November 18, 2009

R. C. Sproul (1939–2017) Evades the Question: "Does God Desire All People to be Saved?"

Though he seems to allow for it [Chosen by God, pp.195-197], I can't recall R. C. Sproul ever teaching on God's willingness to save all men.
Now there is a video (that I originally saw on Justin Taylor's blog) of Mark Driscoll explicitly asking R. C. Sproul the question, "Does God Really Want All People to be Saved?"; and Driscoll even distinguishes so as to reference God's revealed will, not the decretal sense of His will. Instead of answering the specific question put to him, Sproul answers a different question, i.e. "Does God take delight in punishing or meeting out wrath upon people?" I left some comments on Justin's blog regarding the question he was actually asked.

Sproul has popularized Calvinistic and Reformed theology for years, but he has neglected talking about God's revealed will. Consequently, this generation of Calvinists in the U.S. have a massive blind spot on the subject, and this is opening the way for many of them to reject the well-meant offer of the gospel. This is one of the reasons why I frequently post primary Calvinistic sources on my blog. It's crucial for the very life of the church that we understand God's passionate zeal for saving sinners; and although I've benefited from much of his teaching, R. C. Sproul, sadly, has not been helping us in this respect, and neither did John Gerstner in his latter days.

Update: I was able to ask Sproul the same question in different words. His response can be heard and read here (click).

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