and continues to do so to this day.
Although I'd befriended his son and namesake, R.C. Sproul, Jr., when we were both Associate Reformed Presbyterians, I only got to meet Sproul the elder once. In 2013 the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America, in which Dr. Sproul held his ministerial credentials, met in Greenville, South Carolina, and my friend the Most Rev'd Dr. Ray R. Sutton brought greetings on behalf of the Anglican Church in North America and the Reformed Episcopal Church. My friend the Rev'd Charlie Carlberg, Rector of All Saints' Anglican Church in Greenville, and I went to hear Bishop Sutton's greetings and to visit the copious book tables in the exhibit hall. As we were walking up a flight of stairs we saw Dr. Sproul sitting there in a wheelchair and on oxygen and we were able to briefly converse with a gentleman that we'd both admired and from whom we'd learned much. Shortly after that I contacted his son and learned that he was suffering from COPD; despite that burden he continued an active ministry until shortly before his death.

I give thanks for the life, ministry, and influence of the Rev'd Dr. R.C. Sproul. Despite the fact that he has departed this life he has left a legacy that will continue for many years to come. If you have not read his works or listened to his lectures I urge you to do so – you will be richly blessed.



The Rev'd Charles A. Collins, Jr., is an Anglican priest who serves as a chaplain for an area hospice. He may be contacted at drew.collins (at) gmail.com