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RC Sproul On Education


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Posted
Among those lies hatched by the devil’s Research and Development lab that have found the most favor among modern American evangelicals is this- the path to personal prosperity is acquiring specialized educational credentials in a field in great demand

I'm not certain why this is a lie. Why would this upset him or go against Christianity?

There are at least two glaring errors in this common perspective. First, where does it end? The problem of the specialist is that as he learns more and more about less and less eventually he reaches that place where he knows everything about nothing. Second, the Bible doesn’t speak this way. The Bible says that wealth, prosperity, the capacity to provide for one’s family, these all flow out of character. These are the fruit of a tree planted by the living waters (Psalm 1).

So is he saying that rich people are more likely to be honest and have a good character? It sounds as if he believes that poverty is caused by poor character. And I don't understand his problem with specialists.

rcsprouljr.com/blog/the-kingdom-notes/man-seasons/

I teach theology in a college context. I teach the Bible from sundry pulpits, and through myriad media. I don’t, however, ever want to be a Bible scholar. I only wish to be a Bible student. When I am in my study, hunched over ancient wisdom, I am not looking for information to transfer to my students. I am instead seeking wisdom by which to live my life, wisdom I am blessed to share with my children and my students.

Wouldn't this make him a crappy teacher?

Posted

rcsprouljr.com/blog/the-kingdom-notes/blackboard-priesthood/

His views on education are odd.

Are kids hurting their friends’ feelings, using “gay†as an all purpose insult? Well, we’ll create anti-bullying curriculum to reinforce the Gay is OK curriculum we already use, that supports the whole K-12 “Whatever You Do With Your Pants Off Must Be Good†program we created last election cycle.

and

But, the good news is that the more sex ed we have given kids, the fewer STD’s, abortions, and ruined lives we’ve had. It’s a decent trade off, right?

Except that’s not what has happened. Their sacrament has failed. Just as with the anti-drug program DARE, the more we “educate†the children, the more we destroy their lives. More STD’s, more unplanned pregnancies, more murdered babies, these are the bitter fruits of more education.

and

We need the gospel preached more than taught, tasted more than explained. We need to repent. But then, we already knew that, didn’t we?
Posted
I teach theology in a college context. I teach the Bible from sundry pulpits, and through myriad media. I don’t, however, ever want to be a Bible scholar. I only wish to be a Bible student. When I am in my study, hunched over ancient wisdom, I am not looking for information to transfer to my students. I am instead seeking wisdom by which to live my life, wisdom I am blessed to share with my children and my students.

So he does not want to be a 'Specialist?' Fine.

Should he require cardiac surgery I am absolutely certain he will be looking for a student not 'Specialist' to perform his surgery. Personally I'd be quite happy my surgeon might know more and more about my heart and less and less about just about anything he choses to know or not know including the feckin' bible.

Posted

Thank goodness I no longer have a desk. Wouldn't want to take a chance on flattening my forehead any further.

RC,jr., seems intent upon getting attention and appealing to a certain subset of folks. I'm one Christian who disagrees with about everything he says. There are millions of others. That's all I'm saying.

Posted

I'm not certain why this is a lie. Why would this upset him or go against Christianity?

So is he saying that rich people are more likely to be honest and have a good character? It sounds as if he believes that poverty is caused by poor character. And I don't understand his problem with specialists.

Kendal is a fervent devotee of Sproul, she quotes him frequently.

rcsprouljr.com/blog/the-kingdom-notes/man-seasons/

Wouldn't this make him a crappy teacher?

Posted

I'm not certain why this is a lie. Why would this upset him or go against Christianity?

So is he saying that rich people are more likely to be honest and have a good character? It sounds as if he believes that poverty is caused by poor character. And I don't understand his problem with specialists.

rcsprouljr.com/blog/the-kingdom-notes/man-seasons/

Wouldn't this make him a crappy teacher?

Kendal is a fervent devotee of Sproul, she quotes him frequently.

Posted
So is he saying that rich people are more likely to be honest and have a good character? It sounds as if he believes that poverty is caused by poor character. And I don't understand his problem with specialists.

You're not supposed to understand it because it's bs. Clearly this man does not believe in "well rounded" individuals. Maybe he doesn't want to be a biblical scholar because that might make him something close to a "specialist", as well as actually knowledgeable or questioning of biblical texts.

He's also just wrong, wrong, wrong about sex ed - all you have to do is compare countries/areas where there are good sex ed curricula vs none/abstinence-based ones.

Posted

So is he saying that rich people are more likely to be honest and have a good character? It sounds as if he believes that poverty is caused by poor character.

That was/is one of the beliefs of Calvinism, at least how I was taught it in a humanities class in college. Hard work is linked to salvation and prosperity, laziness being a sin resulting in the earthly punishment of poverty. Plus, if God has predestined some to go to hell even before they are born, and some to be poor (may or may not be damned) who are we to change their circumstance by aiding them out of poverty.

That would just be "playing god".

Posted

I'm not certain why this is a lie. Why would this upset him or go against Christianity?

If one defines "prosperity" in the same way as Sproul does - essentially as material wealth and ease of one sort or another - then it's not a lie at all: Sproul may be playing coy and fiddling with the language he uses, but he obviously considers himself more than a Bible student or he wouldn't presume to preach. A student might teach less advanced students, but preaching is usually reserved for those who think they've mastered a subject (whether they have or not).

Observe:

There are at least two glaring errors in this common perspective.

So Sproul thinks he has an uncommon perspective - one rare enough, in fact, that he can look objectively at a common mortal and tell if said individual is doin' it wrong or not. Smart students are a little more humble.

First, where does it end? The problem of the specialist is that as he learns more and more about less and less eventually he reaches that place where he knows everything about nothing.

Semantic nonsense. This assumes that specialists 1) lose access to the pool of general knowledge they've amassed throughout their lives, and 2) are actually ignorant of the facts in their known field, growing more ignorant with each new bit of data they collect, such that they eventually educate themselves to the point where they know nothing. (The latter assumption is especially dumb if one takes it at face value.)

So, by Sproul's "logic," a brain surgeon who has spent 40 years studying in his field will actually be less suited to practice in it than one of his 25-year-old students.

Sure, some specialists - and some generalists - eventually reach a nadir where they refuse to adapt, but it doesn't follow that specialization is an evil in itself.

Second, the Bible doesn’t speak this way. The Bible says that wealth, prosperity, the capacity to provide for one’s family, these all flow out of character. These are the fruit of a tree planted by the living waters (Psalm 1).

The Bible says a lot of stuff, including that wealth can sometimes flow from hard work. It also teaches that sometimes evil prospers and that good people will not only help the needy but are sometimes in need of material aid themselves.

Actually it teaches that all people are always in need - if not of material goods, then of wisdom or a closer knowledge of God. And yet the Teacher of Ecclesiastes warns that too much knowledge can be as dangerous as too little if applied wrongly; and that even wisdom, one of the highest goods, will serve to multiply grief in the end. All is vanity - a chasing after the wind. (In other words, Biblical authors had differing perspectives on the same topics. The Bible is not actually one book, but many.)

Some of the Biblical authors were specialists. Paul certainly was, having trained as a rabbi (and likely joining the Pharisees in the process). Luke was probably a specialist as well. The Teacher certainly was, having worked personally on the development of building projects in his capacity as king over Israel. That Joseph who was sold by his brothers became a specialist in his field, else he would have remained a low-ranking slave for the whole of his life. (His brothers would never have seen him again.)

I teach theology in a college context. I teach the Bible from sundry pulpits, and through myriad media. I don’t, however, ever want to be a Bible scholar.

As I said before, a student may presume to teach, but that's not all RC Sproul does. He preaches the Bible from "sundry pulpits" - a term that indicates he travels and is in high demand. He tries, clumsily and unsuccessfully, to hide that brag in amongst information that hints at his level of specialization. In other words, he is only paid to teach the Bible to college students in a classroom because he has earned degrees that lead administrators to think he actually knows what he's talking about. Without those papers that prove he is - in theory at least - a specialist, he wouldn't be paid to work as a professor.

Wouldn't this make him a crappy teacher?

I don't think humility would make him a crappy teacher. But hubris certainly will.

Posted
But, the good news is that the more sex ed we have given kids, the fewer STD’s, abortions, and ruined lives we’ve had. It’s a decent trade off, right?

Except that’s not what has happened. Their sacrament has failed. Just as with the anti-drug program DARE, the more we “educate†the children, the more we destroy their lives. More STD’s, more unplanned pregnancies, more murdered babies, these are the bitter fruits of more education.

Citations? :roll:

Posted

Citations? :roll:

LOL! *spit-take*

...

I'm sorry. It's just that he's not a specialist so he doesn't need any stinkin' citations. Those are for people too invested in book learnin' and other forms of critical thinking evil.

Posted

Typical for a fundie hypocrite like Sproul Jr.

IIRC, there was talk that he did not, in fact, earn the D.Min* he loves to put after his name. Will see if I can find something on the intertubez.

Bet homeboy would be mighty pissed if someone addressed him as "Mr. Sproul." :lol:

*ETA the correct degree that Sproul, Jr. claims to have earned. Also, here's a link to documents on the defrocking episode: hushmoney.org/R.C._Sproul_Jr._disclaimer.htm#defrocked

Posted

What an idiot. "Education" is hardly why DARE failed. They outright lied to kids about the effects of drugs (making pot out to be just as bad as heroin and crack, really??? That's totally going to convince kids never to try anything :roll: ) and didn't honestly talk about why anyone would want to try them.

Sproul Jr isn't even respected in most Christian circles, from what I understand. He was even defrocked (which sounds awfully defrauding!).

Posted

Isn't this the guy with the wife who had cancer and recently passed away? Did she not go to specialist to treat it? Or is it 'different' for him?

Posted

Sproul Jr isn't even respected in most Christian circles, from what I understand. He was even defrocked (which sounds awfully defrauding!).

Oh, he sure was - and if I remember correctly, it was for his misuse of power. But he's still too well-respected among the Calvinistas.

Posted

Darby's currently raising her younger siblings and ministering to harassing people outside abortion clinics. She has quite the following on FB--I'm not sure why.

Here's a family pic taken before the mom passed away (obviously, as I don't think they were into the whole Victorian propping up thing). Also her sister who was special-needs passed away as well. I thought it was quite an old picture, but the date says 4/2011? Not sure.

7131q9.gif

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