Robert L. Sumner (August 3, 1922 – December 5, 2016) was an American Christian author, Baptist pastor, evangelist and editor of the fundamentalist newspaper called The Biblical Evangelist.
He was pastor of a number of Baptist churches in Illinois, California, Texas and Ohio. In 1959, he created the non-profit Sumner Evangelistic Foundation. In 1965, he was on the Council of 14 (now Council of 18) of the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches, and he changed the name of his foundation to Regular Baptist Evangelism. In May, 1966, this group launched a newsletter called The Regular Baptist Evangelist, which 9 months later became just The Biblical Evangelist. He has also attended many Christian conferences and lectures. In November, 1980, The Biblical Evangelist stopped publication and Sumner became Managing Editor of a Christian newspaper of (which he had served previously starting in 1954), The Sword of the Lord, which was published by John R. Rice.[2]
In 1982, Sumner left The Sword after a dispute with the editor that was mediated by Jack Hyles. After the ordeal, Sumner complained that he was left "without an editorial voice", so he restarted The Biblical Evangelist by sending letters to former subscribers asking them to resubscribe. Sumner continued as editor of the Biblical Evangelist until 2016, publishing the last edition only two months before he died.[3]
Hyles exposé
In 1989, Sumner received some attention for criticizing Jack Hyles when he wrote a story in The Biblical Evangelist, titled "The Saddest Story I've Ever Told". The article accused Hyles of sexual scandals, financial misappropriation and doctrinal errors.[4] These charges were denied by Hyles who deemed them "lies".[4] Hyles' daughter, Linda [Hyles] Murphrey, confirmed in 2012 the truth of charges against her father, and that she considered her father the leader of a "cult." She speaks of this in a TEDx Talk.[5]
Author
Sumner published a total of 43 books including his last, Favorite Editorials, a collection of his favorite editorials from over the years, 304-pages (2015). He is also the official biographer of John R. Rice.[6]The Biblical Evangelist is no longer published, and except for The Saddest Story is no longer available online.
Bibliography
Favorite Editorials, Robert L. Sumner, Editor—Biblical Evangelism Press (2015) 297 pgs. ISBN9780914012450
The Honor Was All Mine—Biblical Evangelism Press (2015) 304 pgs. ISBN9780914012467
The Wonder of the Word of God! Revised Edition—Biblical Evangelism Press (2013) 40 pgs.
Fights I Didn’t Start ... and some I did, Round 2—Biblical Evangelism Press (2011) 262 pgs. ISBN9780914012467
Fights I Didn't Start ... and some I did—Biblical Evangelism Press (2009) ISBN9780914012320
Jewels from James—Biblical Evangelism Press (2008) 317 pgs. ISBN0-914012-39-8
HEBREWS: Streams of Living Water—Biblical Evangelism Press (2003) 546 pgs. ISBN0-914012-36-3
"Jesus Christ is God!: an Examination of Victor Paul Wierwille and His "the Way International, " a Rapidly Growing Unitarian Cult—Biblical Evangelism Press (1983) ISBN0-914012-24-X
Falsities of Seventh-Day Adventism—Sword of the Lord Pub. (1981) ISBN0-87398-272-X
After the revival—What?: Searching Sermons for the Saints—Biblical Evangelism Press (1980) 114 pgs. ISBN0-914012-22-3
Saved by Grace...for Service!: Evangelistic preaching in Ephesians—Sword of the Lord Pub. (1979) 333 pgs. ISBN0-87398-797-7
Bible translations: Is the King James Version the only trustworthy translation? What text is inerrant, infallible, God-breathed? Can we trust any translation? ... is the historic fundamentalist position?—Biblical Evangelism Press (1979) 30 pgs. ISBN0-914012-20-7
