August 16, 1995

James David (J. D.) Bales died; his ashes are buried in the Oak Grove Cemetery in Searcy (White County). From 1944 to 1980, Bales was a professor of Bible and theology at Harding University (formerly Harding College) in Searcy. Both in public and in print, Bales earned a national reputation as a fearsome debater of theological issues and political ideologies, becoming especially well known for his anti-communism stance. At the end of his life, he said he felt as if he “had fought the good fight and had defended the faith.”