Famous Fundies

In whose eyes?

 

If you are talking about famous in the eyes of the world I doubt any will qualify. One who truly and faithfully holds to the word of God and the fundamental truths found there is hardly going to be seen as "famous" by the world.

 

Amen. Its the unsung and unheard that are often God´s most faithful servants. A true fundamentalist will never seek fame since his commitment is to the word of God.

 

J. Gresham Machen
John R. Rice

 

Absolutely. It goes back to definitions of what a fundamentalist is, wihch of course has changed over time.

 

The most well-known "name" fundamentalist living today would be either Bob Jones III or Ian Paisley.

In the early 60s and 70s, Elmer Towns wrote books and magazine articles about the largest churches in the USA and the fastest growing churches and Sunday schools in the USA. Most of the churches and their pastors were fundamentalists. Names included Falwell, Roberson, Hyles, Hudson, Malone, and many, many others. Most of those men have passed away. Most of their ministries continue, although not with the numbers they boasted then.

Today's fundamentalism is less big-name/big-church driven. Fundamentalists tend to coalesce around seminaries rather than bible colleges/super-churches. The pastors tend to be servant-leaders rather than super stars. Sermons are not topical but, rather, are expository. The movement is not as flashy as it once was. In fact, few would even call it a movement any more. I like to think that today's fundamentalism is a quiet river with great depth while yesterday's was a bubbling stream. Back then it was noisier for sure, but today, it has more depth.

 

Bob Jones, Sr.
Bob Jones, Jr.
G.B. Vick
Bill Dowell
J. Vernon McGee
H. A. Ironside
Bill Rice
B. R. Lakin
Al Janney
Hyman Appleman
Oliver B. Greene
Lehman Strauss
J. Frank Norris
John Rawlins
A.V. Henderson

 

Al Janney

I see you included Al Janney in your list. Decades ago he was prominent in the Christian school movement in Florida. I haven't heard his name in years. Whatever happened to him?

 

Dr. Janney is still around. I heard that he will be the keynote speaker at the Baptist University of America reunion this June.

 

He was my pastor in Jacksonville untill I moved to Palm Coast in the 90's . I could be wrong but last I heard he was in Orlando or that area. I believe it was early last year I heard him in NC. His heart was into the Christian School movement, he was the founder or president of the American Christian School Association for a good long while. I know when he was my pastor he spend 2 to 4 days a week going across the country speaking for Christian Schools.

 

Amazingly, no one has yet mentioned Lee Roberson. (Correction--I notice that Swaimj mentioned Roberson briefly.) Dr. Roberson founded Tennessee Temple College (later a university) in 1946 when he was in the SBC. Strangely, the SBC refused to recognize the school (it was too conservative for them in that day), so Dr. Roberson took it independent, thus launching much of the IFB movement in the South along with John R. Rice, his close friend.

In its heyday in the mid-70's (when I was there ) the school had several thousand students. Pastors and missionaries all over the world graduated from TTU, as well as many, many godly laymen.

Dr. Roberson was also pastor of the Highland Park Baptist Church for many, many years, seeing it grow to the second largest church in the world, as I recall. His tremendous burden for souls, and his emphases on prayer and other aspects of the Christian life, drove the growth of the church and school.

Dr. Roberson was also instrumental in the founding of Baptist International Missions Inc., BIMI, which currently has over 1000 missionaries around the world. HPBC held a huge missions conference every year with up to 200 missionaries in attendance. I am one of the many hundreds of missionaries called to the field through that conference. Dr. Roberson was thus responsible more than any other man for the current huge IFB missions movement.

He also founded Camp Joy, where many poor children get a week of free camp and learn about Jesus, and a city rescue mission to reach the homeless and other unfortunates, and other ministries.

In my judgement, Lee Roberson and John R. Rice were the two most responsible for the growth and success of the IFB movement from the 1940s through about 1980, thus laying the foundation for the movement as it exists today.

 

John, Dr. Lee Roberson was high on my list if not at the top also but didn't list him due to Swaimj already had, and didn't list Dr. John either because he had been listed. God used them greatly.

 

I'm famous in some circles and infamous in others. :laugh:

 

Got it Bob. Amen.