Born in 1926, David Charles Haddon Hunt enjoyed the
advantages of a godly upbringing and placed his trust in
Jesus Christ as his personal Savior and Lord in his early
teens.
As a young man, he served in the military toward the end
of World War II. Afterward, he attended UCLA and received
a degree in mathematics. It was during that time that he
met the love of his life, Ruth Klassen. In 1950, they were
married, and since both loved the outdoors, they enjoyed a
beautiful honeymoon hiking in the High Sierras—perfect for
two young people madly in love and with very little money
to their name. Marriage was soon followed by the birth of
two sons and two daughters. Ruth was a busy mother and
also a gifted writer herself. She had a tremendous
interest in and knowledge of history, a gift that would
help Dave further down the road. Dave’s own career path
led him into a position as a CPA/management consultant and
later as the manager of several corporations.
Along with church-related activities, Dave initiated and
became involved in numerous campus ministries and meetings
in their home, with a special outreach to Jewish young
people and foreign students. Many of these have stayed in
touch with Dave and Ruth through the years, fondly
recalling their times spent in Bible studies at the Hunts’
house.
Dave and Ruth also traveled abroad, spending time in
various locations throughout Europe, meeting with
believers there and ministering in many ways while raising
their own family. Dave also brought Bibles and other
materials into the Soviet Union during a time when it was
very difficult to do so. Throughout his later years, he
and Ruth traveled extensively as he was invited to speak
in churches and fellowships, large and small, all over the
world. Often they stayed in people’s homes, dining with
them, learning their customs, and sharing God’s Word and
God’s love.
The desire of Dave’s heart was ultimately to be involved
in fulltime ministry, especially since he saw firsthand
everywhere he went the breaking down of the true church as
the world began to work its way into her midst. He began
to write in 1973, warning believers about the incursion
into Western culture and into the church itself of Eastern
religion, psychological and selfist philosophies,
ecumenism, and other unbiblical teachings.
The ministry of The Berean Call was founded by Dave in 1992. It grew out of a previous organization, of which
Dave was also a founding member since 1986. With T.A.
McMahon working alongside him at The Berean Call, Dave was
able to share his love for and defense of Christ in the
subsequent newsletters, books, videos, and speaking
engagements that resulted from this ministry. Dave and
T.A. wrote three books together, including the best-known
The Seduction of Christianity , which was
groundbreaking in its boldness, exposing false teachings
in the church and daring to identify the names of the ones
behind the deception.
By the early 2000s, Dave’s love for Christ and his desire
to defend the name of the Lord had grown even stronger,
and his concern over Islamic politics and religion are
reflected in many of his articles, lectures, books, and
interviews.
Then Richard Dawkins and the “new atheists” came onto the
scene with a vengeance, seeking to destroy the very
concept of God in the minds of everyone. Dave began to
write and teach and speak more passionately than ever
about the absolute truth that is in the Word of God and
our need to immerse ourselves in it daily in order to
prevent being taken up in the evolutionist delusion that
is sweeping the world.
One of Dave’s favorite activities was to see whom God
would seat next to him on airplanes as he traveled and
spoke. He often said that he “could prove the existence of
God” just by these providential occurrences. While writing
about Islam, he would end up seated next to a Muslim who
didn’t really understand what Islam was about but was
eager to hear the difference between the Bible and the
Qur’an. When writing about creation vs. evolution, the
Lord would bring him, as a seat companion, an atheistic
scientist who thought he had all the answers and was very
surprised that there was another verifiable explanation to
this universe.
Dave’s bold yet loving approach to any situation allowed
him entrance into these conversations where many others
would have been shut out. His love for Jesus, for Israel,
and for people in general was obvious to all. His
enthusiasm for the truth, along with his anger over the
sin and wickedness that he knew was robbing people of what
God wanted for them, flamed his desire to share the Lord
with anyone with whom he had contact.
At least 4 million copies of his books have been sold,
many of them translated into more than 50 languages. They
include: The Cult Explosion; The God Makers
(with Ed Decker); The Seduction of Christianity
(with T.A. McMahon); Global Peace and the Rise of
Antichrist; Peace, Prosperity, and the Coming Holocaust;
The New Spirituality (with T.A. McMahon); Whatever
Happened to Heaven?; Occult Invasion; A Woman Rides the
Beast; A Cup of Trembling; In Defense of the Faith; An
Urgent Call to a Serious Faith ; To Russia
with Love (with Hans Kristian); What Love
Is This?; Countdown to the Second Coming; Seeking and
Finding God; Honest Doubts; Judgment Day!: Islam,
Israel, and the Nations; Yoga and the Body of Christ;
and his final book, Cosmos, Creator, and Human
Destiny.
He also wrote two novels, The Mind Invaders
(formerly The Archon Conspiracy ) and
Sanctuary of the Chosen, along with a children’s
book called The Money Tree , illustrated by his
daughter Karen.
This is by no means a complete listing of all of Dave’s
works. One of his videos, Israel, Islam &
Armageddon, has become a tremendous tool for
churches and for anyone interested in helping to spread
the truth about events prior to and since the attack on
the World Trade Center. His video A Woman Rides the
Beast is a favorite among those who are witnessing
to Catholics, a group for whom Dave had a deep love and
sorrow, desiring to see them come to the knowledge of the
truth.
Dave Hunt’s own drive to find and then deliver the truth
is evident in everything he did. His impeccable research
and recognized scholarship were based on in-depth studies
of original documents and publications, interviews with
key experts from around the world, and extensive
travel—including to South America, Australia, Europe,
India, and throughout the Middle East.
Dave has left us a legacy of inestimable value. We are
blessed to be able to see and hear and read what he has
taught about the evidence for God in a breathtaking number
of materials. From explaining about the history of
Christianity, to exposing the deception that has crept
into the church, to teaching about the prophecies that are
being fulfilled even today, this humble, brilliant man
will go on teaching us for a very long time. We look
forward to the day when we will see him again.
There are no public services scheduled at this time. There
will be a time to remember Dave at our conference this
summer, August 23-24 in Bend, OR.
In lieu of flowers or other gifts, Ruth requests that we
rejoice with her that Dave is now with his Savior.
