In another thread I mentioned 1980 as a pivotal year in Fundamentalism, and Mexdeaf asked me why I thought so. I'm not sure how much interest there is on this, but I'll give it a try and see where this thread goes.
In the spring of 1980 John R. Rice sickened. It was fascinating to watch how a great man of God faced death. As they wheeled him past me in the hospital he gave a cheery, "Hi, Johnny," as if we were headed out for a walk together. In the hospital room he once told a nurse who came in to give him a shot, "You want to earn a quarter?" When she bit, he said, "Go stick that needle in the doctor!"
I remember staying up with him one night in the hospital and hearing him quote Tenneyson's poem about Heaven, "Crossing the Bar." Later he heard a voice I couldn't hear and looked up to Heaven and talked with the Lord for awhile. But enough of my memories.
I have had a number of Fundamentalist leaders and pastors tell me that Fundamentalism changed with the passing of John R. Rice. Curtis Hutson, who followed him at the helm of the Sword of the Lord, was a great preacher, and I was privileged to have him on my ordination council. However, he was nowhere near the scholar and apologist John R. Rice was. I know little about Shelton Smith, since I will have been in Japan for 25 years on May 6, and don't keep up much with things in the States. I have met Dr. Smith and he was gracious to me and my family (our son was impressed with his baseball memorabilia
), but once again he is his own man--not John R. Rice.
So how did Fundamentalism change in 1980?
(1) Some key leaders drifted from the John R. Rice type of Fundamentalism to a more separatist version, or in the other direction--out of Fundamentalism. I remember one Fundamentalist leader saying in a private conversation in 1986, I believe it was (our first furlough), that he was at a loss about many things without John R. Rice to advise him. This man later left the movement.
(2) The KJVO movement gained steam, since John R. Rice was not there to write reasoned, scholarly articles against its radical elements in the Sword. I remember Lee Roberson in about 1975 forbidding further discussion of the KJVO issues on campus at Tennessee Temple. These men kept the issue under control.
(3) In recent years I do see a positive trend in the IFB movement, and that is the growth of a great missions movement. This began with Lee Roberson rather than John R. Rice, though Rice was a great personal supporter of missions. (He once gave $1000 to my ministry.) Roberson gave this missions thrust its start in the 1970's at Tennessee Temple and through BIMI, and new young leaders have been expanding it.
I don't think these observations come simply from a fond and proud grandson. What do you think?
In the spring of 1980 John R. Rice sickened. It was fascinating to watch how a great man of God faced death. As they wheeled him past me in the hospital he gave a cheery, "Hi, Johnny," as if we were headed out for a walk together. In the hospital room he once told a nurse who came in to give him a shot, "You want to earn a quarter?" When she bit, he said, "Go stick that needle in the doctor!"
I remember staying up with him one night in the hospital and hearing him quote Tenneyson's poem about Heaven, "Crossing the Bar." Later he heard a voice I couldn't hear and looked up to Heaven and talked with the Lord for awhile. But enough of my memories.
I have had a number of Fundamentalist leaders and pastors tell me that Fundamentalism changed with the passing of John R. Rice. Curtis Hutson, who followed him at the helm of the Sword of the Lord, was a great preacher, and I was privileged to have him on my ordination council. However, he was nowhere near the scholar and apologist John R. Rice was. I know little about Shelton Smith, since I will have been in Japan for 25 years on May 6, and don't keep up much with things in the States. I have met Dr. Smith and he was gracious to me and my family (our son was impressed with his baseball memorabilia
), but once again he is his own man--not John R. Rice.So how did Fundamentalism change in 1980?
(1) Some key leaders drifted from the John R. Rice type of Fundamentalism to a more separatist version, or in the other direction--out of Fundamentalism. I remember one Fundamentalist leader saying in a private conversation in 1986, I believe it was (our first furlough), that he was at a loss about many things without John R. Rice to advise him. This man later left the movement.
(2) The KJVO movement gained steam, since John R. Rice was not there to write reasoned, scholarly articles against its radical elements in the Sword. I remember Lee Roberson in about 1975 forbidding further discussion of the KJVO issues on campus at Tennessee Temple. These men kept the issue under control.
(3) In recent years I do see a positive trend in the IFB movement, and that is the growth of a great missions movement. This began with Lee Roberson rather than John R. Rice, though Rice was a great personal supporter of missions. (He once gave $1000 to my ministry.) Roberson gave this missions thrust its start in the 1970's at Tennessee Temple and through BIMI, and new young leaders have been expanding it.
I don't think these observations come simply from a fond and proud grandson. What do you think?
