William Carey

Men of Faith

by Basil Miller

The amazing story of a simple English cobbler who became a self-taught scholar of Hebrew and Greek, a botanist, a minister, and finally a pioneer missionary to India! His life became the model for modern missions. Developed from letters and journals of William Carey, this challenging biography brings an understanding of the almost unbelievable sacrifices he made. The long and painfully arduous voyage from England, the primitiveness and grinding poverty of eighteenth-century India, the death of his wife and other family members did not detour Carey from God's call in his life. Compelling missionary drama of the man whose lifetime of service became the standard for today

Genres: Biography, Christian, History

160 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 1985

About the author

Basil William Miller was born in Laconia, Indiana, February 26, 1897. He moved with his family to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) in 1905, and nine years later entered a small Christian college in Greenville, Texas, to earn A.B. and B.D. degrees.

After pastoring churches in Oklahoma, he was called to teach at Pasadena College in California. He married Esther Kirk and they had four children. He earned a master’s degree at the University of Southern California and five more graduate degrees—the M.A., S.T.M., Th.M., S.T.D., and Ph.D.—were earned while he was holding pastorates in San Diego, Pittsburgh, New York City, San Antonio, and Pasadena.

In 1939, Dr. Miller was involved in a serious car accident and suffered a severe concussion which kept him bedridden for a year and partially incapacitated for the next four. Then, in 1947, he suffered a heart attack. During his convalescence he began his writing career and, over a period of 35 years, produced 200 books and thousands of articles for Christian publications.

Two wartime biographies caused a publishing sensation. Martin Niemoeller: Hero of the Concentration Camp appeared in 1942 while the German pastor was still confined in Dachau. The other bookk was Generalissimo and Madame Chiang Kai-shek. The Chinese leaders were at the height of their popularity and the book generated more prepublication orders than any previous Zondervan title. Some 950,000 Basil Miller books were in print by mid-1951. He had published 136 titles by 1955 and his final count probably tops 150.

Until his death on May 7, 1978, at the age of 81, he was “driven almost beyond endurance with the knowledge that there is so much to do, and so little that I can accomplish.”

Reviews

[Isaac Saba · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gifted by my Grandma, this biography of William Carey is a reminder that extraordinary actions come from ordinary faith.

[Kitty Kestrel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty short, pretty packed, and pretty posaic. I ended up skipping the author's self inserts/summations and just read the actual information. Enjoyed it; but I believe I better enjoy reading a different William Carey biography. Overall, delivers what it promises, with a little extra notes from the author that are easily skipped over.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

I chose to start my studies on William Carey with this short children's biography. I kinda wish I hadn't. At times, it felt like I was just reading a wikipedia entry: just the bare facts. But maybe that's necessary for a children's length book.

[Adrienne]

I found it interesting to learn the connection of contemporary William Wilberforce and his influence to the English government in allowing missionaries to legally enter India despite opposition from the East India Company.

[William "Spig" · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great man to J sweat and the father of missions. A true servant. He sought to reach, educate and provide opportunity for the Indians to learn for them selves. He was not about his mission but His God.