Interview with R.C. Sproul on His Latest Book - Part 1

Reformation Trust has recently released a revised and expanded version of R.C. Sproul's Surprised by Suffering: The Role of Pain and Death in The Christian Life. R.C. Sproul was kind enough to respond to a few questions about this book. I submitted them via e-mail and Mr. John Duncan presented them verbally to Dr. Sproul.

QUESTION: In Surprised by Suffering, you write that your father’s death was what brought you to Christ. Can you tell us how that transpired?

SPROUL: My father died in 1956, and he had been seriously ill for three years before, so it was a slow process, and the whole time that he was dying, it was clear that his illness was incurable and that his death was certain. The only question was when. I remember as a teenager, when I heard that nothing could be done to save my father’s life, it turned my world upside down because I grew up in an era and in a family where there was always a way to solve whatever problem came along. When this problem came, and I was told that there was no solution to it, I was stunned. I was hurt and that hurt gave way to anger. I was angry with God. I became very bitter. I was in high school, and those three years were perhaps the three most unhappy years of my life. Most people look back at high school as a time of fun and enjoyment but mine was a time with a very dark cloud over it. Then my father died in the fall of 1956 and the void in my life was profound. It was the fall of 1957, a year later, that I became a Christian. When I say that my father’s life led to my conversion, I think that it put my life in such shambles that it made me, in a sense, ready and prepared to hear the Gospel.

QUESTION: I think many of us have heard at least two phrases regarding suffering. One is, suffering develops character -- a notion that gets some warrant in Romans 5:3-5. But we've also heard that suffering reveals character. So which is it? Does suffering reveal character or develop character?

SPROUL: I think it does both. Certainly the New Testament tells us in Paul’s letter to the Romans that suffering develops character. Also, when afflictions hit us, we find out what we’re made out of. People who have a strong Christian character have a little extra in their tank to deal with afflictions and suffering. Scripture also tells us that without Christ we’re without hope in this world.

QUESTION: Now, in light of that, was it in vain that Satan sort of falsely proclaimed that if Job’s earthly blessings were removed, he would curse God to His face? In other words, was there suffering to be revealed or to be developed in Job, do you think?

SPROUL: I think the test for Job was a test of his character and a test of whether he would be able to withstand this onslaught from Satan.

QUESTION: In Colossians 1:24, Paul says, "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church." What is going on there? Should we ever choose or desire suffering for the sake of spiritual growth?

SPROUL: The passage in Colossians 1:24 is a controversial one. The Roman Catholic Church cites it as one of their texts to argue that the church is the continuing incarnation of Christ in both a real sense and in a redemptive sense. Whereas Protestantism understands Paul to be saying that there is a complex of suffering attached to Jesus, and that all of those who are indwelt by Christ are called to participate in His humiliation and in His afflictions if we are ever to participate in His exaltation. Yet at the same time, when we suffer and are afflicted, we are not filling up a lack of value in the sufferings of Christ. The suffering of Christ is of infinite worth, and we cannot add to it anything of a redemptive value. But we are fulfilling, as it were, our destiny as those who are in Him. Paul is not saying that he’s delighted and happy for each of his afflictions, but that he’s glad he is able to be afflicted for Christ’s sake and for the sake of the church. So what the apostle indicates in this passage is that he sees redemptive value, not in the sense of saving value, but in a positive contribution, a helpful value for his suffering for other people.

QUESTION: You observe in the book that death is a vocation. Can you explain what you mean by that?

SPROUL: What I mean by vocation is that it’s a “calling.” During my life I can be productive as a teacher of the Word of God. But there may come a time where I’m incapacitated. I may contract a terminal illness, and at that point I have a new calling, and that is to die, and to die in faith. The Bible speaks about two ways of dying. A person can die in sin, or die in faith. It’s important for Christians that we die in the faith. If we look at our deaths and our illnesses as simple accidents of nature, or the fickle finger of fate, then it’s difficult to summon the courage and the joy to persevere in the midst of that affliction. But if we realize that it is of God that we are in this situation and that He has called us to bear this at this time, it makes all the difference in the world in terms of how we’re able to handle the difficulties attached to the suffering.

I'll post part 2 of this interview next week. You can go here to read for a short overview of the book, the endorsements, and a variety of excerpts.

Update: Part 2 of the interview is now posted.