Excerpt from Chapter 6 of Bible Wars: The King James-Only Phenomenon in the Church
Dr. Jack Hyles was a self-proclaimed leader of the independent, neo-fundamental Baptist movement in America. His mega-church in Hammond, IN was named by Christian Life magazine in 1972 as the World’s Largest Sunday School. For many years Jack Hyles held to the same balanced views of Bible translation as John R. Rice and other fundamentalist leaders of the time. Dr. Hyles and Dr. Rice traveled extensively throughout America preaching together in the 1970s and Hyles’ preaching reflected Rice’s balance. It was only after Dr. Rice’s death did Hyles emerge as the new self-proclaimed leader of independent fundamentalism. One of the first things Hyles did after his self-coronation was reverse his former position on Bible translations by wholeheartedly endorsing the radical beliefs of Peter Ruckman, although ironically in 1979 Hyles openly vowed he would expel any student from his college who advocated a Ruckmanite KJVO-position. Jack Hyles, from the early 1980s up until the time of his death in 2001 became a staunch member and leading advocate of radical KJVOism.
Jack Hyles’ reversal on the translation issue is troubling for several reasons; namely, because he had such a large congregation, Bible college, and even more influence throughout America as a popular conference speaker. Hyles’ influence continues today through the radical views of some of his disciples throughout America.
Hyles’ words and bizarre activities are well documented. For example, Jack Hyles’ once arrogantly proclaimed that the gospel ministry would collapse without him because “America needs me’ and to add insult to injury, consider this arrogant statement; “Just think how much destruction would happen to America and the churches if I quit.†He is also noted to have torn up modern Bibles from his pulpit and thrown the pieces out into an audience of congregants acting like ravening wolves. Furthermore, Hyles announced the KJV is the only inspired translation and even more outlandishly claimed if a personal worker dealing with a person seeking salvation used any other translation, the repenting sinner was not saved. This is truly interesting in light of the fact that Hyles at one time believed in the authority of the original ancient manuscript documents.
Jack Hyles’ repeated lionization of chief KJVO advocate Gail Riplinger validates his membership in the Ruckman cult. At his annual Pastor’s School in March of 1996 Hyles announced that he would “beautify the King James Bible†while at the same time “indict, convict, and sentence all other versions†in his much-publicized Trial of the Century. It was in that same program that he awarded Gail Riplinger an Honorary Doctorate from his Hyles-Anderson College after repeatedly referring to her book as a masterpiece although amazingly later confessed that he had read he book but did not understand it. And to illustrate the value of Hyles’ honorary doctorates, consider the fact that he also once conferred one on the late John R. Rice’s horse, MacArthur.