What Christians should know about Sproul Jr.

By Pastor Shawn Mathis

With the recent public confession of sin by pastor R. C. Sproul Jr., it seems appropriate to discover more about him and his public ministry. What kind of influence does he have? What does he believe? Where did he come from?

His influence is in conservative Christian circles. He is a writer and teacher at Ligonier Ministries. And he has two blogs (his own and the Ligonier one). His influence appears to mostly be in homeschooling circles through conferences. And with the help of the National Center for Family Integrated Churches (NCFIC), where he was a speaker at their first conference, his influence has grown.

Much of what he writes is uncontroversial; much of what he believes is straight teaching (orthodox); much of how he writes (especially the last few years) is more moderate. But he also has some interesting views.

For instance, he espouses paedocommunion. And he helped write the Tenants of Biblical Patriarchy. And he has spoken at various family economic conferences.

I first heard of him at a Christian Home Educators of Colorado (CHEC) conference back in 2006. Among the good things he said, one comment stuck out like a sore thumb:

“[I want to] help the Reformed live like the Anabaptists and teach the Anabaptists to think like the Reformed.”

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