Heritage: Basil Manly on Inerrancy            

                                                                                                                                                                      Vol. IX, No. 9, October 1996

           This is another in the series of pivotal quotes from Christian leaders and events, past and present. Generally, a new Heritage item will appear in each Banner citing one of our Baptist forebears. You are invited to contrast these orthodox Christian selections with the liberal view presented in this month’s “Antiheritage.”

           Basil Manly was the founding professor of Biblical Introduction and Old Testament Interpretation at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, the first SBC seminary. He drafted the Abstract of Principles, still used at Southern. He also was president of Georgetown College and first president of the SBC Sunday School Board. In 1888 he published The Bible Doctrine of Inspiration from which this quote is taken.

           “The doctrine which we hold is that commonly styled Plenary Inspiration, or Full Inspiration. It is that the Bible as a whole is the Word of God, so that in every part of Scripture there is both infallible truth and divine authority.”