R. C. Sproul Jr.

Robert Craig Sproul, better known as R.C. Sproul Jr., (born July 1, 1965) is an American Calvinist writer, theologian, former pastor and is the son of noted Reformed theologian and founder of Ligonier Ministries, Robert Charles Sproul.

R. C. Sproul Jr.
Born (1965-07-01) July 1, 1965
Theological work
Tradition or movementCalvinism, Postmillennialism
Main interestsCalvinism, the character of God, classical apologetics

Career and family

Sproul holds degrees from Grove City College (Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Literature, 1986) and Reformed Theological Seminary (Master of Arts in Theological Studies, 1991) and received his D.Min. in theology from Whitefield Theological Seminary (2001).

After working with Ligonier Ministries for some years, Sproul founded Highlands Ministries (formerly Highlands Study Center) in Bristol, Virginia, in 1996. In the same year, he planted Saint Peter Presbyterian Church in Bristol and until 2001 served as its senior pastor and then until 2010 as its Associate Pastor of Education. Sproul formerly served as executive editor of Every Thought Captive, a monthly magazine published by Highlands Ministries. 2009–10, he worked as a teacher for Veritas Press, which specializes in Christian educational texts.[1][2]

In 2010, Sproul was appointed a Teaching Fellow and Associate Professor of theology, philosophy, and apologetics at Ligonier Academy in both the Bible college and D.Min. programs. In 2014 he was named Rector at Reformation Bible College as well as the Chair of the Department of Theology and Philosophy.[2][3]

In August 2015, Sproul wrote in his personal blog that his name was associated with the release of information in the Ashley Madison data breach earlier that month.[4] The board at Ligonier Ministries suspended him, with full pay, until July 2016.[5]

Sproul has been married twice. Sproul's first wife, Denise Elizabeth Sproul (née Rocklein), died in 2011, age 46, of cancer.  They had seven surviving children, a disabled daughter having died in 2012.

On October 14, 2016, Sproul married Lisa Carol Ringel.  On November 19, 2016 his father R.C. Sproul officiated the ecclesiastical ceremony. Lisa is mother of five and grandmother of four. Combined they have eleven surviving children, six grandchildren and currently reside in Indiana.[6]

On November 29, 2016, RC Sproul Jr was arrested in Fort Wayne, Indiana for drunk driving with two of his minor children in the car. He posted a $5,000 bond and was free under a "monitored conditional release."[7][8] On June 2, 2017 Sproul filed a plea agreement in which he pled guilty to one felony count, 9-30-5-3(a)(2)/F6: Operating Veh. While Intox or Controlled Substance: Passenger Under 18. He was sentenced to a prison term of 1 year 183 days. Under the terms of the plea agreement his prison sentence was suspended and he was remanded to 1 year supervised probation.[9]

On December 9, 2016, days after his arrest, the board of directors of Ligonier Ministries and Reformation Bible College received and affirmed Sproul's resignation request. Ligonier Ministries posted a statement on their website on December 12, 2016, saying that Sproul resigned "for personal reasons".[10][11] According to their 2016 public tax records Ligonier paid Sproul a $156,603.00 severance package.[12] Though no longer a Ligonier Ministries board member or employee Sproul serves as an "independent contractor." He received $106,017.00 in payments from Ligonier Ministries in 2018.[12] According to Ligonier's 990 tax returns over the period of 2002-2018 Ligonier payed Sproul a total of $1,489,966.00 in salary, pension benefits, severance package, and independent contractor payments.[13]

Church allegiances

Sproul was first ordained in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARP). After a failed attempt to transfer to the Presbyterian Church in America,[14] he was ordained in the Reformed Presbyterian Church General Assembly (RPCGA) in 2000.

In January 2006, Sproul and the Session of Saint Peter Presbyterian Church (SPPC), its governing body, were deposed from office by the RPCGA under charges including "abuse of authority in an inexcusable manner" against several families, alleged illegal use of the ARP's tax identification number, planting a church without authority, and practicing infant communion.[15][16] The SPPC Session issued a letter of apology and asked to be released from general membership in the RPCGA, and the denomination granted their request. SPPC requested pastoral oversight from the CREC, which accepted the congregation as a full member in October 2007.[17] The Confederation of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC) examined the case and accepted Sproul as an ordained minister in good standing in 2006. In 2010 Sproul transferred his ordination to the denomination Covenant Presbyterian Church (CPC).[18] On March 27, 2019 Sproul announced, "I am a member in good standing at Pine Hills Church here in Fort Wayne. It is a part of the Federation of Evangelical Churches."[19] The FEC is an Anabaptist denomination of Amish Mennonite origin.

Publishing

Sproul has written twelve books, including When You Rise Up: A Covenantal Approach to Homeschooling, Bound for Glory, Biblical Economics, Almighty Over All, Eternity in Our Hearts, and Tearing Down Strongholds. He has edited four books, including After Darkness Light: Distinctives of Reformed Theology, and contributed to several others. He was a regular columnist for World magazine, Homeschooling Today magazine and the Covenant Syndicate. For eleven years he was the editor of Tabletalk magazine, a publication of Ligonier Ministries.

In Almighty Over All Sproul takes the position that God created man to have an object worthy of his wrath, "God is as delighted with his wrath as he is with all of his attributes... What I’ll do is create something worthy of my wrath, something on which I can exhibit the glory of my wrath" (p 52). Sproul goes on to state that God is the author/creator of sin: "I am not accusing God of sinning; I am suggesting that He created sin" (p 54).[20]

On February 20, 2019, Sproul announced that he had been hired as the new site manager for BucsDugout.com, the SB Nation site about the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team.[21] Deadspin published a piece on the evening of February 21 criticizing the decision to hire Sproul, citing his criminal history and claiming that he was homophobic and transphobic.[22] The next morning, in another post on Bucs Dugout, SB Nation announced that it had terminated its contract with Sproul Jr.[23]

Books
  • Money Matters, 1985. Reprinted as Dollar Signs of the Times: A Commonsense Guide to Securing Our Economic Future, 1994, and Biblical Economics: A Commonsense Guide to Our Daily Bread, 2002. Supplemented with Biblical Economics Study Guide in 2010.
  • Almighty over All: Understanding the Sovereignty of God, 1999.
  • Quothe The Prophet, 2000.
  • The Brave Monk, 2000.
  • Eternity in Our Hearts, 2002.
  • Tearing Down Strongholds: And Defending the Truth, 2002.
  • Bound for Glory: God's Promise for Your Family, 2003
  • When You Rise Up: A Covenantal Approach to Homeschooling, 2004.
  • Believing God: Twelve Biblical Promises Christians Struggle to Accept, 2009.
  • The Call to Wonder: Loving God like a Child, 2012.

References
  1. "A brief history", About Highlands, Highland Ministries.
  2. "R.C. Sproul Jr.", Teachers, Ligonier Ministries.
  3. R.C. Sproul Jr. emurse.com.
  4. "Judgment and Grace – R.C. Sproul Jr". rcsprouljr.com. August 31, 2015. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
  5. "R. C. Sproul Jr. Suspended from Ministry after Admitting to Visiting Ashley Madison Website". christianheadlines.com. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
  6. "Affidavit Says R.C. Sproul Jr. Drove Off Road, Unable to Walk After Drunk Driving Arrest With Children". December 24, 2016. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  7. "R.C. Sproul Jr. Resigned From Ligonier Ministries After Felonious DUI Arrest With Minor in Vehicle". The Christian Post. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  8. Clark, Heather (December 24, 2016). "Affidavit Says R.C. Sproul Jr. Drove Off Road, Unable to Walk After Drunk Driving Arrest With Children". Christian News Network. Retrieved December 25, 2016.
  9. "RC Sproul Jr. Avoids Prison, Takes Plea Deal for Driving Drunk With Kids". Retrieved September 26, 2018.
  10. "A Statement Concerning Dr. R.C. Sproul Jr". Ligonier Ministries. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
  11. "'Bad Beer or No Beer?' R.C. Sproul, Jr., Who Advocated 'Drinking Well,' Arrested for Felony DUI". December 18, 2016. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  12. "Financials". Ligonier Ministries. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  13. "Ligonier Ministries 990 tax returns".
  14. Johnson, Jerry. "The Saga of R. C. Sproul Jr.", Presbyterian & Reformed News, vol. 5, no. 5, September–October 2000. pp. 8-9.
  15. "The Pearcey Report". www.pearceyreport.com. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  16. http://hushmoney.org/RPCGA-judgment.pdf
  17. "Public Statement from the CREC Pastoral Commission for Saint Peter Presbyterian Church, Bristol, TN" (PDF). Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  18. "Leadership & Faculty". Ligonier Academy. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
  19. Jr, R. C. Sproul (March 27, 2019). "Bob, I am a member in good standing at Pine Hills Church here in Fort Wayne. It is a part of the Federation of Evangelical Churches. You can read their statement of faith online. I am grateful you asked, but it sounds like someone has been talking about me". @rcsprouljr. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  20. Pierce, Timothy M. (2008). Enthroned on Our Praise: An Old Testament Theology of Worship. B&H Publishing Group. p. 133. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
  21. Sproul Jr., R.C. "Permission to Board", BucsDugout.com, 2/20/19.
  22. Wagner, Laura. "SB Nation Hired A Disgraced Pastor To Lead A Team Site And, Hoo Boy, Readers Have Questions", Deadspin.com, February 21, 2019.
  23. SB Nation Staff, "An update on Bucs Dugout management", BucsDugout.com, February 22, 2019.
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