A. W. Pink

Arthur Walkington Pink was born on April 1, 1886, in Nottingham, England. His parents were devout Christians, but he did not follow their faith. In his early twenties he fell under the influence of a group called the Theosophical Society and became deeply involved in its teachings. He was drawn to mysticism and to the idea of a hidden wisdom. A turn came around 1908, when he was convicted of his sin and came to Christ. He often said that what rescued him was the truth that God is sovereign in salvation. He had been taught to trust his own search, and he found that God had been seeking him all along.

He went to the United States and spent a short time at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. He left after only two months, feeling that he could study better on his own. He took up pastoral work in Colorado, California, Kentucky and South Carolina. He was not a great success as a pastor. He held to the doctrines of grace firmly and preached them plainly, and congregations did not always welcome it. He was a man of strong convictions, and he found it hard to compromise. He moved from place to place.

In 1925 he sailed for Australia to try his hand at ministry there, and he spent a few years in the country. He was unhappy with many of the churches he met and he found little support. He returned to England in 1928 and then moved to Scotland. In 1934 he settled with his wife Vera on the Isle of Lewis, off the coast of Scotland, a remote island with few visitors. There they lived for the rest of their lives, in near poverty.

The work for which he is remembered began in 1922, when he started a monthly magazine called Studies in the Scriptures. He wrote nearly all of it himself, and he continued it for about thirty years. It was a patient exposition of the Bible, with long series on the attributes of God, the doctrine of regeneration, the life of David and the Gospel of John. He had only a few hundred subscribers. He worked by himself and without a church or a publisher to back him. He often wrote in cold rooms and wore thin clothing.

He also wrote several books, including The Sovereignty of God, The Doctrine of Election, Gleanings in Genesis and The Attributes of God. The Sovereignty of God, first published in 1918, has been read by many thousands. His style was plain and heavy with Scripture. He was careful, and he defended the idea that God is the author of salvation from beginning to end.

His life had real sorrows. He felt cut off from other believers and wrote that he had little fellowship. He did not attend church for many years and said that he could not find a congregation that held to the truths he valued. This isolation is something that many have remarked on, and it should stand as a warning. A believer needs the body of Christ, and Pink paid a price for living without it. He was also known to be hard in his judgments of others.

He died on July 15, 1952, in Stornoway. After his death his books were taken up by publishers who saw their worth, especially the Banner of Truth Trust, and they reached a large audience. A man who died almost unknown has been read by countless pastors and students. His work shows that the Lord can use faithful labor in obscurity and that the written word can outlive the man who wrote it.