T. C. Smith's Antibiblical Views           

by Keith Ninomiya                                                                                      Vol. XIII, No. 6, June/July 2000

T. C. Smith has taught at Southern Seminary and Furman University and has served as a member of the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond Development Council. The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship-funded Smyth & Helwys is the moderate publishing counterpart to our Southern Baptist LifeWay. The first book released by Smyth & Helwys was Studies in Acts by T. C. Smith, who used to be a frequent contributor to Baptist Sunday School Board literature.

According to the February/March 1984 issue of the Southern Baptist Advocate, Smith claimed that "there are at least 6,000 errors in the book of Luke alone." Luke the physician is widely regarded as the author of the Gospel which bears his name and the book of Acts. On February 23, 1970, Baptist Press issued a report on the annual meeting of the Association of Baptist Professors of Religion (ABPR). In the news release, T. C. Smith, president of the ABPR at the time, attacked the inerrancy of the Bible. Smith asserted, "We need to come up with a concept that is more suitable to ourselves, our students and our conventions." He further insisted that modern Christians should have the liberty to determine their own canon of Scripture. Smith claimed, "Modern scholarship has more valid criteria for selection of the canon than did religious leaders sixteen centuries ago."

[Comment: Our interest is not the heretical views of one individual. Instead, it is important for Virginia Baptists to be aware of the prominent role of people with views like Smith's in organizations (such as the CBF and BTSR) heavily funded by the Baptist General Association of Virginia. TCP]