Biography
John Robert Walmsley Stott was born on April 27, 1921, in London, England. His father, Arnold Stott, was a physician, and his mother, Emily, was a devout member of the Church of England. His father was an agnostic who took no part in the family's religion. John was educated at Rugby School, one of the great public schools of England. He was a bright and serious boy with a love of nature and a particular fascination for birds. At Rugby, he was a good student, and he had a gift for languages. He was a member of the school's Christian Union.
He was converted in February 1938, at the age of seventeen, after a sermon by Eric Nash, known as Bash, a visiting preacher, who spoke on the text in Revelation where Christ stands at the door and knocks. That evening, he said, he understood that Christ was on the outside of his life, and he opened the door. It was a turning point. He soon felt called to the ministry. He studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, taking a double first in modern languages and theology. His father was opposed to the idea of a clerical career. He was ordained in 1945 and became a curate at All Souls Church, Langham Place, in the center of London. He remained on the staff of All Souls for the rest of his life. From 1950 to 1975, he was the rector.
He was a highly gifted expositor of Scripture. He preached with great clarity and a logical force. His sermons were carefully prepared and were marked by a stress on the text. He saw preaching as the bridge between the ancient world of the Bible and the modern world. His book Between Two Worlds, published in 1982, is a classic on the subject. He drew crowds, especially young people and students, and All Souls became one of the leading churches in England. He was also a leader of university missions and of the Inter-Varsity movement.
He wrote more than fifty books. The best known is Basic Christianity, which was published in 1958 and has been translated into over sixty languages. It is a simple and clear statement of the faith for the inquirer. His other major works include The Cross of Christ, published in 1986, a deep study of the atonement, and a series of commentaries called The Bible Speaks Today, which he edited. He wrote on Christian responsibility in the world, in Issues Facing Christians Today. He took a keen interest in social questions, and he stressed that Christians should care for the poor and the oppressed. He held that evangelism and social action belong together.
He was a leading figure in the Lausanne Movement. He was the chief architect of the Lausanne Covenant, adopted at the International Congress on World Evangelization in 1974. It set out a balanced statement of the mission of the church, which was widely accepted by evangelicals around the world. He also served as honorary chaplain to the Queen. In 1974, he founded the Langham Partnership, which trains pastors and teachers in the developing world and provides them with books. He gave the royalties from his books to this work, and he lived simply.
He never married. He lived in a small flat above a garage, and he was devoted to his work and his friends. He spent his holidays watching birds and was a skilled ornithologist. In his later years, he faced a few controversies. He argued in 1988 that the doctrine of eternal conscious punishment should be reconsidered, and he said that he found annihilation a possibility. This caused a stir among evangelicals, though he did not make a final claim. He was gentle with those who disagreed.
He died on July 27, 2011, at the age of ninety, in a retirement home in Lingfield, Surrey, surrounded by friends who read the Bible to him and played music. His life shows that a lifetime of faithful preaching and a clear mind can shape the church across the world, and that a man may have a large influence while living modestly.