Bauder on Hyper-Fundamentalism
Still in existence: The Bible For Today was the publishing ministry of Donald A. Waite from Collingswood, New Jersey.
My own observations (because I know DA and his wife (who just turned 88 this week):
- I met them both when I became an assistant pastor of Haddon Heights Baptist Church (GARBC - New Jersey) 35 years ago
- They were faithful members in good standing
- They had at the time an adult child with special needs who was in a care home. i visited the an from time to time. He since passed in a tragic house fire.
- DA himself suffered from cancer and is a cancer survivor.
- As I recollect he was a public school teacher at the time and always kept a Bible on his desk.
- He is a strong proponent of the KJV but he is not a Ruckmanite.
- Because the vast majority of fundamentalists used the KJV then, he was in many ways mainstream (in my view)
- He and his wife are absolutely lovely people. I spent hours their home and they spent some time with us (I avoided talking about the “800-pound gorilla” (versions)
- I know Duane Brown too.but not so well. He was a real thorn in the side of GARBC National Rep Paul Tassell.
- On the Brown quote: ““they have no love, little ethics, and are usually ruthless, selfish, & dangerous” … I all honestly I don’t think any of these rightly apply to D.A. Waite.
About whether DA Waite was a “normal” Fundamentalist:
- He heads an organization called the Dean Burgon Society which stands for the traditional texts underlying the KJV
- That same Dean Burgon Society was once welcomed on the campuses of Maranatha Baptist Bible College (Wisconsin) and Detroit Baptist Seminary.
- * I am not KJV only and I am not a member of the DBS. Just a little history lesson!
As Jim pointed out, the Dean Burgon Society holds the position that the text underlying the KJV is the best text. The last time I had any contact with them they held to what I would call a Majority text position and even questioned the veracity of the I John 5:17. That’s different than the KJVO position.
But let’s stay on point.
"Some things are of that nature as to make one's fancy chuckle, while his heart doth ache." John Bunyan
Just a point of clarification: The Dean Burgon Society has never been welcome at Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary.
Bill Combs
[wcombs]Just a point of clarification: The Dean Burgon Society has never been welcome at Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary.
I apologize for my mistake
D.A. Waite in the late 1979-1981 time frame at MBBC. He and the late M. James Hollowood were good friends. From what I was able to observe, the DBS had its roots in Fundamentalist Northern Baptist academia. Hollowood, Cedarholm and Weeks graduated from Northern Baptist seminaries. Richard Weeks was doing post grad studies at the University of Chicago. A case could be made that Weeks and Hollowood were the intellectual equals to the BJU faculty. In that light, it is easy to see Dr. Hollowood not accepting Dr. Custer’s “pontifications” regarding the NASB in the early 70s. Also, mayhap in reaction to their professors, Cedarholm and Hollowood emerged as firm supporters of the TR.
Hoping to shed more light than heat..
Discussion