In recent days RC Sproul Jr's rhetoric has become so unhinged that some are asking, "Has RC lost his mind? Has he gone completely insane? What's happened to his brain?"

Most of us who've personally known RC Jr view him as an intelligent man. He must have been born with a high IQ because, even in spite of decades of daily abusing his brain with copious quantities of alcohol, and the inevitable brain damage that results from it, he still somehow managed to be quick-witted and even erudite. For most of his life RC Sproul Jr has been a "functional drunk." From his Ligonier Tales it's apparent that RC Jr's abuse of alcohol began in his teenage years. He quite literally wired his brain for booze. Sobriety was for RC Sproul Jr an alien concept.

That abruptly changed the morning of November 29, 2016, when he woke up in the Fort Wayne Indiana Crossbar Hotel, wearing striped pajamas. RC had been drunk driving for years, but this was the first time he'd been caught. He couldn't remember a thing about the night before because he'd blacked out after consuming a greater than .175 BAC dose of booze, not to mention the opioids he'd taken from his wife. The combination could have been fatal, not only to himself, but to his two minor children who rode terrified in the back seat as he careened down the highway, blind drunk and stoned out of his mind. The officer witnessed him weaving and further testified, "He was also driving at 30 mph for at least 2 miles with a flat tire on I-469" after he'd struck a curb.

RC Jr plea bargained his way out of the 7 years of prison time he was facing; but the plea deal also forever branded him a felon. RC agreed to a rehab program and swore off alcohol. For the safety of the public, and especially his children, we should all be grateful RC Sproul Jr has gone on record that, "Alcohol isn't for me." With the right support many alcoholics often manage to pull their lives together and live productive and emotionally healthy lives. Unfortunately there are alcoholics who don't cope so well with sobriety. They're sometimes referred to as "dry drunks." But in RC Jr's case it's even worse than that.

RC Jr has always had his issues, but bat***t crazy hasn't been one of them. Or at least that hasn't been his issue until more recently. 

RC Jr's slide into insanity appears to correlate with his having married a woman that many, including her own children, routinely refer to as "completely nuts." RC Sproul Jr married the three-times divorced Lisa Ringel in October 2016. In doing so he rebelled against the counsel of his Presbytery. They viewed such a marriage as adulterous since none of Lisa's divorces were for biblical causes. In order to avoid ecclesiastical charges RC Jr demitted his CPC ordination. Since that time he's had no ordination, but he continues masquerading as a minister, even giving himself the titles "Pastor" and "Rev." He's been fundraising, ostensibly to build a new church. Those of us who know RC's history (e.g. Highlands Study Center/Highlands Ministries) can easily perceive that Dunamis Fellowship is likely just another 501(c)(3) religious scam to line his pockets.

By the time of his Ashley Madison account scandal in 2015 many of RC Jr's closest ministry friends admonished him to stay out of ministry and pursue a secular occupation. By the time of his drunk driving debacle a year later every single one of them were in agreement that RC Jr needed to get out of the ministry forever -- everyone that is but RC's new wife. Lisa married RC to elevate her own status and nothing would deter her personal ambitions. Lisa thought she had married a rising star -- the successor to his father's Ligonier Ministries. But barely a month after the marriage her rising star self-destructed, plummeting to earth, crashing and burning. Lisa can't come to terms with the fact that her star will never shine again; and so she viciously assails and picks fights with any who encourage her to remove her rose colored glasses. 

Lisa Sproul first began her attacks by targeting RC Jr's adult children, and she did so almost immediately after the wedding. Her attacks are a textbook case in parental alienation. RC Jr has always claimed to love and value his children. So one would expect that RC would have stood up for and defended his own children. But he didn't. Worse yet he joined Lisa in her attacks. Their family squabble wasn't kept a private matter. RC Jr and Lisa attacked his children quite publicly on their social media accounts. Aside from using Twitter and Facebook, Lisa even created several sock puppet accounts on one or more public forums where she slandered her step-children. When Lisa's own children stepped in to ameliorate their mother's grotesque narrative she then slandered them too.

Bad as these attacks are nothing could have prepared us for the object of RC Jr and Lisa Sproul's latest attack -- the late Denise Sproul. Cynical as we are of RC Jr we still didn't see this one coming. We should have though. After repeatedly publicly attacking and slandering RC Jr's adult children why wouldn't RC Jr and Lisa Sproul attack RC's dead wife? Why didn't we see it coming? Because like everyone else we find the act of slandering a highly-esteemed deceased wife, who died of cancer in 2011, incomprehensible. 

What have RC Jr and Lisa Sproul accused the late Denise Sproul of? "Marital unfaithfulness." 

Those of us who knew Denise find the allegation of infidelity completely insane, just as we find it utterly insane to slander Denise some 9 years after her death. James McDonald, a former ministry friend of RC Jr's, posted his disgust, and a great deal of others have also commented:

For some 15 years we've repeatedly warned that RC Jr is a wolf in sheep's clothing, and we provided ample evidence to prove it. Our warnings went largely unheeded and we were routinely condemned as being "hateful and bitter," including by ministers like James McDonald (who ordained RC Jr in his Presbyterian denomination after RC Jr had already been defrocked). This isn't to pick on James though. It's to encourage each of us to take the warnings of Jesus seriously: "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves." (Matt 7:15) It shouldn't have taken RC Jr slandering his late wife for people to come to terms with the fact that RC Jr has always been a wolf in sheep's clothing. 

Denise Sproul wasn't just a good and godly woman. Many of us have described Denise as "a saint." Even on a purely practical level how would it ever have been possible for Denise to cheat on RC? Denise was the busiest most productive woman many of us ever knew. What with homeschooling 8 children, meal preparations and household chores, not to mention her high visibility as a pastor's wife, and on top of that living miles from nowhere in tiny Mendota Virginia. Sneaking around to have an affair, even on a purely practical level, could have never been an option for Denise, even were she morally capable of such a thing (which she wasn't). For RC Jr and Lisa Sproul to publicly slander Denise Sproul in this way is an act so vile and dastardly that upon hearing it we were instantly sick to our stomachs. The nausea lasted for days.

Lisa Sproul's hatred of Denise Sproul manifested shortly after her marriage to RC Jr. It appears to be rooted in intense jealousy, and in particular for Denise's saintly reputation -- a reputation that up until now was completely unblemished and unquestioned. Denise Sproul was loved and adored by one and all. Everyone who met her was instantly drawn to her. Denise Sproul represented everything that Lisa Sproul desired to be, but could never attain. This included the deep love and adoration the Sproul children have for their mother, a love that could never diminish simply because Denise departed this earth in 2011. Even on her death bed Denise was cheerful, gracious, and at peace with her passing. Denise was an incredible inspiration to many. 

Immediately after marrying RC in 2016 Lisa promoted herself to "First Lady of the Sproul household." She also declared herself "Queen" and even spoke of her "throne." She accused the Sproul children of "worshiping their mother" Denise and demanded they "move on" by accepting Lisa as their new mother. She demanded the subservience of every Sproul child, including the married adults who had children of their own. RC fully supported Lisa's dictates. Her demands being rebuffed, Lisa set about erasing Denise Sproul altogether, starting with the destruction of any Sproul family photographs that included Denise in them. Again, RC obliged and the family photos were disappeared. Lisa also demanded RC have Denise's Facebook removed, which he likewise complied with. This resulted in an ugly family dispute. The Sproul children successfully petitioned Facebook to put Denise's Facebook back online, designated it as a memorial site so that no one could delete it again. Denise's Facebook remains as one of the few sources of photos the Sproul children have remaining of their late mother. 

At the time of RC and Lisa's wedding there were three minor Sproul children still living at home. In retaliation for the Facebook dispute Lisa and RC took away his minor children's phones, along with internet access, and prohibited them from having any contact with their older siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles. Very early in the morning of her 18th birthday Maili Sproul affected her escape from the Sproul detention center and made her way to Florida to reside with her grandmother, Vesta.

Family alienation is not uncommon. It's happened even with some Christian families. However, what we've witnessed with the Sprouls is the worst of the worst. Lisa Sproul instigated it, sabotaging all of RC's family relations. RC Jr is entirely responsible for going along on Lisa's crazy ride. We find it remarkable that the author of The Tenets of Biblical Patriarchy (co-authored with the disgraced sex pervert Doug Phillips), would volunteer to become Lisa's lapdog. 

Has RC Sproul Jr gone completely insane? The title of this article isn't click bait, and the question isn't mere hyperbole. We believe it important to at least consider the possibility that RC Jr has lost his mind. In our view it may be the only plausible explanation for his behavior (the matter of Lisa being nuts is pretty much a settled issue). In the course of this blog's 15 year history we've warned repeatedly that RC Jr has a chronic alcohol abuse problem and has had for the majority of his life. Worse yet he's actively encouraged many of his acolytes to follow him in his debauchery (rare is the pastor who has ever thrown keggers and spiked the kiddie's punch bowl with Everclear). While RC Jr's writing and preaching were in past years a blessing to some, his personal influence by the example of his life has been catastrophic. RC Jr has destroyed the very souls of a great many people, including small children.

We've previously discussed the likelihood that RC suffers from Wet Brain Syndrome. But it's also quite likely that RC Jr suffers from Alcohol Psychosis. Chronic abusers of alcohol can experience the onset of Alcohol Psychosis as they're abusing alcohol. But onset can also occur subsequent to their quitting alcohol. We believe this is likely the case for RC Jr. 

Many alcoholics do make remarkable recoveries after giving up the booze. Tragically though some actually get much worse, and this has certainly been the case for RC Jr. In spite of the brain's plasticity (its ability to repair damage in many cases), there is little hope for recovery from Wet Brain, and even less so for Alcohol Psychosis. While we should all pray for the Sproul family and their emotional and spiritual healing, we should bear in mind any such healing is unlikely to ever occur via reconciliation with RC Jr, at least so long as he remains under the control of Lisa. 

Aside from all the family discord Lisa has caused she's also effectively destroyed any prospects RC has as a ghostwriter, a business venture he's been actively promoting. Ghostwriters are commonly hired by busy entertainers, business execs, politicians, and even celebrity preachers, to write literary works on their behalf. The person hiring the ghostwriter will always get credit as author for the work, even though they may not have written a word of it. Confidentiality agreements generally require the ghostwriter to never disclose they were the actual author. This applies even after the person dies. A ghostwriter who boasts of having written specific literary works demonstrates they can't be trusted to keep confidences. To even disclose to a spouse who one has ghostwritten for is risky since a spouse today many be an ex- tomorrow.

In a recent book review Lisa posted on Amazon she announced that RC had ghostwritten Denise's 2009 book Tending Your Garden. 

With her book review Lisa destroyed any opportunities RC might have otherwise had as a ghostwriter.

RC Sproul Jr made one of the wisest decisions of his life in marrying Denise. He made one of the most foolish decisions of his life in marrying Lisa, and his entire family has suffered immense harm from that decision. 

Our prayers for healing are with the Sproul children. May God comfort them in this difficult time.