“The Life of Arthur W Pink” - A Book Report

You will be pleased to note that Master has recently read the above mentioned book which was written by Iain H Murray. Moreover it is the revised and enlarged edition published by The Banner of Truth Trust in 2004. Furthermore I’m here to tell you that if you read this report you are going to get some real understanding not only into this book, but into the wise discernment of Master in regard to it.

Arthur Walkington Pink

First, I, a Particularly Astute Rock Bear (PARB), will give you some behind the scenes insight into how this book report came to be. Master is a big fan of A.W. Pink. But not to long ago while Master was thinking thoughts, he began to wonder how such a person as Pink, who believed such unconventional churchy things as he did, could be a pastor and get away with it in the first half of the twentieth century.

To answer this question Master decided to see if there were a biography on Pink. Master found that there were two so he wisely chose the most recent and thorough one to purchase. When the day came that it arrived he began to read it a little each day. But Master’s woman likes to read biographies as well. A couple of times Master’s woman would be usurping Master’s new book and chair at Master’s predestined reading time. But I’m happy to report that everything worked out okay in God’s good providence.

As Master worked his way through the book he often confided in me the things he was learning. He seemed pleased with the book at first but as he neared the end my Rock Bear Discerning Accoutrement (RBDA) easily picked up that he was disturbed with some of the things being written. This culminated in the last chapter when the biographer began to…. Well, it would be inappropriate for me to get into that now.

My suggestion to Master was that he should write a report and summarize what he had learned about A.W. Pink and make pertinent comments. He agreed that it should be done. But both Master and I were well aware that with all his other obligations (working, sleeping, eating, daydreaming, etc.) he just didn’t have the time. It was then that he said that I should write the report, since he had told me the whole story and I had grasped the full connotations of it. Because Master put such confidence in my abilities I could not refuse. Thus you are now entering into the Succinct Rock Bear Harmonization (SRBH) of this book.

The Rock Bear In Succinct Rock Bear Harmonization (SRBH) Mode

On April 1, 1886 Arthur Walkington Pink was born in Nottingham, England. His devout Christian parents were Thomas and Agnes Pink. However, like all parents, they had imparted to him a godless sin nature. Thus at a young age he entered the cult of Theosophy. He even became a medium, one of those people that can get evil spirits to move stuff around and guess future events with limited accuracy. You know, the creepy, God dishonoring stuff.

And he was a sharp character too. Not only was he moving up to the top tier of the Theosophy Society in London, he had a business going at age sixteen.

One fine day in 1908, when our subject was twenty-two years old, there was a God-invoked Providential Event (GiPE) on his behalf. His dad who continually provoked him with scripture, provoked him particularly with Proverbs 14:22 - “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Arthur was on his way to his bedroom to write a speech for the annual meeting of the Theosophist. However, as the author puts it, he had an “appointment with a Holy Sovereign God.” On the evening of the third day he reappeared from the bedroom as a Christian.

He then gave his speech at the Theosophy meeting. It was about how there is salvation only in God’s son , Jesus Christ. That bought him a ticket directly out of the Theosophy Society. His new delight was the Bible. Some days when he had no obligations he would spend ten hours in study.

A.W. bounced around some churches and concluded that they were losing the commitment to Biblical Christianity. He didn’t perceive that there were any good schools in England so in 1910 he decided to attend Moody Bible Institute in the U.S. After six weeks at Moody he decided he was wasting his time and needed to enter the pastorate asap.

This was the beginning of a number of pastorates in various places. He spent a couple of years in a Congregationalist church in Colorado. Several months were then spent back in England. By 1915 he was at a couple of churches in southern Kentucky. It was while he was in Kentucky that God gave him his woman, Vera, who turned out to be just what he needed.

Pink was a writer as well as a preacher. He had a viable ministry at Northside Baptist Church in Spartanburg, Kentucky when he wrote the first edition of one of Master’s favorite books, The Sovereignty of God. Arthur expected that this book would not go over well considering his view of the state of the church in his day. He was correct. There was not much support from friends as he was writing it and when published it flopped.

It was during this time that Pink had a physical breakdown and the doctor put him on several weeks of complete rest and double food intake. The man was apparently a workaholic with his combined reading, writing and church ministry. Criticism of his book on God’s sovereignty, though expected, would certainly be detrimental. A.C. Gaebelein, a heavy hitter in that day condemned the book in total. It was becoming clear that he was no longer welcome at Northside Baptist but no other calls were forthcoming. He did resign in 1920 and went to visit some friends in Pennsylvania.

I should take a moment to tell you that the author of this book relies a lot on correspondence that the subject had with others to locate him at various places and events. But what is also contained is quotations of these letters that speak to A.W. Pink’s thoughts, doctrine and Christian life that is very revealing. Master said that this is good because you can gain a lot of spiritual edification from reading these. This is a reason for Master to like the book.

Pink got an offer to preach temporarily in California from a place he had been in 1913. He had $75 which would get him there but he was going to have to leave Vera behind. After a three day meeting in Brooklyn a lady gave him an envelope to give his wife. She opened it to find another $75. They had mentioned the need to nobody. Now both A.W. and Vera could go to California!

While in California Pink got hooked up with an evangelist who wanted him to teach the people coming to his tent meetings. It was a great time. There were 700 plus people nightly who were hungry for God’s word. At one point they were competing (not in a bad sense of the word) for people in Oakland with Harry Ironside, another heavy hitter in that day. Somebody gave Ironside a copy of The Sovereignty of God who then urged people to burn it. This of course led to a lot of confusion and dissension among the believers. The ministry continued on for several more months in spite of the conflict.

Later in 1921 they returned to the eastern U.S. where Pink would minister at different places in conferences, etc. There would be the publishing of other books. But of great importance would be the beginning of Studies in the Scriptures in January 1922. This was a monthly issue which initially included some writings from other authors but later would include Pink’s writings only.

There were increasingly few opportunities to speak. The biographer says there came a despair in 1923 that was an “Elijah-like concern that the cause of God itself was failing in the land.” Pink suffered a nervous breakdown and once again had to have complete rest.

The next big event was a trip to Australia. The manager of a Christian book store in Sydney wanted Pink to come for a Bible conference tour. So in 1925 A.W. and Vera found themselves in Australia. Pink was speaking as many as ten times a week. There was a measure of “spiritual stirring.” But as always there were many who took offense to God’s sovereignty and opposition to Pink built. Master began to see the pattern that developed everywhere Pink went. Truth was received with joy by many. As time went on some understood what was being taught and didn’t like it. Leadership in the church also didn’t like it and did not want anyone divisive or who would offend the wealthy. Pink’s invitations to speak would cease and he would be left with only a few individuals who understood and loved him.

However there was one church where Pink was welcomed to preach. This was a “Particular and Strict Baptist Church” at Belvoir Street. Pink eventually became the pastor of this church as they held to doctrines of sovereign grace. In time it came to his attention that some in leadership had not been appropriate in declaring that the belief of this denomination denied human responsibility. Of course, A.W. did hold to the truth that humans were responsible for their deeds. The church split with about forty percent of the congregation wanting Pink to start a new church. He pastored the new church initially but for reasons that seem fuzzy to Master he resigned. So after what appeared to be three and one-half of their happiest years the Pinks left for England.

The Pinks were in England less than a year before heading back to the U.S. in 1929. Master said it looked like a real disappointing time to him even though the Pink’s always trusted and rejoiced in God. In 1934 they were headed back to England. Remember that this is the time of the Great Depression.

Their fall into isolation continued when they returned to England. The speaking engagements were few amidst moving from place to place. Arthur’s parents had died and his portion of the estate would provide for them until their death. They lived very frugally. They never rented more than two rooms. They never owned or drove a car.

In 1940 A.W. and Vera made their last earthly move to the small town of Stornoway, located in the north-west corner of the British Isles. Their previous location was a recipient of Nazi air attacks. There were two Calvinistic congregations at their new location but the services were in Gaelic. A.W. indicated that the Scots were very clannish.

But this you must remember, A.W. Pink never stopped writing. I mentioned Studies in the Scriptures earlier. Though it was a struggle he never ceased its publication until his death. Consider that it endured the depression and WWII. The circulation was seldom above 1000 and sometimes much lower. It was the late forties to early fifties before it grew significantly. Pink rejoiced when he determined that at least 100 pastors were reading it.

The biographer has a chapter in the book entitled ‘Twenty Thousand Letters’. A.W. corresponded profusely with everyone who would write him. Those who read Studies in the Scriptures and had questions or comments were to get a personal reply from Pink. Yet, personal visits were discouraged in later years as it appears it disturbed his study, meditation and writing.

A.W. Pink died of anemia on July 15, 1952. His biographer writes, “Pink passed from his pilgrimage as unnoticed as much of his life had been.” Vera survived him by ten years, dying on July 17, 1962.

Master says that you can get a lot of facts from a report like this but you can’t get the heart. The heart is found in his letters and writings that are quoted. There you can see his desire for truth and love for the brethern and better determine the work of the Lord Jesus Christ to conform him into the image of Christ. Master knows that he himself tends to stress the sovereignty of God that Pink taught because others deny it. But he wants to make known that Pink had a total grasp of the Scriptures and taught them completely. Pink was not a one doctrine teacher. So read the book to see the heart of Pink.

It is interesting to note that Pink was a self-educated man. The biographer says that Pink was, “convinced that theological education, in the early twentieth century, was commonly a very poor preparation for faithful ministry.” He then adds, “He was not wrong. … Had Pink gone through the mould of formal training it is probable that he would never have become a ‘trail blazer’ for the recovery of historic Christianity.” Master marvels that Pink’s contact with the respectable heavyweights of his day like A.C. Gaebelein and Harry Ironside resulted in their condemnation of him.

If, in 1952, one would have stopped to reflect upon Pink at his death he would likely have concluded that he was a flop. However, the biographer tells us “that within twenty years after his death publishers would want practically anything he had written.” Master will take anything he has written, even though he has much of it already. Master says and I quote, “It may be true that a couple of his early books were not up to snuff. Pink discounted them himself because he had changed his views. But something like Gleanings in Genesis, which appears to be written by a student rather than a scholar, is still a worthwhile read.”

Three of Master’s top ten favorite books are written by Pink. First, there is The Sovereignty of God. This is one of Pink’s first books and the one that consistently made him anathema to most of the Christians of his day. Gleanings From The Scriptures - Man’s Total Depravity is a classic work on human depravity and impotence. This, as most others, is one of the books that a publisher formed from articles written in Studies in the Scriptures. The reality of man’s sin taught in this book is why Master rightly and utterly abhors himself. Exposition Of The Gospel Of John is 1154 pages of precious, lovely truth. Master didn’t want the book to end.

On pages 312-313 the biographer gives a worthy tribute to God’s grace and guidance of Pink which now results in blessing to the church:

We believe that God guided Pink in this stress upon a biblical catholicity and upon distinguishing the truths that most urgently needed recovering among Christians. … When he died unnoticed in the remoteness of the Scottish Hebrides the full meaning of this policy had not been seen. It was only as a new era dawned, as a deeper hunger for the Word of God reappeared in the English-speaking world, and as the Puritans and other older writers were rediscovered and reopened, that Arthur Pink became one of the leading teachers of a new generation. He served to inspire a vision which was wider, grander and more fundamental than what so many found in their own church situations. Readers turned to him, not because he was a Baptist or a Presbyterian, but rather because they found an unction in his words which moved their hearts with new zeal and love for Scripture. By the gracious providence of God, Pink’s books are now vastly more influential than was his ministry in the days when the cold shoulder of an unsympathetic generation reduced him to silence in conventions and in churches.

At the end of the biography, the author includes a chapter devoted to The Sovereignty Of God. Pink first published the book in 1918 and then revised it twice before the final 1929 edition. The biographer then argues that Pink changed his position in later years to a more orthodox position on man’s responsibility. He makes an acceptable case for this using the later writings of Pink. The biographer then makes the case for the abridged edition of The Sovereignty Of God as opposed to the original 1929 edition.

Master Telling Me To Buy Only The Unabridged Copy Of
The Sovereignty Of God

This tends to rile Master. I don’t like it either. The Banner of Truth Trust (BOTT) publishes the abridged edition. Master and I believe that they have taken liberty that is not theirs to take. Part of Pink’s teaching in The Sovereignty Of God is the truth that God does not love everyone. From this position Pink never recanted. He knew this position would cost him, saying, “ ‘My opinion is that my denial that God loves everybody will provoke the most criticism of anything in the book.’” Yet BOTT took it upon themselves to remove this argument in their abridged edition. Master says you ought to get the real unabridged thing. It won’t hurt you. Another friendly and concise view can be found at: http://reformedcovenanter.wordpress.com/2008/12/26/book-review-the-sovereignty-of-god/

Before I wrap this up Master told me to point out that Pink had an aversion to the hideous Xmess festival. In one of his letters to a friend in 1918 A.W. wrote, “I am glad the holiday season is nearing its close. …We are to go out and dine again tomorrow, D.V., and ditto again the day following, and then I hope there will be an end to these festivities.” In another part of the book it is stated that secondary differences were not dismissed by Pink “for such differences have to do with scriptural issues.” Then Christmas and Easter are given by A.W. as examples where forbearance is needed to maintain fellowship. These ideas appear to conflict and leave Master confused.

What can be ascertained is that early in life Pink was involved in Xmess festivities though it is obvious he didn’t like it. It is not possible to discern from the book at what time in Pink’s life the last statement about forbearance with regard to Christmas was made. Master thinks it would be early in his life as well. Not mentioned by the biographer is the fact that A.W. wrote a scathing article against Christmas titled Xmas. In it Pink states:

..."Christmas merrymaking" is entirely a thing OF THE WORLD, devoid of any Scriptural warrant; that it is a Romish institution, and now that you see this, you dare no longer have any fellowship with it (Eph. 5:11); that you are the Lord's "free man" (1 Cor. 7:22), and therefore you refuse to be in bondage to a costly custom imposed by the world.
http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualNLs/CHRISTMAS-AWPINK.htm

Although Master cannot determine the date of this article it is almost certain that it came later in time when A.W. would have fully realized the repugnant nature of Xmess. This would be in conformity to his increasing Christ-like character, Puritan reading and separation from the world as seen in the book.

Read the biography. Its strength is the quotations of numerous letters A.W. Pink wrote that reveal a heart from and for God. Its pages show a man determined to live and teach truth even if it cost him a big ministry. Its glory is God’s because Pink’s ministry is now bigger than he could ever have dreamed.