R. C. Sproul Jr.

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. 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. 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). 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.” The FEC is an Anabaptist denomination of Amish Mennonite origin.

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).

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. 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. The next morning, in another post on Bucs Dugout, SB Nation announced that it had terminated its contract with Sproul Jr.

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.

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 regarding his resignation on their website on December 12, 2016. According to their 2016 public tax records Ligonier paid Sproul a severance package.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.

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. The board at Ligonier Ministries suspended him until July 2016.

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.

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.

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

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.

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).

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.

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.” 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.

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