Arthur Walkington Pink, a writer of good theological books, was born in Nottingham, England, on April 1st, 1886. His father was a diligent Christian, who read the Bible and good religious books to his children. He had a younger brother and sister. Pink joined the theosophy movement as a young man. His father, however, awakened his son’s soul by quoting to him the text, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Prov. 14:12). A. W. Pink was converted by this text in the year 1908.
He went to study for the ministry in the institute founded by D. L. Moody in America. However, after only six weeks, he wanted to enter the pastoral ministry. His first recorded sermon was preached in Colorado, in 1911. The subject was “Beholding the Crucified Christ.” He believed that all our theology must be drawn from the Bible, to which nothing must be added, and from it nothing taken away (Deut. 4:2).
For a time, Pink lived in the area of California. He was in touch with the Bible Institute in Los Angeles, now Biola University. In 1916 he was married to Vera Russell, a Kentucky lady, aged 23. Although lacking in formal theological training Pink was greatly helped theologically by the writings of Jonathan Edwards (1703–58). Soon he came to see the errors of liberalism and fundamentalism and began to write on these issues. His first published books were “The Divine Inspiration of the Bible,” in 1917, and “The Sovereignty of God,” in 1918. His emphasis on God’s sovereignty was unpopular at the time.
In January 1922, he published his “Studies in the Scriptures.” This monthly expository digest was issued, without interruption, from 1922 to 1953. Although fluctuating in readership it later became very influential. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones recommended Pink’s writings to a young student for the ministry: “Don’t waste your time reading Barth and Brunner. You will get nothing from them to aid you with preaching. Read Pink.”1Iain H. Murray, The Life of Arthur W. Pink (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2016), 185.
In 1923, at the age of 37, he fell into depression for the first time, and continued to struggle on and off through his life. In early January 1925, the Pinks set sail to go to live in Australia. The journey took them via Honolulu before the final arrival in Sydney. Here he was very busy and had increasing congregations at his preaching services. It was his lucid exposition of scripture drew out many to hear him. Sydney, at this date, had a million people living there. Here he preached on God’s sovereignty and divine election. The church he had the use of was Ashfield Tabernacle. Sadly, his Reformed theological emphasis was not liked by many of his hearers, though a good many were appreciative of his efforts. He soon began to serve regularly, here in Sydney, in the Belvoir Street Church, which belonged to the Strict and Particular Baptist Group. He became their pastor in 1926, and was very happy there for some time. However, some in the congregation, who were hyper-Calvinistic, disliked his teaching, and his ministry there came to a jarring end.
In 1927, a number of church members formed an independent church and called Pink to be their pastor. Although his work was truly appreciated, it was not long before this ministry also finished, marking the end of his efforts to serve in Australia. On July 20, 1928, Arthur and Vera Pink set sail to return to England. They arrived in London on August 30. As no suitable ministry was available to him, the Pinks took a decision to return to America, and they sailed from Southampton, on May 2, 1929. Although not able to preach in these months, Pink continued to write his magazine, “Studies in the Scriptures.”
On March 31, 1931, the Pinks left Los Angeles for the last time and moved to Millmont in Pennsylvania, in the northeast of America. Here they lived for some time and then sailed from New York back to England, where their hope was for a settled ministry. They were not settled in a church, however, and did not take the Lord’s Supper in any church for seven years. Mr. Pink had correspondence with a student for the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland, named Wallace Nicolson, who urged the Pinks to go north to Scotland. They attended the Free Presbyterian Church in Glasgow. However, the Free Presbyterian Synod, which met at Inverness, in May, made a ruling which forbade men being called to pray in their churches, if they were not Free Presbyterians. This exclusive attitude meant that Mr. Pink was not welcome. Pink was now introduced to the Brethren. But here as well the door to service in the gospel did not open for him. For eight years, the Pinks had been moving from place to place and without a settled home.
Pink had, for some years, no close ecclesiastic connection. This must be, in all fairness, explained by the fact that good doctrine and godliness were both in a weakened state. Pink’s good doctrine was not welcome in many pulpits. Both Baptists and Presbyterians in the UK had, in many cases, become sectarian. Iain Murray, in The Life of Arthur W. Pink, expressed it this way: “His loneliness arose . . . from attachment to the truth.”2Murray, The Life of Arthur W. Pink, 113. Doors had slammed shut for a preaching ministry. But God was preparing him for a written ministry.
As a writer, Pink was not popular with all readers. His zeal for God’s truth led him to attack careless religion, and to address clearly the reader’s conscience. He admitted, in 1945, that in the past years, they had lost hundreds of readers of his magazine, which he edited. It was, he believed, because he rebuked worldliness and carnality.
Both Pink and also his wife, Vera, were excellent writers of letters. He said, in 1946, that he had handwritten over 20,000 letters!
At the start of the Second World War, the Pinks lived at Hove, just across the sea from the French coast, where German planes were launched into the air to attack England. In 1940, there was machinegunning there from the air. It was extremely dangerous. They were obliged to relocate. As a result, they moved to Scotland and made their home in the Isle of Lewis. Their town, Stornoway, was a Gaelic-speaking island.
The magazine which Pink edited was blessed to many in the war years. His quotations from Puritan writers were a help to many readers. The circulation of the magazine increased in 1951. They lived on Lewis Street, in Stornoway, first in No. 27, and later in No. 29, next-door. In May of 1952, he said that he felt now the infirmities of old age. One night in May, he had a seizure. He knew his time was not going to be long in this world. “I cannot go soon enough”, he said. The phrase was daily on his lips, “The Lord is good and doeth good.” He referred constantly to Psalm 23. His last words were, “The Scriptures explain themselves.”
In December 1952, Mrs. Pink was working on the magazine, and she had a stroke, which affected all her right side, from head to foot. Although she largely recovered, she could not type anymore. She outlived her husband by ten years, and died on July 17th, 1962, at the age of sixty-nine.
In his lifetime, Arthur Pink was not so well loved and appreciated as he should have been. His writing was deeply biblical, and ought to have been valued more than it was by those who knew his magazine, “Studies in the Scriptures.” But good doctrine, in most churches at that time, was on the decline. The higher critical view of the Bible had had a disastrous effect on so many churches, and so many professing Christians.
Happily, however, through the blessing of God on recent conservative publishers like Banner of Truth, some churches and many church members have turned back to a true view of the Bible, as infallible and inerrant. Pink was an example to us all in his day. We must, at all costs, hold to and preach the doctrines of God’s Word. If we do, God will bless us in time—and also in eternity.
Footnotes
- 1Iain H. Murray, The Life of Arthur W. Pink (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2016), 185. ↩︎
- 2Murray, The Life of Arthur W. Pink, 113. ↩︎
