Arthur Walkington Pink was born to Christian parents on April 1, 1886, in Nottingham, England. Early in his life he became involved with the Theosophical Society, even becoming one of their chief speakers for this occult gnostic group.
But conversion at the age of 22 (1908) through his father’s patient admonitions from Scripture – based on Proverbs 14:12 – broke the bondage of this cult and set his feet in a new direction. Influenced by Moody and Sankey’s 1880 British tour, Arthur Pink enrolled in the Moody Bible Institute, Chicago. Six weeks later he “dropped out”, telling a lecturer that he felt he was “wasting his time”.
There followed various pastorates in California, Kentucky, South Carolina and Australia, starting with Silverton, Colorado – he moved some 16 times between 1910 and 1940 – preaching and studying the Word of God.
He bade farewell to the dispensational theology of Moody Bible Institute and became adamant in his Calvinistic viewpoint. He also harshly criticised the Scofield Bible.
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He married Vera E Russell in 1916. His first major published work was Divine Inspiration Of The Bible (1917). The following year he published The Sovereignty Of God, selling less than 2000 copies.
During a three year stay in Australia he ministered with the Baptist Union of New South Wales, until they asked that he state his views at a special Ministers’ Fraternal meeting on 8 September, 1925. This resulted in a “unanimous resolve” that Pink was out of Baptist circles! (Reformation Today, August, 1972).
Pink returned to England for a year then spent eight years engaged in itinerant ministry back in the USA.
Eventually he moved to the Isle of Lewis, at the northern tip of Scotland, where he lived an isolated life and died of anaemia in Stornoway, Scotland on 15 July, 1952.
For 30 years he had written, and published, Studies in the Scriptures – a monthly magazine with less than 1000 regular readers.
His volumes on Genesis, Exodus, Elijah and Elisha, and the Sovereignty of God, are still widely read. Iain Murray has penned Pink’s biography (Banner of Truth Publications), and many of his books are still in print. Murray noted that “the widespread circulation of his writings after his death made him one of the most influential evangelical authors in the second half of the twentieth century”. Pink’s books prompted renewed interest in expository preaching and biblical living.
Warren Wiersbe writes: “He was not a great theologian, and some of his exegesis was weak, but it is impossible to miss the author’s love for Christ…” (Good News Broadcaster, December, 1983).
This post is based on notes by my late friend Donald Prout. I have updated these historical posts with information gleaned from other sources. I am indebted to Don for awakening in me an interest in Church History. Don’s notes can be found at: www.donaldprout.com
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