Shuler Opinions

When Jack Shuler held a crusade in Oregon in 1952, one night he spoke on the evils of drink. In the August 25, 1952 Eugene Register-Guard,  Peter Tugman reported on it. In that article, under the headline, Shuler Raps Evil Found in Bottles: Tugman said:

   “He [Shuler] took as his text the Sermon on the Mount, especially the verse ‘Ye are the salt of the earth.’ Shuler took pains to explain the importance of salt in the world’s system. He tied this into his warnings on liquor by explaining that everything is an extension of the Diety and His system. And “Anything that attacks the body and the soul of man, which injures his chance to go to heaven is attacking God, because man and his soul are a part of God.”

   In his enthusiasm, some would say Shuler wandered from orthodox Christianity in saying humans were part of God. If he would have said that man and his soul are a part of God’s creation, there would have been no problem. And maybe that’s what he meant. Some Christians and others outside of Christianity would have agreed with what he did say. In fact early Gnosticism tried to interpret Christianity in that way. They believed that the immaterial part of people could be God.

   Several days later, a letter to the editor touched on this issue. The writer, Bob Hamill, said “In Peter Tugman’s coverage of Jack Shuler’s sermon on Sunday Shuler is quoted as using the phrase ‘… because man and his soul are now a part of God.’ That sounds smooth but I wonder how many ministers present winced a bit. Careful Jack, your theological slip is showing.”

   That same year (1952) Shuler’s book, Jack Shuler’s Short Sermons, was released. In it he had one sermon called “Earth’s Greatest Preacher,” which referred to the human conscience. Within a few years Shuler was preaching a sermon called “America’s Greatest Evangelist” and instead of referring to one’s conscience, he spoke of the Holy Spirit. This seemed a wise change since a conscience can be distorted or deadened (1 Timothy 4:2) but the Holy Spirit can’t.

Dan Betzer

   Many more people expressed thankful praise to God for Shuler’s sermon leading them to Christ. Dan Betzer, the face and voice of Revivaltime and Byline radio/TV broadcasts to millions and author of more than 20 books, devoted one article to Shuler in his book, Godcast (2008).

    In 1950, as a 13-year-old, he attended a Jack Shuler crusade in Sioux City, Iowa. His church participated in the crusade which had a shaky beginning. “The meeting, scheduled for two weeks, began with a soft thud,” he said. “Maybe 300 people in that huge arena. But the preacher was evangelist Jack Shuler. To this day, nearly 60 years later, Jack was the greatest preacher I ever heard. The crowd grew to 500, then 800, and past 1,000. By the scheduled end of the meeting, the arena was packed with thousands of eager hearers. The revival continued another two weeks.”

   One night Betzer himself went forward and gave his life to Christ. “Jack himself prayed with me in the prayer room,” he said. “Although I grew up in a Christian home and knew the Bible well, I had not had a time when I gave my heart, soul, and life to Jesus.” He also said, “I often thank the Lord that my path crossed that of Jack Shuler.”

   In his prayer at the end of the article, he said, “O God, You have graced my life with men and women who were standouts in Your divine army. I am so grateful. To this day when I listen to recordings of Jack, I am still deeply moved in my spirit…”

On Jack Shuler

   In the August 19, 1957 Eugene Register-Guard, a letter to the editor from Mrs. Eugene Hastings said the following:

   “My husband and I wish to express our appreciation to the Register-Guard for the fine feature article you printed in last Sunday’s paper about Jack Shuler and the Eugene-Springfield Gospel Crusade.

   Perhaps a lot of people wonder how effective the Crusade really is, whether the conversions really last. Five years ago, Jack Shuler was here for a similar campaign. During these meetings, my husband accepted Christ as his Savior. He was 25 years old, and until then he had never attended Sunday school or church in his life. He did not even know that God had a Son, much less that He sent His Son to die for him.

   “Following his conversion, Gene joined a Gospel church here in Eugene, where he received excellent Bible teaching. Immediately, he began to grow spiritually and to experience changes in every aspect of his life. Gene and I met the following spring and were married on January 10, 1954. Gene has taught Sunday school almost continually since we met. We spent 10 months as youth directors in a small church. Most of the time Gene has worked as a truck driver. On the job, his testimony as a Christian has always been respected.

   “We know that the greatest thing we me do to please God is to build our lives on the firm foundation, Jesus Christ, and to make ours a truly Christian home. When the storms of life come and we stumble (which we surely do) we know that we shall not fall, for we are building on the solid rock. Our most sincere desire is that we may help our two little daughters know Christ, too.

   “Gene would probably not have gone to the meetings five years ago had it not been for the faithfulness of a Christian girl who gave him her own testimony and invited him to attend.

   “A few days ago a man Gene drives truck with asked him ‘What do you think of Jack Shuler?’ or ‘Have you heard him yet?’ Gene replied, ‘Yes, I’ve heard him. And since you asked me I was converted in his meetings here five years ago. That’s the best thing that ever came into my life and good things have been happening ever since.’”

Southern U.S.

     In a book called Nalley, a Southern Family Story by Evelyn Nalley McCollum (2002), a letter between relatives dated March 9, 1952, said, “Danville [Virginia] is having a city-wide revival in one of the big tobacco warehouses. Jack Shuler, Herb Hoover and the organist are former students of Bob Jones University.      He surely preaches the Gospel. His services are similar to those of Billy Graham. Some here like Jack Shuler better than B. Graham.”