In the late 1980's or early 1990's The Biblical Evangelist published this article about fundamentalist leader Jack Hyles and the church and college he led. What kind of affect did this have on fundamentalism?
According to some in the church and school, the idea, "who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord's anointed, and be guiltless?" (I Samuel 26:9), has been hammered home so hard and so repeatedly that the church deacon board and school administration have been paralyzed. As we already noted, however, this verse was never intended to help anyone escape the consequences of his sin.
Seems to me that Hyles & Co. popularized this idea in Fundamentalism, and I think the misuse of this verse continues to this day in churches where the leadership fears accountability.
One brother took notes on Hyles sermons for some time. At the bottom of the page, after the sermons, this item appeared repeatedly: "Observation: After the initial Scripture reading by Johnny Colsten, the Bible was not referenced at all." In on sermon, preached on Sunday night February 14, 1988, Hyles started by saying, "This is not going to be a sermon, it will be a Bible study." The note taker wrote, "The only problem: not one Scripture verse referenced after opening Scripture read by John Colsten." Some Bible study!
I've seen that more times than I care to count. Nothing grieves me more than to see my kids close their Bibles during a service, knowing instinctively that they will not need them for the rest of the message.
To me popularized the concept of a clergy/laity split. Further, if you were "winning souls" you were one of the anointed and if you were you were fair game. It not only insulated men from being accountable for their personal actions, it also insulated them from being accountable for their ecclesiastical relations.
To me popularized the concept of a clergy/laity split. Further, if you were "winning souls" you were one of the anointed and if you weren't you were fair game. It not only insulated men from being accountable for their personal actions, it also insulated them from being accountable for their ecclesiastical relations.
Sorry for the fat fingureing.
In the late 1980's or early 1990's The Biblical Evangelist published this article about fundamentalist leader Jack Hyles and the church and college he led. What kind of affect did this have on fundamentalism?
To answer your question, it created a huge rift in fundamentalism that exists to this day. For a while some were expecting Hyles to respond, but he just stonewalled. Apparently Sumner's evidence was pretty sound, as he was never sued for publishing this information (as far as I know). As time wore on, more and more fundamentalists distanced themselves from Hyles. If I remember correctly, some of his more bizarre ideas came after this incident, including his big emphasis on KJO.
Of course, it was a long time ago and my memory isn't 100% reliable... which is a sign of something, but I forget what.
I agree with Don that there was a rift. I attended HAC for about a year (1980-81 school year), witnessed some of the abuses and danger signs, and rejected them, moving on to more Biblical pastures.
16 years ago, I was sitting in a gathering of Christian youth. The speaker was wearing a "100% For" button, something the Hyles loyalists wore. He happened to sit across from me afterward, to meet the new pastor in town. He steered the conversation to Jack Hyles. I said, referring to his button, that 100% loyalty ought never to be given to a man, but only to Christ. He never spoke to me again. Ever. 5 years later, I walked into a McDonalds. He and his family were in line to order. He saw me, pointed me out to the children, who stared at me with disgust. And they all left the restaurant without ordering.
That, my brothers, is separating! 
jk
As someone who had no first hand experience with Hyles, I was amazed at the constant mismanagement and outright abuse that occured. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever expect it to be as bad as Sumner detailed.
I just wasted an hour of this vapor called my life watching examples of the ravings of Jack Schaap including the infamous "slap Grandma' bit. Will we ever see the day when this man and men like him will be specifically named and criticized by the leaders of sane fundamentalism?
I just wasted an hour of this vapor called my life watching examples of the ravings of Jack Schaap including the infamous "slap Grandma' bit. Will we ever see the day when this man and men like him will be specifically named and criticized by the leaders of sane fundamentalism?
I know plenty of folks in the 'sane' spectrum of Fundamentalism, and if you said "Jack Schaap" they'd say "Who's he?". They have a vague recollection of hearing of some guy named "Jack Hyles" but they've never read his books or heard a message by him. Personally, I read one book by Jack Hyles when I was about 8 years old- "Blue Denim and Lace", because I was sitting around bored at my grandma's house. I'm sure the only reason she had it is someone gave it to her- she wasn't even saved and had no interest in Hyles or any other preacher.
I also recall that my dad had a message on reel-to-reel... something like "What is a Backslider", but we tended to favor Fred Brown, Vance Havner, B. R. Lakin, and A. W. Tozer in our tape and album collection. About 24 years ago someone gave my husband a message by Hyles called "Fresh Oil". I think he listened to it and said "OK, that's nice" and got on with his life. The only reason I know anything about what goes on in Hammond today is because I read stuff here at SI.
So maybe much of the silence is just the blissful ignorance of folks who don't hang out in the crazy section of Fundietown.
So maybe much of the silence is just the blissful ignorance of folks who don't hang out in the crazy section of Fundietown.
You're not that far from visiting this memorial site! Would be a nice day trip for you and your dh!
So maybe much of the silence is just the blissful ignorance of folks who don't hang out in the crazy section of Fundietown.
You're not that far from visiting this memorial site! Would be a nice day trip for you and your dh!
Like, ew!
I agree with the "Ew!" The community band I am in plays twice a year at the local veterans facility and frankly, I was appalled at the attempt at military style honors for someone who did not die in the service of his country or had a military career. Talent and execution aside, it is just NOT DONE.
I also had the treat of listening to taped sermons by Hyles and others occasionally at our Christian school in Bible class . . . not exactly my fondest memories!
SNIP
So maybe much of the silence is just the blissful ignorance of folks who don't hang out in the crazy section of Fundietown.
Actually, it's more like he and his are irrelevant to us and our churches. We're too busy fighting Indians to worry about Hammond, Ind.
Remember, Jack Hyles and his peers came out of the SBC and "East Texas". So, they had few commonalities with those of us whose roots run through the NBC (the GARBC, CBA, FBFI). When Mr. Hyles' troubles arose, it was an easy matter to leave him in the rear view mirror. That's not to say we are not still feeling his influence on how we do or don't "do church." We are. But, why should we re-fight a war that is over.
Can give my personal perspective here:
I was smack in the middle of the IFB culture at the time. Not only was I in an IFB Church, I was IFB. This is how I defined myself. I was in the Navy, called to preach, and taking classes at our Church Bible Institute along with being involved with just about anything and everything the Church had going on.
Jack Hyles came to our area fairly often to various Churches and I would often attend with many of my friends to these "Monday, Tuesday" meetings he had. I was quickly taken in by how so many hung on every word he said and almost equated the "Words of Jack" with the "Words of Jesus" almost to the point of elevating him to "Idol" status!
I mentioned to one of my friends regarding this perceived "Idolatry" thinking perhaps God will have to knock this idol off of the pedestal that people have placed him on!
Less than a year later, the Sumner Articles came out and I remember being part of (unknowlingly) a "100% for Hyles" rally at a Pastor's Conference in California. What an absolute circus! This was possibly the beginning of my realization that perhaps I had better start using my brain and stop drinking so much kool-aid! Had no ill will toward Bro. Hyles but came to the stark realization that he was one of the biggest "Nut Magnets" around aside from perhaps Dr. Peter S. Ruckman!
So what kind of affect did this have on Fundamentalism? I guess it depends upon what your flavor of Fundamentalism is. For me, this was a defining point for me that caused me to start making some distinctions between historic Fundamentalism and the hysterical "Funny-Mental-ism" that was this crowd. You have a lot of rabid, knee-jerk nutcases in this latter group and I watched them quickly jump on either one side or the other. On one side you had the "100% for Hyles" types who ready to defend Jack Hyles to the death (unconditionally) and on the other side, you had this group that was foaming at the mouth and riddling Jack Hyles with every deragatory comment they could muster up! And of course this group had knocked Jack Hyles off their pedestal but quickly replaced him with some other "Guru" to their liking (Hutson, Chappell, Gray, Roberson, Etc.).
From here on out, I started losing sight of any "terra firma" I had on which to stand. It took another twelve years or so before I decided that things were actually better OUTSIDE of this IFB world I had known (with its "Hysterical Funny-Mental-ism"). I would finally learn how to separate the true Historic Fundamentalism from the mess I had been involved with for over 20 years!
So yes, God works everything for his good and his glory! 
