[Sly Fox]

Any other Old Hags here familiar with who this cat was?

Old Jack

I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.

[Libertine]

When I was growing up, I had two pastors that came out of Hyles-Anderson. They were pretty much Exhibits A & B why not to go there.

[JDUB]

i'm not an old hag, but i am familiar with him. my granddad would have fit well in the crowd there.
it looked almost like a nazi rally

[Cider Jim]

I visited his church and college on a youth group trip in '77, and we even had a member of our church graduate from college there, but he's no longer in the ministry.

[Libertine]

he's no longer in the ministry.

Probably b/c he died in 2001.

Just kidding, Jim. I know what you meant.

I didn't mind Hyles personally. His fire and brimstone style was not to my personal liking but there's lots of those out there. What I didn't like was the fact that all of the H-A grads I ever met seemed to be trying to be an over-compensated imitation of him. Hyles placed an emphasis on bus ministry and, so, the bus ministry suddenly became the most important aspect of the local ministry. Hyles was big on "soul-winning" so revival services and weekly Visitation nights became a church mandate. (I hope to never again hear the words, "If your church ain't in revival, it's in denial.") Hyles was also a strictly-KJV guy so every self-respecting Baptist that came out that school was, too. (That's why you see those guys waving their KJV Bibles in the air.)

Ultimately, Hyles did become something of a cult-like figure in Baptist circles. I don't believe that's what he set out to do but I don't think he necessarily tried to discourage it either.

[kel varson]

Let's try not to bash him. We may not agree with his style, but there will be many people in heaven because of his ministry.

[Libertine]

I'm not trying to bash Jack Hyles, the individual (although I can see how the last sentence from my previous post could be read that way). I'm really not. My problem is with all the Jack Hyles wannabe's that followed him.

[olldflame]

I may be opening a can of worms here, but I personally have no problem with bashing Jack Hyles. He preached an easy-believism, "pray a prayer and you're saved forever" salvation that does not correspond with what I believe the bible teaches about the Lordship of Christ. This, at least partially, is how he justified his own infidelity as well as the serial infidelities of his son. I suspect that for every person saved directly or indirectly through his ministry there are several who never really bothered to seek and understand the truth of the gospel and repent of their sins because they thought the little prayer they repeated back word-for-word from their Hyles-influenced "soul-winner" had them covered.

Needless to say, I'm not a fan.

[kel varson]

I may be opening a can of worms here, but I personally have no problem with bashing Jack Hyles. He preached an easy-believism, "pray a prayer and you're saved forever" salvation that does not correspond with what I believe the bible teaches about the Lordship of Christ. This, at least partially, is how he justified his own infidelity as well as the serial infidelities of his son. I suspect that for every person saved directly or indirectly through his ministry there are several who never really bothered to seek and understand the truth of the gospel and repent of their sins because they thought the little prayer they repeated back word-for-word from their Hyles-influenced "soul-winner" had them covered.

Needless to say, I'm not a fan.

So you're saying he wasn't saved? BTW, that 'little prayer' has saved a lot of people.

I wouldn't accuse him of infedelities without proof. I've never seen proof, and while it may or may not be true, I would be careful about libelous statements even if the man is dead. Please don't list some internet blog as proof.

[Sly Fox]

Believe it or not, I have VERY strong feelings on this subject based on family ties. Let's just say I wouldn't be welcomed in Hammond based strictly on my last name (and I'm not talking about Sly Fox).

I have PLENTY of issues with Hyles and his double life and wayward theology that olldflame is referencing. There are many reasons why Dr. Falwell distanced himself from Hyles and Bob Gray defended them.

All that aside, that video gives me the chills on a general Nazi-esque vibe.

[Cider Jim]

What ever happened to his son, Dave Hyles? (I'm asking about his occupation, not any rumored "dirt" about him).

[Sly Fox]

What ever happened to his son, Dave Hyles? (I'm asking about his occupation, not any rumored "dirt" about him).

Its impossible to separate the two with Dave.

[Libertine]

What ever happened to his son, Dave Hyles? (I'm asking about his occupation, not any rumored "dirt" about him).

You mean Jack Hyleson?
Sorry, Baptist PK joke.

I haven't heard any more about him since the "shaken baby" business in the early 90's.

[El Scorcho]

This thread was so not meant for me.

[Sly Fox]

I debated whether to put this in the Chapel or the Courtyard. I'm glad I brought it here. And I have a feeling that a majority of foklks on here have no idea who Jack Hyles even was.

[SuperJon]

Still don't.


Don't really care either.

I just like seeing you guys make fun of someone.

[Cider Jim]

Thirty years ago, I heard a sermon by Dave Hyles on the "Apprenticeship of Adversity." It sounds like ole Dave has had plenty of that in his own life. Sadly, if you look up Jack Hyles on Wikipedia, there seems to be almost as much information on his alleged afairs as his ministry.

[PAmedic]

I debated whether to put this in the Chapel or the Courtyard. I'm glad I brought it here. And I have a feeling that a majority of foklks on here have no idea who Jack Hyles even was.

BINGO

just didn't want to be the heathen that pointed that out

[Cider Jim]

Read a little recent church history/Christian higher education history, folks: for decades, Jack Hyles claimed to have the "largest Sunday school in America." His church in Hammond, Indiana would bus inner city kids in from Chicago to get his numbers way up, and he started one of the big 5 fundamentalist Christian colleges in our nation (BJU, TTU, PCC, H-AC, & LBC).

[Libertine]

I have a feeling that a majority of foklks on here have no idea who Jack Hyles even was.

Sacrilege, sir! You are hereby banned from the less-than-great state of Indiana! I shake my KJV at you!

[El Scorcho]

Read a little recent church history/Christian higher education history, folks:

Sure. I'll just pull up RecentChurchHistory.com and read all about it.

...H-AC, & LBC).

I don't know what H-AC and LBC are. Unless by LBC you mean LU.

[LUconn]

Yeah, honestly I normally don't have any idea who these semi-famous/popular preacher folks you guys are talking about. I think you have to grow up around it to have heard of these people.

[Knucklehead]

heard Jack preach once, scared me to death. So did all the BJU preachers that came through my Christian High School. Not a big fan of the "Scare the Hell out of them and fill the hole with Jesus" philosophy. Much better to teach that you must believe on Jesus as the savior, not just "accept him" to get a "get out of hell free card".

[Sly Fox]

Hyles-Anderson College was an offshoot of Hyles' church in Hammond. In extreme Independent Fundamental Baptist (IFBx) circles he was one of most prominent pastors of the 20th Century. Hyles' bus ministry success had a big influence on the early TRBC days. They continue to operate in much the same fashion today that they did in 1950. Hyles was a larger than life character who loved adding to his own mystique. He also had hidden flaws of a great magnititude that came to light in his latter years that diminished his standing in the IFB community and helped contribute to a mass migration from these circles into Evangelical fold where most LU folks stand today.

If you do a Wikipedia search on Hyles you'll notice some familiar names and topics.

[Cider Jim]

As Sly pointed out H-AC is Hyles-Anderson College, and of course LBC is an early LU reference: JF would have used the word "fundamentalist" to describe his college during the LBC days, but you certainly couldn't call LU "fundamentalist" in the sense that BJU & PCC still are.