B. H. Carroll on Biblical Inerrancy
Vol. XI, No. 5, May 1998
In 1865 B. H. Carroll was not a Christian and a recently returned veteran of the War of Northern Aggression. He described himself as “a wounded cripple on crutches, utterly poverty stricken, and loaded with debt.” In that condition the Holy Spirit won his heart, and Carroll went on to grow one of the largest churches in Texas, First Baptist, Waco, and to found Southwestern Seminary.
In the following selection is from his article, “Inspiration of the Scriptures as Believed by Baptists” as reprinted in B. H. Carroll: Baptists and Their Doctrines, Timothy and Denise George, eds. ((Broadman & Holman, 1995) pp 116-118. Carroll lived from 27 December 1843 till 11 November 1914.
“That is one of the most important points in connection with inspiration, that the inspired word is irrefragable, infallible; that all the powers of the world cannot break one 'thus saith the Lord."
“Another observation is the power that comes upon the inspired word. Hebrews 4:12:
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any twoedged sword, and piercing even to the
dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of
the heart. And there is no creature that is not manifest in His sight: but all things are naked and laid
open before the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
“Yet another observation is the object of the Word. There are two objects. John sets forth the first one when he says that they are written that we might believe, and, believing, have life, or, as Paul says to Timothy, "which are able to make thee wise unto salvation." They are both expressed in the nineteenth Psalm: ‘The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.’
“The last observation is on the sufficiency of the Word: that the inspired record is complete; that it is all-sufficient. That is presented in two Scriptures, Luke 16:29: Abraham said to the rich man in hell who wanted a special messenger sent to his brothers: ‘They have Moses and the prophets, and if they cannot be moved by Moses and the prophets, neither could they be moved even though one from the dead went to them.’
“The other is 2 Timothy 3:17: ‘That the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work.’
“Let me say further that only the original text of the books of the Bible is inspired, not the copy or the translation.
“Second, the inspiration of the Bible does not mean that God said and did all that is said and done in the Bible. Some of it the devil did and said. Much of it wicked men did and said.
“The inspiration means that the record of what is said and done is correct. It does not mean that everything that God did and said is recorded. It does not mean that everything recorded is of equal importance, but every part of it is necessary to the purpose of the record, and no part is unimportant. One part is no more inspired than any other part.
“It is perfectly foolish to talk about degrees of inspiration. What Jesus said in the flesh, as we find it in the four Gospels, is no more His word than what the inspired prophet or apostle said.
“That is the folly of the Jefferson Bible. He proposes to take out of the four Gospels everything that Jesus said and put it together as a Bible.
“What Jesus said after He ascended to heaven, through Paul or any other apostle, is just as much Jesus' word as anything He said in the flesh.
“Here are some objections:
“First, "only the originals are inspired, and we have only copies." The answer to that is that God would not inspire a book and take no care of the book, His providence has preserved the Bible in a way that no other book has been preserved.
“The second objection is, "We are dependent upon scholars to determine what is the real text of the Bible." The answer is that only an infinitesimal part of it is dependent upon scholars for the ascertainment of the true text, and if every bit of that were blotted out it would not destroy the Holy Scriptures.”