Tragedy struck the Bales family early on

The life of a great soldier for the Lord was stilled in the early morning last August 16. He had defended the faith as a preacher, professor, debater and writer. J.D. Bales had touched the lives of countless young students while a teacher of Bible at Harding University for more than 36 years. His mission in life also consisted of another vital and integral part: devotion to his wife, Mary and their six children. Thus, the man of "larger than life dimensions", exerted a great influence from his home to the world over.

Bales was born November 5, 1915 at Tacoma, Washington, being the fifth child of eight. However, at a young age his family moved to Albany, Georgia. When he was only 11, tragedy struck the Bales family in full measure. One evening his parents were on their way to a Bible class, riding in a Ford touring car when they were struck by a train and killed. Bales feels that perhaps the curtains in the car had made for bad vision. With the death of his parents, he and all his brothers and sisters had to be parceled off to various families and even some to an orphan's home. Bales reminisced that this made him feel very "lonesome" to see his brothers and sisters drive off with their new adoptive parents. Not only this, but he lost his young sister, Ethyl to spinal meningitis. Bales confessed that this caused him to "brood" a lot. In his senior year at Harding College in 1937 he had another sad loss - his grandmother. He said that he was so thankful that he had written her a letter shortly before she died and that she was so very proud of it. With all the sadness occurring in his earlier life, he still developed a life-long disposition toward positivism and humor, a real tribute to his strength of character.

As one ponders the life of Bales, who devoted his full attention to the preservation of the purity of God's word, one can easily conjure up a close corollary to that great prophet of old, Elijah. Elijah had an unconventional appearance and dress and Bales was very modest and unaffected by the most up-to-date styles. Elijah possessed a rugged constitution with robustness suitable for the outdoors. Dr. Bales, in his younger days was dauntless in his treks across the countryside, whether hitchhiking or bumming a ride on a freight train for the sheer ecstasy of adventure. Elijah was one of the most dynamic leaders of Israel of his day while Dr. Bales has equally been a tower of strength and influence in the realm of Christendom. However, there is one striking difference between the two. Elijah left no personal written words or records. Writing has been Bales' tour de force.

Bales' unique humor and zest and curiosity for life were evidenced at an early age. He could play April fool jokes on adults and dubiously amused his teachers with such boyish quirks as setting up "fly graveyards" and the like. His rambling desires started early. He was only stifled from a hitchhiking trip to Mexico by a strong-willed older sister; however, he did make it to New York on foot and thumb.

Perhaps it was the early adversity that helped mold Bales' stalwart manly character. His rambunctious spirit drove him in early exploits in wrestling, begun when he was a cadet at the Georgia Military Academy. During this phase, he had the pleasure of getting to parade for President Roosevelt, who was on a campaign tour at the time. J.D. Bales transferred to Tech High School where he graduated in 1933.

Bales started wrestling team at Harding

After finishing high school Bales was then to head to Arkansas to attend Harding University. This decision was prompted by the "decisive influence of Wallace Keckley", one of his influential church members. While pursuing Biblical studies, he was to establish a wrestling team at Harding and as its head, he took it to state meets several times. Bales had also wanted to be a boxer; however, this did not materialize. Perhaps this was divine providence. Had his brains not remained intact and free from being bashed, Dr. J.D. Bales might never have developed into the intellectual giant he became.

Bales received his master's degree at George Peabody College and his doctorate at the University of California at Berkeley. Although having preached much in his lifetime, the only time he ever preached full-time was while a student in California, for the 8th Avenue Church of Christ in San Francisco. One man, who gave a few remarks at the memorial service, mentioned how impressive J.D. Bales appeared as he labored over his old Underwood typewriter. After finishing graduate work, he returned to Harding to teach Bible. Former students of Bales vouch for the fact that he had his head in the clouds a good deal of the time; however, he did manage to keep his feet on the ground with his dry with and humor, especially around test time.

During all of his working years and even down to his last, he was busy writing many books (some say as many as 70 published). He also wrote many articles for religious periodicals, many articles combatting communism, and even many of a diverse nature for the newspaper. Interestingly enough, he seems to have relied upon his wife Mary for her abilities in good spelling. He certainly relied upon her sterling motherly instincts in caring for the children and freeing him for much good, quiet concentration and research.

One of Dr. J.D. Bales' sons remarked at the memorial service that the sum essence of his life was the deep-seated propensity for "defending the work based upon intense exhaustive research".

For Bales, the far-reaching implications of the insidiousness of Communism to subvert Christian religion prompted him to also work for the advancing of freedom and democracy. A nephew at the memorial service labeled his Uncle James as "a great champion of democracy and free choice".

J.D. Bales was an early blooming scholar, admitting that he dearly loved to read. Two of his earliest included "Horatio Alger" and Zane Gray books. In those early years he also developed a love for history from his roaming the Civil War battlefields around Atlanta. He even visited with old Civil War soldiers writing down some of their comments which he treasured.

Bales was not just a bookworm, but he was all-boy in every respect with plenty of humor, hobbies such as whittling toy boats, and some of a typical boy's persnickety habits, such as trying to avoid school when the notion prompted him. He admitted that his uncle Jess Massey had a tongue every bit as awesome as his whippings. Bales said that his uncle convinced him very well to become a diligent student although he still managed to get his share of spankings as school. How unbelievable we find some of J.D. Bales' Huckleberry Finn traits. With our hindsight, we can only envisage Dr. Bales as the brilliant erudite lover of knowledge.

If one ever visited in the Bales home they would be astounded with the far-reaching presence of his library and archives. Not only was his study brimming with research materials but every room in the house was bountifully stocked with piles and shelves of papers and books. Not only this, a storage house and semi-trailer in the back yard were gorged with a scholar's delight. Without a doubt, Dr. Bales probably held some kind of record for a private book collection. The man must have soaked up tomes from every sale within driving distance. It might also be emphasized that he did not waste money on non-intellectual books. I once borrowed a philosophy book from him.

Author says first meeting with Dr. Bales 'embarrassing'

My meeting with Dr. Bales for the first time was rather memorable albeit embarrassing. Going into a restaurant with a Harding staff member, (during my initial visit for a job interview), we encountered Dr. Bales also arriving for dinner. Strangely enough, we also left the restaurant at the same time, whereupon I blurted out "now what did you say your name was again?" The person I was with almost had an apoplexy on the spot and later had a huge laugh when out of his presence, saying she "guessed that would help keep Dr. Bales humble." Truly, the man Bales was humble and that is a big part of what endeared him to so many people along side his vast scholarship.

Yes, Dr. Bales was "confrontational in style" as described by a nephew. What he probably meant was that Bales approached the subject of combatting sin through aggressive well-articulated debate. Yet, J.D. Bales, the debater was one of an exclusive and rare breed who was composed of that contradictory dichotomy of natures - bold, brave, and yet gentle in spirit. The gentle nature was reiterated by several at the memorial service. One person was obsessed with his physical prowess as an athlete. Even though he had been a lively wrestler in his younger days, any physical slam dunk characteristic has been far superseded by the impact that he has made on the hearts of so many people, not through "bowl-them-over" aggressiveness. Perhaps the theme song for his life might well be taken from the title of one of his books "42 years on the firing line."

Dr. Bales had his share of adversaries since life is not all peaches and cream for any of us. One noteworthy trial for Bales was when he was being intimidated by a loudmouth bully. Bales finally looked the fellow in the eyes and calmly said "are you going to (do me in) like you have done to numerous others?" The fellow was so unaccustomed to anyone calling his hand until he was left speechless (a fact that some said was a very first). This example was the essence of Bales' success as a debater. Dr. Bales had the vitally necessary wisdom and respect for successful disputation, but just as important, he had that coolness of composure to confound the irrationality and bully passions, by a healthy touch of Christ's attitude.

His lasting monument was not from a campaign for personal fame. Nor was it to leave his name etched in decaying monumental edifices for temporal acclaim, nor the amassing of a greedy portion of this world's goods, nor driving the sleekest car in town, nor being attired as befitting the standards of Beau Brummell, nor bowing to the politically correct (secular or religious), nor showing distinctions, nor bending to any of our modern societys' hedonistic pressures. Rather, Bales etched his impact upon the hearts of countless thousands who have been touched by his intellectuality in tandem with his generous portion of the"milk of human kindness".

Mary Bales an integral part of late husband's life

Dr. J.D. Bales far-reaching influence is due not only to the fact that he was a Christian man with a singleness of heart as well as purpose, but also to his wife, Mary. An old adage, now pretty much held in contempt, goes to the effect that "behind all great men there is a good woman." In Bales' case this was of veritable and fortunate fact. There was no one who knew any better, his stringent and constant dedication to his purpose and calling than Bales himself. For this reason he gave his wife Mary his deepest appreciation for her part in maintaining the home and children. Mrs. Bales admits that they had many tight moments, financially speaking, but she never worked again outside the home after the children began coming.

In her dedication to her husband and children, Mrs. Bales truly had a singleness of heart and purpose. She is no ordinary woman for she understood the honor that was hers for being a good homemaker and steward of domestic matters as well as to serve as the wife of a modern day prophet. It was said at his memorial service by his granddaughter's husband that this great "man belonged to the entire world." It is significant that this was the last person Bales baptized.

Dr. Bales had covered the world primarily through his writings. However, back in 1958 (January-May) he was, perhaps unbelievably invited by Communist China to come speak (Note: this is incorrect - he was invited by the government of Taiwan (then Formosa) to speak). Realizing that he could utilize the first class ticket (that China had given him), to go anywhere, he resourcefully came up with some 90 speaking engagements all over the Far East: especially the Philippines, Korea, Japan, India and even the World's Fair in Brussels. During this journey which was reminiscent of his youthful escapades, he contracted an amoebic infection which affected his health for years.

Dr. Bales humor was evidenced continually, making it an integral part of his multi-faceted nature which helped to further endear him to all who knew him. From this Far Eastern trip came a memorable comment about the food. Bales had determined that he would eat everything set before him, for good diplomacy, but admitted that at times it was very difficult. His statement was that "if you chewed vigorously and though about something else, you could handle it." Unfortunately, his stomach did not completely handle it.

Mary did admit that the trip did leave her in a predicament in trying to manage six children. This predicament happened a number of times when Dr. Bales would be in the midst of a big project. He did attend some of the children's activities, such as ball games, but usually could be found in the bleachers reading a book.

Even though the Bales family was busy during growing-up years they bonded in loving fashion. Mary Bales says that they were fortunate in being able to have most of their children back home for most Christmases. Their children include: Mary Ethel, James David, Barbara, Mark, Jonathan and Robin.

Having known Dr. Bales since my initial arrival in Searcy, December 1974, I can wholeheartedly corroborate and testify to the good that he has benefited his family, his church, and his community, and the world at large. I may have had to ask him again who he was, when I first met him, but his words and personality are indelibly etched with glorious meaning upon my heart.