Robert Charles Sproul (1939-2017), American Reformed theologian, pastor, and founder of Ligonier Ministries (originally a study center in Stahlstown, Pennsylvania; now headquartered in Sanford, Florida). Trained at Westminster College, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, and the Free University of Amsterdam (doctorate under G. C. Berkouwer), Sproul devoted his career to making classical Reformed theology accessible to ordinary laypeople. He authored more than 100 books, most famously The Holiness of God (1985), which shaped a generation.
Sproul's ministry was teaching theology with unusual clarity and affection. Three major contributions. (1) The Holiness of God. Based on a series of Ligonier lectures, this book makes the case that the holiness of God is the supreme attribute around which every other attribute revolves. Its treatment of Isaiah 6 and the seraphic "Holy, holy, holy" has introduced millions to a biblical doctrine of God most evangelicalism had trivialized. (2) Defender of classical Reformed theology. Sproul wrote accessibly on every major Reformed doctrine — atonement (The Truth of the Cross), election (Chosen by God), assurance (Faith Alone), Scripture (his work on inerrancy through the Chicago Statement). His Essential Truths of the Christian Faith is a primer in systematics for ordinary readers. (3) Ligonier and Tabletalk. The ministry's monthly magazine Tabletalk (1977-present) and the national conferences put Reformed teaching into tens of thousands of homes. Sproul's "Renewing Your Mind" radio program has run daily since 1994. Sproul served as founding pastor of St. Andrew's Chapel (Sanford, FL) from 1997, preaching expository sermons to the end. His last public act a week before his death: he stood to lead the benediction. Sproul was not flashy; he was careful, reverent, and relentless about the glory of God.