In 2016, at the ERLC’s Evangelicals for Life Conference—which was headed up by the ERLC’s Russell Moore—one speaker, Ron Sider, an ecumenical social activist and author of Catholics and Evangelicals for the Common Good, gave an impassioned speech on what he thought it meant to be pro-life.
In that speech, he compared the egregious sin of abortion to things like smoking, climate change, government vaccine programs, racism, and capital punishment. He then urged Evangelicals to take up these causes in order to demonstrate a truly biblical, pro-life ethic.
Unfortunately, Sider only demonstrated that he himself did not have a solid grasp of biblical theology or the gospel. Sadly, Ron Sider has passed away, according to a social media post published by his son, Ted.
According to Christians for Social Action, “Ron died of cardiac arrest, following a hospital stay for treatment for some ongoing health conditions.”
While we will pray for Ron’s family and friends, again, we do not speculate on the state of his soul beyond what we can know. As with the passing of Bethel Redding’s pastor’s wife, Beni Johnson, we understand that Sider lived a life and practiced a ministry under the guise of Christianity that was largely devoid of a sound understanding of the gospel.
