Time for a Ligonier Ministries and Sproul family recap.
Back in January RC Sproul Jr achieved the incredible feat of getting himself defrocked. Then barely a month later RC Sproul put his defrocked son on a podium behind a pulpit to teach and preach to brethren in Christ as though being defrocked meant nothing at all. By doing that both RC Sproul and RC Jr openly rebelled against church discipline.
The evidence and testimony used in the RC Sproul Jr defrocking case was overwhelming. Even more significant though is the fact that RC Jr and his Elders plead guilty to the charges. But that didn’t deter RC Sproul from publicly stating that the charges against his disgraced son were “fraudulent.”
That kind of an allegation necessarily slandered the RPCGA and every Elder of the Presbytery which voted to defrock RC Jr (which was all of them, since they voted unanimously). It’s one thing to defend your own flesh and blood. It’s another thing altogether to publicly slander the good name of a Presbyterian denomination, and the Elders who make up that denomination. Dr. RC Sproul has yet to repent of his slanderings.
What some people still don’t realize is that one of those RPCGA Elders that voted to defrock RC Sproul Jr is Dr. Donald Kistler of Soli Deo Gloria Ministries. In 2004 Soli Deo Gloria was acquired by Ligonier Ministries under what are being described as very questionable circumstances.
Frank Vance was the first to blow the lid off this incredible story. Vance alleges that Ligonier’s CEO Tim Dick defrauded SDG founder Don Kistler. Now it’s all over the internet. But it wasn’t Frank Vance who’s responsible for it getting it spread all over the internet. Ironically the story spread like wildfire entirely because of Tim Dick. How you might ask? It happened because Ligonier Ministries and Tim Dick filed a lawsuit against Frank Vance.
The actual lawsuit can be found at Ligonier Ministries, Inc. and Timothy Dick vs. Frank Vance. I’ve also added a link to the sidebar.
Now hundreds and maybe thousands of Christian bloggers like Frank Vance are worried about the practical ramifications of Ligonier’s lawsuit. There’s a lot riding on this case and the first amendment freedom of speech rights of bloggers. Even more importantly many thousands of Christians are shaking their heads in disbelief that a stalwart of the Reformed faith and a biblical scholar like RC Sproul could be spitting all over the Bible by permitting his ministry to sue another Christian. First Corinthians 6 is real clear about this. Regardless of anything that Frank Vance has done Ligonier’s actions are inexcusable.
Some are choosing to put all the blame at the feet of Tim Dick, effectively letting RC Sproul off the hook. Even Frank Vance appears to be giving a pass to Sproul. I wish I could share Vance’s optimistic view of RC Sproul. I used to but I just can’t any longer. In my mind he lost all credibility when he claimed that the CREC would clear his son’s name. Obviously that never happened, but even if the CREC would have produced a Report that would have cleared his name every serious Presbyterian would have seen it for what it was — a total sham. RC Sproul is smarter than that, and for him to actually think that Doug Wilson’s boutique “confederation” could have cleared his son’s name in anyone’s eyes other than himself only proves how blind he is in matters that concern his own family.
Now on top of everything else that’s happened this year in the way of Sproul family scandals we now have this spectacle of Ligonier Ministries suing a Christian blogger. Where will it all end?
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Two public statements were issued today by Ligonier Ministries: one by the senior management, and one by CEO Tim Dick. They explain, in part, that they are dropping their lawsuit against blogger Frank Vance. In addition, Don Kistler has categorically denied that Ligonier Ministries defrauded Soli Deo Gloria Publications.
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