Smock states in his autobiography that, despite his lifestyle, he graduated near the top of his class, going straight to the bars after taking his last senior final exam.

[3] Smock attended graduate school at Indiana State University, where he earned a master's degree in history and wrote a thesis on "the personal effects of smoking seven straight joints of marijuana" while he was a research assistant in psychology for the Institute of Research into Human Behavior at the school.

This controversial variant of evangelism[11] is shared by some street and campus preachers, who hope that a spiritual rebuke will force sinners to repent.

[citation needed] College newspapers have reported some of his statements: "I don't know how the whorehouses in this town stay open — all of you sorority girls are giving it away for free!"

His assistants carried signs declaring that feminists, liberals, and those who listen to rock and roll are destined for Hell, along with homosexuals, fornicators, those who use tampons, and masturbators.

As a result of his aggressive, rude and confrontational style of preaching, Brother Jed was frequently mocked and accused of intolerance.

[14] Besides issues relating to coarse language with immodest sexual references, Smock claimed to be sinless, holding a position called Christian perfection.

[17] Smock's character was the basis of the 2012 short, Battle of the Sects,[18] in which an extreme evangelical preacher visits a university only to be run out by the campus Christians.