Are you hopeful for another spiritual awakening in our day?
SPROUL: I’m a Calvinist—how can I not be hopeful? I see all kinds of encouraging signs of the revitalization of the church in our own day. At the same time, on the other side of the spectrum, we see dreadful decay in the life of the church. There are so many things being eclipsed that are vital to the truth of Christianity, but you have to have a scope beyond the United States. Worldwide, I see all kinds of resurgence of powerful Christianity, and I’m encouraged by it.
THOMAS: I have just read a brand new biography of Luther, and we’ll probably see many more as we come up to the five-hundredth anniversary of 1517 and the nailing of the Ninety-Five Theses. This one is by Hendrix from Yale. There are aspects of the biography I didn’t agree with, but it reminded me that Europe was dark at the beginning of the 1500s. Yet through one man, through the preaching of the gospel, and through the rediscovery of the gospel, Europe was turned utterly upside down within a generation.
Why can’t that happen again? It would just take one generation to turn North America or Europe upside down, and I believe in a God who can do that.
This is a transcript of Derek Thomas’s and R.C. Sproul’s answers from our Theology in Dialogue event and has been lightly edited for readability. To ask Ligonier a biblical or theological question, email ask@ligonier.org or message us on Facebook or Twitter.