But you were the one asking for his autograph?!? Incidentally, I’ve always thought it was incredibly disrespectful to the Word of God to ask a flawed, sinful human to autograph a Bible. Maybe I’m in the minority on this….
Jack Hyles died 25 years ago, today.
- Thread starter Justice1976
- Start date
Not sure about today but back in the 80s it was the fad to have a big name preacher sign your Bible. Seen it lots of times, I never did it myself. I genuinely hope that fad has died out.
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2012
- Messages
- 12,863
- Reaction score
- 3,335
- Points
- 113
- Location
- Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Both those churches though were rabid Kjvo
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2012
- Messages
- 10,347
- Reaction score
- 3,600
- Points
- 113
Well, I agree that there are boundaries that get crossed that turn from respect to hero worship, there’s nothing wrong with cultivating an attitude amongst our youth (which was usually the context that these kinds of signings took place) to see respect for godly men (and women), rather than sports stars and celebrities.
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2013
- Messages
- 3,879
- Reaction score
- 2,200
- Points
- 113
my dad and his family knew jack hyles and the whole hyles family from the 1950s when jack still pastored the church he started in texas.... miller road baptist.... and he even attended hyles anderson college in the mid to late 1970s...... he was also a member of miller road baptist himself with his wife and young children in the early 1980s ... .when hyles pushed his corrupt and immoral son on the church to get him out of hammond....
he says like many others... it took him a while to see the truth of what hyles was really like - but after the miller road scandal in the early 1980s - which destroyed my dads family... he called both father and son a pair of shameless exhibitionists.... control freaks obsessed with power - who served themselves while pretending to be servants of God.....
now.. also like many others have said... he wants nothing to do with anything related to IFB ... and with him - even nothing to do with baptists in general.... .he says their churches are becoming geared too much towards entertainment and showmanship - rather than stewardship - service - and worship of God....
but... he does still have his old scofield bible with dozens of signatures of fundamentalist preachers....... even the signatures of both hyles....
he says like many others... it took him a while to see the truth of what hyles was really like - but after the miller road scandal in the early 1980s - which destroyed my dads family... he called both father and son a pair of shameless exhibitionists.... control freaks obsessed with power - who served themselves while pretending to be servants of God.....
now.. also like many others have said... he wants nothing to do with anything related to IFB ... and with him - even nothing to do with baptists in general.... .he says their churches are becoming geared too much towards entertainment and showmanship - rather than stewardship - service - and worship of God....
but... he does still have his old scofield bible with dozens of signatures of fundamentalist preachers....... even the signatures of both hyles....
Last edited:
I admit that in the seventies I did it. I may have been a step below worship of those men, but I wanted a memento of sorts. Somewhere in my archives there is a Scofield Bible with the signatures of Jack Hyles, John Rice, Lee Roberson, Jerry Falwell, Curtis Hutson and a few others of whom I am unsure. They are all gone. The signatures remain of a time that seems unreal today.
It’s no wonder that some of these Baptist preachers got giant heads and inflated egos. They had grown men running around getting their Bibles autographed like school girls at a Backstreet Boys concert. 
Well put.It’s no wonder that some of these Baptist preachers got giant heads and inflated egos. They had grown men running around getting their Bibles autographed like school girls at a Backstreet Boys concert.
I agree. I was "young and dumb" at the time as we all were at some point. Having favorite "Preechers" signing your Bible (usually with their "life verse") was a big thing back then. I have not had anyone "sign" my Bible in over 30 years nor would I care to sign anyone else's Bible!
One of the wonderful things about getting older is that some of us actually "grow up!"
Of course they were! So was I back then and I wouldn't have had it any other way.
Funny how times change. From what some of you are saying, this Bible autographing used to be a thing. I guess it was a thing before my time. I’m having to think hard, but I feel like I vaguely remember hearing of famous preachers doing this, but I was a kid, so I kind of forgot about it until it was just mentioned. I wouldn’t even consider it today. I’d almost feel like it’s sacrilegious.
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2013
- Messages
- 3,879
- Reaction score
- 2,200
- Points
- 113
many of the signatures i saw also have life verses scribbled under them... as well as short notes of challenge and encouragement like a mentor would tell a young person starting out in life...... . plus there are also tons of verses underlined in that bible with the name of the preacher in the margin who based a sermon on it and the date it was preached .... his grandmother did that with her bible starting as far back as 1909.... and he said he learned that practice from her....It’s no wonder that some of these Baptist preachers got giant heads and inflated egos. They had grown men running around getting their Bibles autographed like school girls at a Backstreet Boys concert.
i found that interesting - though i have never done any of that with any of my bibles... ..for me it would be a distraction when doing regular study and bible reading.....
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2012
- Messages
- 12,863
- Reaction score
- 3,335
- Points
- 113
- Location
- Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
That's why I keep sermon notes.
I am very curious as to Miller Road... We all know what happened there under Dave. But what about before & since?
I think Hyles said he ran about 1,600 per Sunday... is that accurate? I know there was some kind of church split when he was gone... who was the pastor and what happened?
When did it finally go under, and what caused it? I think Dave had been gone for a few decades by then...
Not wanting to stir up controversy, just the story...
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2013
- Messages
- 3,879
- Reaction score
- 2,200
- Points
- 113
miller road baptist church did split some time between hyles senior leaving and hyles jr taking over...... . that;s what led to the creation of the church lavon drive baptist.. .they split from miller road........ ... i;m not the one who was there and knows all the details of it ... but what i was told was that the split was over an assistant pastor bringing a black convert to church.... .. he had been told not to do it but did it anyway.... and even sat next to the guy so no one else would have to..... but that wasn;t good enough for those who objected....
i don;t know the story of why the church collapsed after hyles jr was kicked out.... .. and i don;t think my dad does either.... . he and what was left of his family had already moved away by that time.....
but i do know this..... . after miller road kicked dave hyles out jack hyles went on a slam and slander campaign against the church and everyone in it he thought had anything to do with his baby boys demise - even when he knew the church was clearly in the right and he was openly confronted about his abuse of them - he continued the abuse... ........ ..that was part of what kept people in fundamentalism from hearing the truth and understanding what happened even as late as 2004 and beyond when i first joined the old fff... .the other part was they had created a fantasy in their minds about hammond being camelot and didn;t want to hear or believe otherwise......
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2013
- Messages
- 3,879
- Reaction score
- 2,200
- Points
- 113
i didn;t realize this was the post i quoted above when i answered your other post in good faith........ had i seen this one i would not have answered you in such a friendly manner.........It’s no wonder that some of these Baptist preachers got giant heads and inflated egos. They had grown men running around getting their Bibles autographed like school girls at a Backstreet Boys concert.
for your info my dad was in his early teens when he followed his pastors advice and started having the big name preachers who visited his church sign his bible.... men who in most cases had already established themselves in the ministry.... and he was still in his teens when he stopped doing it - right before leaving hyles anderson college and going to work for a private military contractor...... .. and he told me the same thing others here have also said - it was a common practice then... ... not anywhere near as big a deal as you are trying to make it..... .... .... all the signatures i saw are one of the many extra blank pages added into study bibles of that type - right before the fly leaf and added in by the publisher for the purpose of taking notes...
and back street boys?........ maybe that;s a memory from your own youth..... from what i understand my dad has never even been to a concert - of any kind.... ....
now... i don;t know what you were doing... or what the clowns who gave thumbs up and laughing jacks to your post were doing during all of your teenage years... but i can think of things a lot worse than being faithful to a church and collecting a few signatures of preachers in a bible....
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2013
- Messages
- 3,879
- Reaction score
- 2,200
- Points
- 113
for my dad it;s been over 50 years since.... but apparently.. according to some here.. the two of you are responsible for the big heads and inflated egos of fundamentalist preachers...
.....wow.... imagine having that kind of influence at such a young age...... 
My post was not aimed at your dad, it was aimed at the idea of having fallible men sign God’s Word like it’s a baseball at a game. I stand by what I said, regardless of your opinion.
My father, who died in 2019, did that for decades.