R. C. Sproul Quotes

“R. C. would later say that theology is doxology; that is to say that studying God and knowing God lead to praising God and worshiping God.”
― Stephen J. Nichols, R. C. Sproul: A Life

“As long as man is persuaded that he can make even the smallest contribution to his salvation, he remains self-confident and does not utterly despair of himself.”
― Stephen J. Nichols, R. C. Sproul: A Life

“The answer to studied ambiguity, that is, being purposefully vague so as to allow for an elastic interpretation or to allow for latitude on a particular doctrine or view, is precision. Precision and clarity, not ambiguity, serve the church best in remaining faithful to its biblical, historic, and confessional roots. R. C. was learning that in 1965 in his own denomination.”
― Stephen J. Nichols, R. C. Sproul: A Life

“Nearly all the wisdom that we possess, that is sound and true wisdom, consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and the knowledge of ourselves.”
― Stephen J. Nichols, R. C. Sproul: A Life

“Additionally, he liked to make his readers smile. Still in the preface, he writes that he avoided “academic technicalia,” to which he adds a footnote. The footnote reads: Semper ubi, sub ubi, which translated means, “Always where, under where.” In English it sounds like, “Always wear underwear.”
― Stephen J. Nichols, R. C. Sproul: A Life

“This “anointed preaching,” R. C. said, was the animus behind the Great Awakening. He said there was no voice powerful enough to wake the dead. No human voice. But a divine voice, heard through the impassioned preaching of the Word, could wake the dead. All of those men preached for conversion, a “monergistic, immediate visitation of the Holy Spirit,” which accompanies the faithful preaching of the gospel. God has decreed His Word to have the power to bring life from death, to bring dead men to life. R. C. continued, gaining strength sentence by sentence: “Every generation needs to recover anew the Word of God and rely on its power afresh.” People need the new birth. They need to see the light of the gospel, no longer blind and in darkness. People need to come awake.”
― Stephen J. Nichols, R. C. Sproul: A Life

“The schools at Wittenberg and Geneva were like Reformation theology flywheels, their influence spreading far and wide and deep. Luther and Calvin were interested in reforming not simply their respective cities of Wittenberg and Geneva; they were interested in the message spreading. Likewise, they were not content that the gospel be discovered for their generation alone. They were equally concerned about the next generation.”
― Stephen J. Nichols, R. C. Sproul: A Life

“Between the influence of the graduates of the small university at Wittenberg and the graduates of the small Academy of Geneva, the world was changed. R.C. Sproul”
― Stephen J. Nichols, R. C. Sproul: A Life

“said, “The greatest theologians in history were pastors.” He named his usual suspects—Augustine, Anselm, Luther, Calvin, Edwards—adding, “These were the great geniuses of the theological world. They were all pastors. . . . When I was studying them, I realized they were all world-class scholars, but they were also battlefield theologians. They took their message to the people.”19 Through their sermons that have been published and translated, these battlefield theologians are still taking the message to the people.”
― Stephen J. Nichols, R. C. Sproul: A Life

“These sentences, heavily underlined by R. C., present Luther’s idea that the law is a “schoolmaster” that points us to Christ. To put it existentially, as Luther does, the law makes us despair over our inability. Therefore, we need a righteousness extra nos, outside of us. This stresses, again, the necessity of the doctrine of imputation. Luther was the original imputationist.”
― Stephen J. Nichols, R. C. Sproul: A Life

“Luther used the German word anfechtungen to express these deep soul anxieties and struggles.”
― Stephen J. Nichols, R. C. Sproul: A Life

“The idea is that we are “meritorious,” righteous before God, by both justification and infusion. Christ’s strength is infused, it fills us, and then we are enabled to do good works. This is salvation by cooperation. God works and God infuses us to do good works. Salvation is by faith and works, not by faith alone. Infusion is about cooperation. Imputation, on the other hand, is the work of one.”
― Stephen J. Nichols, R. C. Sproul: A Life

“Shadows in a cave are given to change. They dance and flicker with ever-changing shape and brightness. To contemplate the truly holy and to go beyond the surface of creaturely things, we need to get out of our self-made cave and walk in the glorious light of God’s holiness.”
― Stephen J. Nichols, R. C. Sproul: A Life

“He labored to help others know what they believe and why they believe it, because, as he would often say, it’s not a matter of life and death; it’s a matter of eternal life and eternal death.”
― Stephen J. Nichols, R. C. Sproul: A Life

“R. C. relied heavily on classical theism for his thought and teaching. In fact, in the fall of 2017, merely months before his passing, R. C. observed, “What I’ve said since we started Ligonier forty-six years ago is that the biggest crisis that the church faces today is our understanding of the nature of God.” R. C. went on to explain that he was talking about the simplicity, the eternality, and the aseity of God. At the mere mention of the aseity of God, R. C. said, “Now that’s one of my favorite words. I get chill bumps. God is self-existent. He’s eternally self-existent. And He’s Pure Being.”
― Stephen J. Nichols, R. C. Sproul: A Life

“He was not interested in pure analysis; he was interested in helping the church. Second, Sproul draws attention to Luther’s claim that a theologian must make assertions. Erasmus, Luther’s debate partner on the issue of the bondage of the will, made equivocations.”
― Stephen J. Nichols, R. C. Sproul: A Life

“As R. C. learned from Edwards, truths that ignite the passion are both rational (“’Tis Rational”) and biblical (“’Tis Biblical”). R. C. was both laying a foundation for his future teaching ministry and establishing a pattern that he would follow all of his life, a pattern of Bible study, not just Bible reading.”
― Stephen J. Nichols, R. C. Sproul: A Life

“Robert Caro, author of the (yet) unfinished monumental biography of Lyndon Baynes Johnson, has noted, “The importance of a sense of place is commonly accepted in the world of fiction. I wish that were also true about biography and history.”
― Stephen J. Nichols, R. C. Sproul: A Life