R.C. SPROUL JR. “RESIGNED” FROM LIGONIER MINISTRIES DUE TO ARREST FOR DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE WITH A CHILD IN VEHICLE
PORN AND LIQUOR
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
On Tuesday, I wrote R.C. Sproul Jr. Resigns from Ligonier Ministries & Reformation Bible College for Undisclosed Reasons.
Those reasons are now known. R.C. Jr. was arrested for driving under
the influence with a child in the vehicle. He has been charged with two
misdemeanors and two felonies. More on that shortly.
1 Timothy 3:3 and Titus 1:7 lay out the requirement that an overseer must not be given to wine. The Greek word is paroinos. It is composed of a preposition, para, and a noun, oinos. Para means “by the side of” and oinos means “wine.” Literally, an overseer must not be “by the side of wine.”
The KJV translation is best, “Not given to wine.” In his lexicon, John Henry Thayer translates paroinos, “one who sits long at his wine.”
Those who know R.C. Sproul Jr. know he has a history of sitting long
by his alcoholic beverages. That includes his parents, his pastors,
leaders in his denomination, and leaders in Ligonier Ministries. His
givenness to drink is widely known.
This was posted today by former friends in response to his arrest.
I’ve provided this excerpt to help you understand the bigger picture.
Please read the entire article.
Saturday, December 17, 2016 at 4:43PM
Sproul Jr consuming prodigious quantities of alcohol know that tossing
back a 1/2 pint or more of whiskey, on an empty stomach, in less than an
hour, isn’t unusual for him.
over ten years that RC Sproul Jr has a serious drinking problem. For
the most part those warnings have gone ignored, and RC Jr himself has
outright mocked those concerns.
As far as he’s concerned he always “drinks in moderation.” But given
that he has often rendered an opinion on “moderation” while he’s drunk
he hardly qualifies as an expert on that subject. Some have voiced
concern that RC Sproul Jr is an alcoholic and is in desperate need of
rehab.
routinely gets behind the wheel inebriated, endangering himself and the
lives of others, including his own family members. It’s remarkable he
hasn’t long ago killed himself and perhaps a few others.
Church, the church that he started in Virginia, and then subsequently
resigned from after his defrocking in 2006,
often witnessed RC Sproul Jr inebriated, including at various church
celebrations (i.e. keggers). It was commonplace at those church parties
that minor children were served alcoholic beverages, including drinks
spiked with Everclear (190 proof grain alcohol). RC Sproul Jr fostered a
culture of heavy drinking at St. Peter Presbyterian Church, not just
with church members but also with the pastors he invited to his “Pastor
Camps” (open bars were the norm). He was also known to turn a blind eye to drunk driving.
Drinking beer, wine or liquor is not sinful. Drinking too much and
coming under their intoxicating effect is. Ephesians 5:18 (ESV) says,
“And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled
with the Spirit.” Debauchery is excessive indulgence in sensual
pleasures. It is far better to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
This is why Paul the apostle lays out another qualification for men in ministry. They must be temperate (Gr., nephalios, 1 Tim. 3:2 and Tit. 2:2). Nephalios
means “sober…abstaining from wine either entirely…or at least from its
immoderate use” (Thayer), “not self-indulgent,” (Getz)
“well-balanced…careful” (Hendriksen).
“Such a person lives deeply. His pleasures are not primarily those
of the senses, like the pleasures of a drunkard for instance, but those
of the soul. He is filled with spiritual and moral earnestness. He is
not given to excess (in the use of wine, etc.) but moderate, well
balanced, calm, careful, steady, and sane. This pertains to his
physical, moral, and mental tastes and habits.” (William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary, Exposition of First and Second Timothy and Titus (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1968), p. 122).
The intemperate and intoxicating use of alcohol by R.C. Jr. should
have been addressed by his pastors, denomination, and Ligonier
Ministries as a disqualifying sin in his life. They let it pass. Now
he is going off to jail unless his lawyers find a way to prevent it.
There is shared responsibility for this tragedy. I also wonder who
allowed him to drive drunk with his child in the car.
This lack of temperance, which is a dangerous and disqualifying sin,
also resulted in R.C. Sproul’s “visit” to the Ashley Madison. Ashley
Madison is a perverse website used to arrange illicit relationships for
the purpose of fornication, adultery, homosexuality, and lesbianism.
There he set up an account. He denies doing so but it is one of the
many lies he has told about the matter. See Ligonier Ministries Lifts Suspension of R.C. Sproul Jr. for His “Visit” to Ashley Madison.
Last night, the Christian Post ran this story, R.C. Sproul Jr. Resigned From Ligonier Ministries After Felonious DUI Arrest With Minor in Vehicle. It summarized the charges this way.
misdemeanors: operating a vehicle with alcohol concentration equivalent
to .15 or more, and operating a vehicle while intoxicated, endangering a
person. Under Indiana law both charges attract up to 365 days of jail
time, probation for a year, and the suspension of a driver license for
up to two years.
felonies for operating a vehicle while intoxicated or under the
influence of a controlled substance with a passenger younger than 18,
which attracts a penalty of six months to three years in jail and up to
$10,000 in fines under Indiana law.
You can read and follow his criminal case summary by doing a case search here. It gives you various options for how to search. Use this information.
Party: Robert C Sproul
Lawyer: John David Cowan
The arrest was made on November 29 which was a week or two after his marriage to Lisa Sproul.
She appears to have three children. R.C. Jr. has eight children. In
all likelihood, he is tragically off to jail. No one wishes that for
his new wife or family.
Knowing full well about his arrest, the Ligonier Board nevertheless put out this statement on Monday.
December 12, 2016
Ligonier Ministries and Reformation Bible College received and affirmed
the resignation of Dr. R.C. Sproul Jr. He is stepping away from his
duties at the ministry and the college for personal reasons. This was
communicated by phone to his father, Dr. R.C. Sproul, the founder of
Ligonier Ministries and chancellor of Reformation Bible College, and it
was later communicated in writing to the entire board of directors of
Ligonier Ministries.
thanks for the many edifying contributions of Dr. Sproul Jr. over the
years through his work at the ministry and the college. We believe he
will be well cared for by his church during this time of transition, and
we pray for him in his future endeavors.
R.C. Jr. was arrested on November 29. He “resigned” ten days later
on December 9. Ligonier Ministries told the world it was for “personal
reasons” on December 12. Now we find out the truth on December 16. I
agree with the following excerpt.
political staffers, have often been told, “We need to terminate our
relationship. We’re asking you to resign.” Implicit in the message is,
“We’re giving you the opportunity to save face by resigning. If you
don’t resign we’ll have no choice but to fire you. That will look bad
for you, but it will also look bad for us because we were the ones who
were stupid enough to hire you in the first place. Now just look at the
mess you created. So please tender your letter of resignation pronto.
And feel free to say you’re leaving for whatever reasons you like. If
you can’t come up with something good then just say, ‘I’m resigning for
personal reasons’.” …
“thanks” is a strong statement of just how bad things must have become
between they and RC Sproul Jr. They might as well have said, “Don’t let
the door hit you on the way out.”
us to take some cues from the world of politics, for based on its track
record Ligonier Ministries is very political organization. Take for
example, “He is stepping away from his duties at the ministry and the
college for personal reasons.” How many times have we heard the same
exact statement when the head of some political agency has been forced
to resign over some scandal? Rather than acknowledging the obvious
reason that they were fired they are allowed to resign for vague and
unspecified “personal reasons.” This is, of course, nothing but a smoke
screen, and none but the most naive will buy it. …
Bible College fire RC Sproul Jr? Given RC Sproul Jr’s scandal-laden
track record it’s a question that many people are reasonably asking.
Unfortunately neither Ligonier nor RC Jr are being at all forthcoming,
and given their respective track records it’s unlikely they’ll divulge
anymore than they already have.
I didn’t write about it in my last post,
but there were indications in the Ligonier statement above that a
convoluted process lay behind the resignation. It wasn’t a simple
matter of resigning for personal reasons. A lot more was going on.
First, the statement said, the board of directors received and
affirmed the resignation. Second, it said R.C. Sr. was informed by
phone. Third, the resignation was later communicated in writing to the
entire board.
That raised several questions for me. For example, R.C. Sproul Sr.
and his wife Vesta are on the 13-person board. R.C. Sr. is the
chairman. Why then did he need a phone call when he and his wife
supposedly already received and affirmed the resignation of their son
per the statement?
In a similar way, why was the reception and affirmation “later
communicated in writing to the entire board of directors”? They already
knew per the statement above. Further, it was bizarre that mom and dad
learned about the resignation from the board and not their son.
And lastly, the super abbreviated, “We…give thanks for the many
edifying contributions of Dr. Sproul Jr. over the years through his work
at the ministry and the college.” R.C. Jr. was the cornerstone for the
future of the ministry. Here’s what was said in part when he was
appointed rector and chair of philosophy and theology in the bible
college.
February 27, 2014
R.C. Sproul Sr. said, “We are grateful to God for Dr. Sproul Jr.’s
unwavering commitment to Scripture and service to Reformation Bible
College, and we look forward to many more years of his teaching and
leadership as we seek to educate the next generation of Christian
leaders in the things of God. He has seen the impact of Ligonier
Ministries from the beginning, knows how I approach theological matters,
and in this way, provides us with yet another way to maintain
theological continuity and fidelity for the next generation.”
experience in teaching and administration to his new role at RBC. …
Most importantly, his firsthand knowledge of the life and ministry of
the founder of Reformation Bible College—Dr. R.C. Sproul Sr.—will
provide steady guidance as the college endeavors to be faithful to Dr.
Sproul Sr.’s vision to teach nothing but the historic truths of biblical
Christianity as understood in the consensus of the Reformed tradition.
R.C. Jr. was positioned for “many more years of…teaching and
leadership.” He was also on the board of directors and a prestigious
teaching fellow. Practically speaking, there were also huge
implications for him resigning as rector of theology and professor of
apologetics in the middle of the school year. I thought, “What is going
on?” And why would R.C. Jr. give up his high positions and hefty six
figure salary and benefits? We now know.
One last point, the resignation was “received and affirmed.” So how
did this affirmation occur? Probably by a vote in which the majority
board members prevailed and called for his resignation. If so, that’s
why it was necessary to inform R.C. Sr. and the “entire” board after the
fact.
Ten days transpired between the arrest and the resignation. During
that time, there must have been intense discussions and negotiations on
what to do and what to say. In the end, R.C. Jr. agreed to resign and
they agreed to say nothing about his arrest. Oh, my Lord! Why couldn’t
they just be honest! Did that ever occur to them?
R.C. Jr. should have said he was stepping down from all his positions
because he was just arrested and may face jail time. Then he should
have publicly asked forgiveness for his sinful example and its effects.
The Ligonier Board should have said they could no longer keep R.C. Jr.
in their employment given the charges and the reproach that has been
brought to Christ. Instead, the truth was covered up but with
consequences.
When R.C. Jr. was about to be exposed by hackers for Ashley Madison
in August 2014, he put out a deceptive and deceitful “confession.” It
was full of pretention and manipulation. Just as bad, Ligonier
Ministries knew the statement was bogus but they promoted it as the one
and only explanation for his actions. That is why I confronted Chris
Larson, the President & CEO of Ligonier Ministries, after
interacting with him and other over six months. The following is an
excerpt.
Sent: Thursday, March 17, 2016 2:36 PM
To: Chris Larson clarson@ligonier.org
Subject: An Invitation to Repent
people to a statement you knew contained false and misleading
information. In that moment, I realized you, and I must assume Dr. R.C.
Sproul Sr. and the Ligonier Board, were committed to covering up for
R.C. Jr. by promulgating his false narrative! …
grace of Christ. Then I hope you will be used of God to lead R.C. Jr.
to repentance along with all the related parties who have covered up for
him. By “covered up” I mean not exposing his false narrative but
instead promoting it. The evidence of repentance will be a public
confession by R.C. Jr., you and the Ligonier Board.
Dr. R.C. Sproul Sr.’s greatest work and greatest contribution to the
church is his teaching and book on the holiness of God. I highly
commend it. And yet, the handling of his son over the years has been
unholy. The same is true for the board of directors and other leaders
who are familiar with R.C. Jr.’s disqualifying sins.
One can profess Scripture as their normative authority but it means
nothing unless they embraced Scripture as their causative authority. In
other words, the Bible commands us what to believe and it commands us
how to behave. The former without the latter is called hypocrisy.
Partiality and favoritism combined with nepotism are lethal. In this
case, it could have gotten people killed. This is yet another blow to
my confidence that Ligonier Ministries will do what is right and
biblical in times of temptation. Like so many other men and ministries,
they have shown a greater concern for their own reputation than the
reputation of Christ. As a result, the gospel has been harmed and their
credibility greatly diminished. And now one of their chosen is facing
serious criminal charges. The book of Lamentations is in order.
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