Church bulletin for March
If you have not read any books by Arthur Walkington Pink, you need to start reading them. For 30 years he produced a monthly magazine called Studies in the Scriptures. Many of the articles have now been published in book form and are readily available today.
Pink was born in 1886, in Nottingham England to believing parents. Despite the prayers and instruction of his parents he showed little interest in the things of God. In his late teens he became involved in eastern mystical philosophy / religion called Theosophy. He enthusiastically attended meetings, and even became a key speaker. After returning home from one such meeting, Pink’s father was waiting up for him and challenged him with Prov 14:12, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” He retired to his room that evening unable to silence his conscience. After three days of wrestling he emerged from his bedroom and declared himself to be a Christian. He returned one last time to the Theosophist Society in order to keep a speaking engagement; before 700 people he preached his first sermon – “I am not ashamed of the Gospel”. A report was sent to the society’s headquarters in Madras stating that he had lost his mind.
Pink was determined to gain a good theological education and left England in 1910 to attend the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. The next 20 odd years could be described as a period of frustration and restlessness. His time at MBI lasted 6 weeks; he tried his hand at pastoring numerous churches in the US as well as here in Sydney. He returned to the UK in 1934, and once again began a transient period before he and his wife Vera settled in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis in 1940. He had by this time given up on the idea of pastoring, he had also given up on the idea of attending church because of what he saw as apathy, coldness, and liberalism. Once in Stornoway he lived as a recluse and focused upon producing the magazine he had commenced in 1922. He died in 1952.
Pink’s Christian journey provides a fascinating account of a man who wrestled his way through many Theological issues which is reflected in his writing. Clearly he moves from Dispensationalism in the early 1920’s to the Theology of the Reformers and Puritans by the 1930’s. We cannot endorse all of his ideas especially his approach to church, nevertheless many of his books provide stimulating reading material. Here are a few essential volumes: Iain Murray’s biography – The Life of Arthur W. Pink; The Sovereignty of God; The Life of Elijah; The Life of David; A Guide to Fervent Prayer; Practical Christianity; Profiting from the Word.