Arthur Walkington Pink (1 April 1886 – 15 July 1952) was an English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 evangelist

Evangelism

Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....

 and Biblical scholar known for his staunchly Calvinist

Calvinism

Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...

 and Puritan

Puritan

The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...

-like teachings.

Biography

Pink was born in Nottingham, England on 1 April 1886 and became a Christian in 1908, at the age of 22. Though born to Christian parents, prior to conversion he migrated into a Theosophical society (an occult

Occult

The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...

 gnostic group popular in England during that time), and quickly rose in prominence within their ranks. His conversion came from his father's patient admonitions from Scripture. It was the verse, Proverbs 14:12, 'there is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death,' which particularly struck his heart and compelled him to renounce Theosophy and follow Jesus

Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...

.

Desiring to grow in knowledge of the Bible, Pink emigrated to the United States to study at Moody Bible Institute

Moody Bible Institute

Moody Bible Institute is a Christian institution of higher education and related ministries that was founded by evangelist and businessman Dwight Lyman Moody in 1886. Since its founding, MBI's main campus has been located in the Near North Side of Chicago. MBI's primary ministries are education,...

. Impatient, he left there after only two months and began his first pastorate in Silverton Colorado. In 1916 he married Vera E. Russell (8 January 1893 – 17 July 1962), who was from Kentucky. However, he left after just two months for Colorado, then California, then Britain. From 1925 to 1928 he served in Australia, including as pastor of two congregations from 1926 to 1928, when he returned to England, and to the United States the following year. He eventually pastor

Pastor

The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....

ed churches in Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

, and South Carolina

South Carolina

South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

.

In January 1922 he started a monthly magazine entitled Studies in the Scriptures which circulated among English-speaking Christians worldwide, though only to a relatively small circulation list of around 1,000.

In 1934 Pink returned to England, and within a few years turned his Christian service to writing books and pamphlets. Pink died in Stornoway, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 on 15 July 1952. The cause of death was anemia

Anemia

Anemia is a decrease in number of red blood cells or less than the normal quantity of hemoglobin in the blood. However, it can include decreased oxygen-binding ability of each hemoglobin molecule due to deformity or lack in numerical development as in some other types of hemoglobin...

.

After Pink's death, his works were republished by a number of publishing houses, among them, Banner of Truth Trust

Banner of Truth Trust

The Banner of Truth Trust is an evangelical and Reformed Christian non-profit publishing house, structured as a charitable trust and founded in London in 1957 by Iain Murray and Jack Cullum. Its offices are now in Edinburgh, Scotland with a key branch office and distribution point in Carlisle,...

, Baker Book House

Baker Book House

Baker Publishing Group is an evangelical Protestant Christian book publisher based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It has six subdivisions: Bethany House, Revell, Baker Books, Baker Academic, Chosen and Brazos Press.-Identity:...

, Christian Focus Publications, Moody Press, Truth for Today, and reached a much wider audience as a result. Biographer Iain Murray

Iain Murray

Iain Hamish Murray was educated in the Isle of Man and at the University of Durham. He entered the Christian ministry in 1955. He served as assistant to Martyn Lloyd-Jones at Westminster Chapel and subsequently at Grove Chapel, London and St. Giles Presbyterian Church, Sydney, Australia,...

 observes of Pink, "the widespread circulation of his writings after his death made him one of the most influential evangelical authors in the second half of the twentieth century." His writing sparked a revival of expository preaching

Expository preaching

Expository preaching is a form of preaching that throws light upon the meaning of a particular text or passage of Scripture. As "throwing light," this term is more general than exegesis, which is used for more technical and grammatical exposition, a careful drawing out of the exact meaning of a...

and focused readers' hearts on biblical living. Yet, even today, Pink is left out of most biographical dictionaries and overlooked in many religious histories.

Works

• The Antichrist
• The Atonement
• Attributes of God
• The Beatitudes and the Lord's Prayer
• The Christian Sabbath
• Christmas
• Comfort for Christians
• The Doctrine of Justification
• The Decrees of God
• The Doctrine of Reconciliation
• The Doctrine of Salvation
• The Doctrine of Sanctification
• The Doctrine of Revelation
• The Divine Covenants
• The Divine Inspiration of the Bible
• Eternal Security
• Exposition of John
• Exposition of Hebrews
• Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount
• Gleanings in Genesis
• Gleanings in Exodus
• Gleanings in Joshua
• Gleanings from Paul (copyright 1967 by The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, Ninth printing, 1970)
• Gleanings in the Godhead
• A Guide to Fervent Prayer
• The Holy Spirit
• Interpretation of the Scriptures
• Letters of A. W. Pink
• The Life of Elijah
• The Life of David
• The Patience of God
• Practical Christianity
• Profiting from the Word
• The Redeemer's Return
• The Seven Sayings of the Savior on the Cross
• Studies on Saving Faith (first published in Studies in the Scriptures)
• The Satisfaction of Christ
• The Sovereignty of God
• Spiritual Union and Communion
• Spiritual Growth
• The Total Depravity of Man

External links

• Author's Preface from Murray's biography of Pink.
• Pink's Archive - most of Pink's writings made available to the public