R. C. Sproul - Now, Thats a Good Question!

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Now, Thats a Good Question!

Copyright 1996 by R. C. Sproul. All rights reserved.

Cover pattern copyright by Wetzel & Company, Inc. All rights reserved.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the Holy Bible, King James Version.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com.

Scripture verses marked Phillips are taken from The New Testament in Modern English by J. B. Phillips, copyright J. B. Phillips, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1972. All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Sproul, R. C. (Robert Charles), date Now, thats a good question! / R. C. Sproul. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8423-4711-2 (alk. paper) 1. Theology, DoctrinalPopular works. 2. Theology, DoctrinalMiscellanea. 3. EvangelicalismMiscellanea. I. Title. BT77.S7185 1996 230dc20 95-26112

ISBN 978-1-4143-2809-6 (ePub); ISBN 978-1-4143-2726-6 (Kindle); ISBN 978-1-4143-5940-3 (Apple)

Build: 2022-11-18 12:03:08 EPUB 3.0

THE THEOLOGIAN OFTEN SUFFERS under the same burden as the quick-draw shooter in the Old West. Just as young gunslingers sought out famous veterans in order to give a challenge and win a reputation, so some people (especially students!) take almost diabolical glee in finding that one theological stumper. No doubt the great medieval scholastic debate on how many angels could dance on the head of a pin had as its root a question posed by a mischievous student.

Nearly ten years ago I set myself up for a plethora of challenges. At Ligonier Ministries in the mid-1980s we invited interested friends to join us in a recording studio to ask whatever theological questions they wished. I did not hear or read the questions in advance but had to try to answer them in the space of four minutes each. The questions and answers were recorded and broadcast on assorted radio stations. The program was called simply Ask R.C. Three hundred or so of those questions and answers are now together in this book, nicely cleaned up and missing assorted uhs and ums.

Perhaps the first good question we should ask is why I would subject myself to such an ordeal. Unlike so many of the questions in this book, this is an easy one to answer. People have real, important, difficult questions. While answering insincere questions is a bane of my profession, answering sincere ones is a joy.

Confusion in any endeavor can be debilitating. When we begin to ask questions of great importance and when those questions lead us to the character of God, confusion is natural. We should almost expect it. God, after all, is infinite, while we are quite finite. Our confusion often flows from this fundamental truththe finite cannot grasp the infinite.

God, however, does not leave us in this precarious spot. In his mercy and tenderness he has condescended to speak with us, to teach us through his creation and his Word. What an honor, then, to be of the profession that seeks to help people learn what God has revealed. What I hope you will find in this book is not R. C. Sprouls thoughts on assorted thorny questions, but Gods wisdom.

The real danger in taking up the challenge of answering the questions of others is not that there might be questions for which I have no answers. The true danger is that I might give answers that arent truethat I might teach error. This is the danger Scripture warns about when it promises a strong judgment awaiting teachers who lead others astray. My problem then is not only that I am finite but that I am fallible. As a human being I do err; its possible that I have erred even as I have answered the questions included in this book.

You, though, can help alleviate my fear. As you read through this book looking for answers, please do so with the spirit of the Bereans. Please check the Scripture, for it alone is our ultimate authority. It alone is infallible in all that it teaches. It is our guide and our light. When we have a question, we can always say of Scripture, Now, thats a good answer.

Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might,Nor let the rich man glory in his riches;But let him who glories glory in this,That he understands and knows Me,That I am the L ORD , exercising lovingkindness,judgment, and righteousness in the earth.For in these I delight, says the L ORD .

JEREMIAH 9:23-24

Thats one of the most difficult questions to answer if we think of it from Gods perspective.

Here we are, his creatures who have been made in his image with the responsibility of mirroring and reflecting his glory and his righteousness to the whole world. We have disobeyed him countless times in every place and in every way. In so doing we have misrepresented his character to the whole universe. The Bible tells us that nature itself groans in travail, waiting for the day of the redemption of mankind, because nature suffers under our unrighteousness (Rom. 8:22).