He was “Mr. Graham” to his office staff and dignitaries; “Bill” to his wife Ruth (who died in 2007), team members, relatives, and close friends; “Daddy” to his three daughters and two sons to this day; “Daddy Bill” to the grandchildren; but just “Billy” to the rest of the world.

Asked in his sunset years what he hoped to be remembered for most, evangelist Billy Graham often would tell interviewers, “that I was faithful in preaching the gospel throughout my life.” 

OK, the skeptic says: You Christians who want to follow God’s guidelines and “reclaim America” and all that—you Christians who say homosexuality is a sin based on a few verses in Leviticus—what about those other verses in Leviticus? Do you want laws against mixed fibers or mixed marriages, or (this is the kicker) are you for stoning rebellious children?

If only as a matter of significant news in the evangelical world, this column must take note of the death on Dec. 14 of theologian and master teacher R.C. Sproul, the founder and leader of Ligonier Ministries. But Sproul was so much more than a name in the news.

The complicated relief after an acrimonious political race ends—whether you’re pleased or grieved at the results—is a temporary luxury in our year-round campaign seasons.

The bitter battle in Alabama between Roy Moore and Doug Jones seems over (unless Moore contests the results), but another round beckons: campaigning for mid-term elections starts, well, now.

You’ll hear plenty in 2018 about a civil war in the Republican Party over the kind of candidates the party should support and the kind of policies the GOP should promote. These are important arguments.

R.C. Sproul died Thursday at age 78. Months before the theologian’s final illness, WORLD founder Joel Belz interviewed him at Ligonier Ministries headquarters in Sanford, Fla. Here’s an edited transcript of their conversation. 

You said in a video series several years ago that everybody is a theologian. There are good theologians, you said, and there are bad theologians. But everybody's a theologian. So what's the distinction between a good theologian and a bad theologian?

Robert Charles “R.C.” Sproul, the Reformed theologian, pastor, teacher, and lecturer who founded and chaired Ligonier Ministries and authored close to 100 books, including The Holiness of God, died Thursday. He was 78. Sproul was known for delivering uncompromising messages on the holiness and sovereignty of God, in his writing, video teaching series, and as a regular speaker at Ligonier’s national conferences in Orlando, Fla. Ligonier’s mission is “helping Christians know what they believe, why they believe it, how to live it, and how to share it,” he once said.

Remember good old Oreb and Zeeb? I try my best, every so often, to reintroduce them to WORLD’s readers. Otherwise, you might confuse them with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of Iran or Kim Jong Un of North Korea.

Most likely, though, you didn’t have a clue whom I had in mind when I mentioned Oreb and Zeeb. I had to look them up myself in my Bible dictionary after seeing them mentioned in Psalm 83.