Mini Blog #31: R.C. Sproul

This afternoon I came across a thought-provoking facebook status. A friend observed that R.C. Sproul gave an inadequate reply to his audience's emotional and intellectual questions in a lecture about the doctrine of hell. I found this interesting coming from a guy who has a deep appreciation for Sproul's exegetical work. It brought me back to my Reformed days when I read Sproul's book, Chosen By God. I too was bothered by his seeming lack of concern or compassion. In the first chapter Sproul exhibits a sort of brazen smugness when recounting a time that he presented the doctrine of predestination to a decidedly non-Calvinist audience. My sense then was that Sproul's temperament is such that he just speaks (his perception of) the truth with little regard for people's mental or psychological responses. Having given it much thought over the past half decade, I've come to think two things about this. First, one dimension is Sproul's theology. Specifically, his outlook that God's will cannot possibly be thwarted. Sproul leans so heavily upon God's sovereignty that, in some sense, it doesn't matter if he comes across harshly or people get hurt. Because God is ultimately in control, Sproul confidently trusts that even his own mistakes will be overcome by (or are a part of) God's will. Personally, this highlights the quandary I have with Calvinism in that I like the innate selflessness but I cannot stand the practical lack of personal responsibility. Second, Sproul represents an older generation of theological discourse. For all of its well-chronicled mistakes and abuses, it seems to me that one of the positive aspects of Postmodernity and the modern psychological awareness is that they've torn down the high place of cognitive certitude as the only thing that matters. For those roughly my age who care about the christian faith, there's this innate sense that mind, heart, and spirit are equally important; they mustn't be separated or ranked, but must be integrated in a holistic fashion. There's this insistence that theology must be done with a profound concern for people's emotion and its impact upon their spiritual journey; that one cannot merely pronounce propositional truth claims and assume that right emotions and experiences will simply fall in line or else it's a sin problem... Abrupt ending.