Theologian and religious broadcaster R.C. Sproul dies at 78

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Theologian R.C. Sproul, who founded Florida-based Ligonier Ministries and wrote dozens of books, has died at age 78.

Sproul died Dec. 14 at an Altamonte Springs, Fla., hospital, his ministry announced. He was hospitalized with severe respiratory problems that were complicated by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and the flu.

Sproul was known for his worldwide radio broadcast, “Renewing Your Mind,” as well as books such as Everyone’s a Theologian, Defending Your Faith and Abortion: A Rational Look at an Emotional Issue.

“For more than five decades, the Lord has used Dr. Sproul to spread the life-changing truths of biblical Christianity and to expose people to the grace and the knowledge of the Lord,” said Jerry Johnson, president of National Religious Broadcasters, which inducted Sproul into its Hall of Fame in 2016. “From the inquiring skeptic to the growing Christian, Dr. Sproul has impacted countless lives.”

An ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America, Sproul was a co-pastor of St. Andrew’s Chapel in Sanford, Fla.

Although not a household name like evangelists Billy Graham or Rick Warren, Sproul was heralded for his reach—from everyday radio listeners to seminary presidents to Christian rappers.

“I am grieved to hear of the death of R.C. Sproul,” tweeted Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. “It is hard to overestimate his influence on gospel-resurgent evangelicalism.”

Sproul’s ministry, in a statement announcing its leader’s death, noted his efforts to teach classical Christianity to as many people as he could. Sproul served as chancellor of Reformation Bible College, founded in 2011 as an extension of Ligonier Ministries.

In what appears to be his last tweet, on Dec. 1, Sproul wrote about his belief in eternity: “When God writes our names in the ‘Lamb’s Book of Life,’ he doesn’t do it with an eraser handy. He does it for eternity.”