35. A. C. Gaebelein (1861–1945)/ B. H. Carroll (1843–1914)
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A. C. Gaebelein and B. H. Carroll
1861–1945; 1843–1914
You could not find two more opposite men than Arno Clemens Gaebelein and Benajah Harvey Carroll. Gaebelein’s ministry was, for the most part, an interdenominational one; Carroll was a devoted Southern Baptist and a strong denominational leader. Gaebelein held a dispensational view of Scripture; Carroll did not. Gaebelein was an itinerant Bible teacher; Carroll devoted most of his life to his church and to the seminary he helped to found. Why, then, bring these men together? For two reasons: both were self-made scholars with enviable reputations as teachers of the Word, and both have left behind sets of books dealing with the entire Bible. In Gaebelein’s The Annotated Bible and Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible are two different approaches to Scripture from men who were devoted servants of the Lord and able ministers of his Word.
Gaebelein was a remarkable man. Born in Germany in 1861 (the year Carroll joined the Texas Rangers), he was converted to Christ at the age of twelve, and at the age of eighteen dedicated himself for Christian service. This dedication occurred on October 31 (the anniversary of Martin Luther’s ninety-five theses), only a few months after he had arrived in America. “I had been reading my New Testament,” Gaebelein wrote in his autobiography, Half a Century, “when suddenly a strong impulse came upon me to seek His presence and to tell Him that work for Him should be my life’s work.”
He identified with the German Methodists in Lawrence, Massachusetts, where he was living, and soon he found himself teaching classes and distributing tracts. A friend offered to send him to seminary, but Louis Wallon, the presiding elder of that district, advised against it. Gaebelein’s training in Germany, which included Latin and Greek, actually put him ahead of some seminary graduates; and he was a tireless student on his own. Wallon loaned him theological books and encouraged him to study at home. Gaebelein was not critical of formal education, however; in later years he was to help found the Evangelical Theological College (out of which grew Dallas Theological Seminary), and he delivered annual lectures at the school.
In 1881, he moved to New York City to assist Wallon in a German church. It was there that he was introduced to the premillennial position, but at first he rejected it. Later he became pastor of a German congregation in Baltimore, and there he began his study of Semitic languages. It was his habit to be at his studies at 4:00 each morning. He ministered in various German churches, and his knowledge of Hebrew and his love for the Jews gradually brought him into prominence as a missionary to the thousands of Jews pouring into New York City at that time. He had been converted to the premillennial position, and his addresses on prophecy attracted great crowds of both Jews and Gentiles. This ministry finally led to the establishing of the Hope of Israel Mission and a monthly publication in Hebrew for the Jewish people. A year later, in 1894, Gaebelein founded Our Hope magazine, one of the finest and most influential of the many publications of that era. He edited it for fifty-one years until his death in 1945; it then merged with another publication and, unfortunately, ceased to exist. We could use today another Bible study monthly like Our Hope.
To read the life of A. C. Gaebelein is to come in contact with some of the great Bible teachers of that exciting era. The Niagara Bible Conference and other great conferences were in full swing during those years, and great crowds of believers gathered to study the Word in key centers across the country. In the pages of Half a Century, you meet James H. Brookes, C. I. Scofield, F. C. Jennings (whose commentary on Isaiah is a classic), Lewis Sperry Chafer, George C. Needham, and a host of other gifted men who tirelessly traveled from city to city to teach the Scriptures. There were giants in the earth in those days.
However great these men might have been, the one man in this autobiography who deserves our appreciation is Samuel Goldstein, a Hebrew Christian who belonged to Gaebelein’s congregation in Hoboken, New Jersey. One day Goldstein came into his pastor’s library and was surprised to see so many volumes in Hebrew and other Semitic languages. “It is a shame that you do not make greater use of your knowledge,” said Goldstein. “You should go and preach the gospel to the Jews. I believe the Lord made you take up these studies because He wants you to go to my brethren, the Jews.” That was the beginning of a remarkable ministry in New York City. Hundreds of Jewish people crowded into halls to hear Gaebelein expound their Old Testament Scriptures, and many found Christ as their Savior. For five years (1894–99) Gaebelein superintended the Hope of Israel Mission, wrote books and tracts, edited two magazines, and sought to win both Jews and Gentiles to Christ. In 1889, because of denominational problems, he severed his relationship with the German Methodist Conference and embarked on the itinerant ministry that was to make him a tremendous blessing to thousands of people in the United States, Canada, and Europe. But as great as his public ministry was, it is the treasure of his written ministry that we want to consider.
His first book was Studies in Zechariah, and there is an interesting story connected with it. Gaebelein sent a free copy of the book to every rabbi in the New York City area and never received any acknowledgment from any of them. Some time later, however, a young Hebrew Christian began to attend one of Gaebelein’s meetings regularly, and it turned out he had been secretary to a well-known rabbi. The rabbi had thrown Studies in Zechariah into the wastebasket, but the secretary had rescued it, read it, and trusted Christ! If Gaebelein’s commentaries on John, Acts, and the Psalms are not in your library, by all means secure them. The Jewish Question, on Romans 11, is a classic study of this critical chapter. The Prophet Daniel was highly praised by Sir Robert Anderson.
The Annotated Bible was begun in 1912 and completed ten years later. It originally appeared in nine volumes, but may be purchased today in a beautiful four-volume set. This work includes an outhne of each chapter in the Bible, an introduction to each book, and a discussion of the teachings of the Word. It is not a commentary; it is one man’s “interpretation” of the total revelation of Scripture, a unified “overview” of the Word of God.
Since Gaebelein was one of the original consulting editors of The Scofield Reference Bible, you can expect these studies to reflect a premillennial, dispensational approach to Scripture. In fact, The Annotated Bible is really an expansion of the basic teachings found in the Scofield Bible, with very practical applications throughout. However, a student need not agree with the author to benefit from his insights into the Word of God. There is a devotional warmth to Gaebelein’s writings that goes beyond any one system of interpretation.
People often asked Gaebelein how he was able to travel and speak so much, edit a magazine, and write so many books. His answer was always the same: “I never wasted time!” When asked why he did not play golf, he replied: “Not because it is wrong, but because I can use my time in a better way.” He was a devoted student, a systematic worker, and a dedicated man; and we today are the happy heirs of the treasures God enabled him to mine from the Word of God.
B. H. Carroll was another tireless worker and self-made scholar. He was born on December 27, 1843, in Carroll County, Mississippi, the seventh child in the family of Benajah and Mary Eliza Carroll. When he was seven years old, the family moved to Arkansas, and then in 1858 they relocated in Texas. It was in Texas that Carroll was to have his great ministry. It was B. H. Carroll who helped to “discover” George W. Truett and establish him in a ministry that is recognized today as one of the greatest in American church history (Andrew Blackwood called Truett “the mightiest pastoral evangelist since Charles H. Spurgeon”). It was B. H. Carroll who founded Southwestern Baptist Seminary and whose denominational leadership is remembered by Southern Baptists.
Strange as it seems, Carroll was a dedicated infidel until his conversion in 1865. From the first day he learned to read, Carroll had been a devoted student, reading whatever good books were available in that frontier region. He had an amazing memory and could recall at will material he had read years before, even to the point of giving the page locations! Eventually he was able to read three hundred pages a day without neglecting his regular responsibilities, and he even claimed to be able to read two lines at a time (actually, he was a forerunner of “speed-readers”; he read word groups instead of individual words, and he scanned pages). Even as an unbeliever, he read the Bible through several times, and few men dared to debate with him. He had a great mind and was a gifted orator. He also had a great, strong body; he stood six feet, four inches tall, and weighed two hundred pounds. His long beard, in later years, reached to his waist and gave him the semblance of an old prophet. One day, while boarding a train, he was asked by a stranger, “Where is your brother?”
“Which brother do you mean?” Carroll asked, since he had several brothers. “My brother Jimmie?”
“No!” said the stranger. “I mean your brother Aaron!”
Carroll enlisted in the Texas Rangers in 1861. Instead of carrying food in his saddlebags, he carried books! The next year, wanting something more exciting, he enlisted in the Texas Infantry and fought in the Civil War. He was seriously wounded at the Battle of Mansfield (Louisiana) and finally had to be sent home.
He was still a fanatical infidel and had even written a book on the subject; he had vowed never to enter a church again. But in 1865 he was persuaded to attend an old-fashioned camp meeting. The preacher challenged the people to make a “practical, experimental test” of Christianity and to give Jesus Christ a fair trial. When he asked for those to come forward who were willing to make the test, Carroll went. His action amazed and delighted his Christian friends, but he was careful to explain that he was not converted yet; he was simply acknowledging that he would give the Christian faith a fair hearing. While riding home, he got down on his knees in the woods and fought the battle out—and Jesus Christ won. Carroll’s life was transformed, and his great gifts were dedicated to Christ. In November 1866 he was ordained to preach, and four years later he was called to the First Baptist Church of Waco, Texas, where he carried on an exciting ministry for twenty-eight years. He was dean of the department of Bible at Baylor until he founded the new seminary and was named its first president.
An Interpretation of the English Bible grew out of Carroll’s own teaching and preaching ministry. His lectures and sermons were stenographically recorded, and some were written out by Carroll himself. After his death, his assistant at the seminary, J. W. Crowder, was given the responsibility of editing and compiling Carroll’s studies, and it is largely because of his persistence and faith that we have this magnificent set of books today. It was originally published in thirteen volumes in 1916 by Fleming H. Revell, but that edition did not cover the entire Bible. In 1942 Broadman decided to bring out the set and commissioned Crowder to compile Carroll’s material on the portions of Scripture not discussed in the first edition. This second edition went to seventeen volumes. It must be noted that J. B. Cranfill assisted in editing some of the volumes in that set. The completed edition was published in 1948. Baker Books reprinted an edition in six large volumes, a set that ought to be in every pastor’s library.
For one man to produce this much material is a feat in itself; and when you consider that Carroll was limited in his formal schooling, the feat becomes even more amazing.
His mind was not a sponge, absorbing the ideas of others, but rather a fertile soil into which every fact and truth dropped, germinated and bore fruit. He was not an assimilator of the information and illustrations of others, but rather a tireless investigator searching out for himself and arranging his material in his own forceful manner.
So said George W. McDaniel in a memorial address at Houston on May 16, 1915. He added this word about An Interpretation of the English Bible: “As a commentary it is unique. Mark you, I don’t rank it first; it is not himself at his best. For the average preacher, however, that commentary is a thesaurus of theology and a gold mine of homiletics.” I have examined some of Carroll’s other books, and quite frankly I believe that some of his best work is in this monumental set.
It is not actually a commentary; it is an “interpretation” on a broad scale. Sometimes Carroll pauses to preach a sermon; he may linger for pages on one verse, or he may skip over entire sections. I am glad the editors have not deleted his “asides,” because they are sometimes the most interesting parts of a chapter! When Carroll reminisces about hearing some forgotten Baptist preacher, or when he lifts an experience out of his own exciting life, you find yourself suddenly paying close attention. This man was a giant of the faith, a great preacher, and a man who influenced men in a positive way toward faith in Jesus Christ. He is a man you ought to know.
Some students differ with Carroll’s doctrine of the church or his views on prophecy, but these differences should not rob them of the values of this set of biblical studies (I usually learn more from those I disagree with than from those I agree with!). If a young pastor started reading this set faithfully and read only fifty pages a week, he would complete the set in about two years, and would have a knowledge of the Word of God from which he would profit for the rest of his ministry. If you only “consult” these books, you may be disappointed; but if you read them seriously, you will be enriched.
On March 7, 1933, Crowder, who edited all of Carroll’s books, discussed Carroll’s literary contribution in an address at Southwestern Baptist Seminary. I mention this because in this address Crowder made an interesting statement about D. L. Moody and the Moody Bible Institute. After rebuking another school in Chicago for departing from the faith, Crowder praised the institute for
holding rigidly to the purposes of its founding, having through the years supplemented, magnified, and multiplied the literary productions and spirit of its founder. This has proved to be a great bulwark to the Moody Bible Institute. . . . The tests of scholarship are its final issues, its fruits. It may be a tree of life or a tree of death. Scholarship, or no scholarship, the productions of B. H. Carroll, like the productions of Dwight L. Moody, are a tree of life.
After warning the seminary family that their school, like others, could become modernistic, he suggested that Carroll’s writings become the foundation, the fortification, against such doctrinal disintegration, even as Moody’s writings had fortified the institute.
Carroll died on November 11, 1914, and the next day George W. Truett delivered the funeral message. “The pulpit was his throne,” said Truett, “and he occupied it like a king.” The king is gone, but some of the treasures of his reign are still with us. I encourage you to mine them; they will enrich your life and ministry.