Home Page
FREE Books & Sermons by Dr. Jack Hyles
Warning
to KJV-Only Pastors: Click here to read our Statement on
Jack Schaap
The
Growing Convictions of Dr. Jack Hyles
with Regard to the King James Bible
with Regard to the King James Bible
by the Webmaster of JackHyles.com
It is important to understand how Brother Hyles progressed in his beliefs on the King James Bible. In the early part of his ministry, Dr. Jack Hyles was not a strong defender of the King James Bible. From 1959 through the 1970s, when he preached from the pulpit at First Baptist Church of Hammond, on occasion he would say things like "that word in this verse could be better translated as..." In other words, sometimes he would "correct" a word in the King James text. At that time, Brother Hyles did not believe that the King James Bible was the pure, inspired, preserved, inerrant Word of God. Some of his early sermons (which we host now on JackHyles.com) contain instances of these "corrections".
Although he "used" the KJV exclusively in his early ministry, Brother Hyles was not "King James Only" prior to 1980, in the way we think of it today. He became stronger and stronger on this issue, especially around 1984 and afterwards, when he preached his sermon "Logic Must Prove the King James Bible" - during this time period he became increasingly convinced of the supremacy, inerrancy and preservation of the King James Bible. From that point on, he never "corrected" the words of the King James Bible.
There are some dishonest people who now use a 1960s or 1970s quote from Brother Hyles and present it as "proof" that he never believed in the preservation or inerrancy of the King James Bible at any time. Or, they will quote from his "King James Bible Study", which was given in the early 1980s, where he stated, "I never said that the King James Bible was inspired". They offer this statement as "proof that Dr. Hyles never believed in the inspiration of the King James Version". What these people fail to mention is that Brother Hyles strengthened his views on the inspiration of the King James Bible in later years, recanting his earlier statement unequivocally. He stated numerous times during the 1990s and until his death in 2001 that "the King James Bible is the preserved and inspired Word of God for English-speaking people".
In the late 1990s, Brother Hyles became even more fervent in his promotion of the King James Only position and even stronger on the inspiration and preservation of the KJV as God's only Bible for English-speaking peoples, as evidenced in the sermon, "Keep Your Stinkin' Feet Out Of My Drinking Water". He rejected and ridiculed the heresy that "only the originals are inspired".
In his sermon, "The Science of Calling A Pastor", Brother Hyles gave the following advice on how to choose a pastor: "Choose someone who believes the same Bible. Do not ask possible pastors what they believe or what they use. Ask them if they believe that the King James Version is the preserved Word of God. It is not enought that they use the right Bible; they must believe that IT IS the Word of God. Many men in America will say they are not saying that they do not believe in others. That is not good enough. The man chosen ought to believe that the King James Bible is THE inspired and preserved Word of God."
He later stated his belief that English-speaking people must have the pure Words of God (in the King James Bible) in order to be saved, since the Word of God is the "incorruptible seed" that must "germinate" to produce a true new birth. (I Peter 1:23). He believed that preachers using false modern English Bibles produced a congregation of "fake Christians who experienced a false new birth". In his book, "The Need For An Every Word Bible", he stated, "I believe with all my soul that those preaching from a bunch of false Bibles are planting corruptible seed."
As Brother Hyles aged, his determined fight for the King James Bible only intensified. In fact, the last sermon he preached at First Baptist Church of Hammond was about the fight for the inspiration and preservation of the King James Bible.