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Life of Arthur W. Pink

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Iain Murray, in typical fashion, has given yet another excellent biography of a great man of God (he is also the author of biographies on Spurgeon, Jonathan Edwards, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, and John Murray!).

Arthur W. Pink is a familiar name to many Bible students today both among pastors and laymen. But many may not know about the interesting life this man lived. Murray gives a good portrait here.

He was converted from Theosophy while in his twenties, and immediately felt called to preach. Though he never even completed Bible College, he became a popular conference speaker in his early ministry. After several pastorates in the United States, he moved to Australia where he did conference work and pastored a "Strict" Baptist church. But Pink's allegiance to the "whole counsel of God" cost him the acceptance of men. He taught too much for both the more common Arminians of his day and the "high" Calvinists, who had drifted into hypercalvinism.

After years of struggle to find his place, he reconciled himself to a ministry of writing instead of preaching. From Stornoway, Scotland he faithfully penned his "Studies in the Scriptures" magazine, which was sent to about 1000 (and sometimes less) people across the world.

The books that have now become so popular (The Life of Elijah, Exposition of Hebrews, Spiritual Growth, Eternal Security, etc.) originated in this magazine.

Murray gives the details of these different experiences of Pink and his wife, and also provides some interesting insights into the cause of Pink's eventual isolation. He writes charitably, yet with objectivity.

The ten chapter book concludes with a lengthy section of extracts from Pink's writings on numerous subjects of importance and a helpful bibliography of Pink's writings.

Everything Iain Murray writes is good, and the life of AW Pink is no exception. As usual (cf. his bio of Martyn Lloyd-Jones), Murray spends a lot of pages both reporting the events of Pink's life and offering his sound analysis.

Having read and benefited greatly by reading a lot of Pink's work, it was very interesting to learn about the background of how his materials originally came to print (I didn't know most of his books were originally serial magazine articles). Yet in many ways this is a tragic story to see a man so gifted in communicating and teaching the Bible to come to a point where he would withdraw from the church and from fellowship with most believers. Murray does a good job of explaining the lonely latter portion of Pink's life; both offering reasons why Pink did what he did, but also rightly criticizing Pink's perspective.

Anyone who is a fan of AW Pink or Iain Murray, or church history in general will enjoy picking up Murray's Life of Arthur W Pink and reading.

I've had a difficult time putting this book down. As a reformed Christian, I have heard various reports of A.W.Pink, and was curious to "know" the man through this biography. My conclusion is that Mr. Pink was not a perfect man (who is?), but was very godly and took a courageous stand for the truths presented in the Bible when so many Christian men of his day would not. Mr. Pink was a seasoned Christian full of insight and encouragement for those wishing to grow in the knowledge and application of God's Word. I gave this book a 4 only because I felt the sentence structure of certain chapters could have been better formulated.

The book turned out to be more interesting than I expected, and it was inspirational. The author added useful information in the back of the book about how Arthur Pink's views had changed over time. Additionally, it is an unusual biography from my experience because I didn't expect all of the sermon outline notes that were included in the story line.

Few noticed when Arthur Pink died in July of 1952; only a handful was present when he was laid to rest. In his life, he had written, besides many books, over 2,000 articles for his periodical, Studies in the Scriptures, which was published every month from 1922 to 1953. Pink also hand wrote over 20,000 personal letters. And he preached in several countries, on several continents, and in churches of nearly every protestant denomination. Despite all of this, few knew him. But Pink did not care to be known. As long as he helped others know Jesus Christ, he was satisfied.

Who was Arthur Pink? Iain Murray calls him "one of the most influential evangelical authors in the second half of the twentieth century." Within two decades of his death, people couldn't get enough of his writings. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, late pastor of Westminster Chapel (whose biography Murray gives us in two excellent volumes), gave a fellow preacher the following advice: "Don't waste your time reading Barth and Brunner. You will get nothing from them to aid you with preaching. Read Pink."

This influence of Pink's is reason enough for a biography, but Murray adds that, "The life of Pink tells us much that is for the glory of God. No Christian can know him without appreciation and profit." It has been with much profit that this reviewer has read The Life of Arthur W Pink three times since the revised edition was published in 2004, and it wouldn't be a waste to read it three more times.

Murray takes us through the life of Pink, from his birth in Nottingham (yes, near Sherwood Forest) to his last days in Stornoway. The author gives special attention to Pink's writings and studies, but no aspect of his Christian life is ignored. We feel, after reading this work, that we do know Arthur Pink. And whether we share all of his convictions or not, we can't help but be sympathetic, inspired, and humbled.

Murray has gone to great pains to give us this balanced picture of Arthur Pink. Besides his published writings, Murray has made use of innumerable personal letters both to and from Pink, and he has spent hours interviewing those who knew him. Murray's expert knowledge of church history, especially that of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, gives him great insight into the theological and ecclesiastical issues that surrounded Pink. And though he has a deep respect for his protagonist, he doesn't hesitate to discuss his weaknesses.

No doubt Pink was, and is, controversial. He was too blunt in his speech and writing. He sometimes seemed unfriendly. He spent much of his time in isolation. And he was very often misunderstood--a "hyper-Calvinist" to some, a legalistic "free-willer" to others; too reformed for the Baptists, and too Baptist for the Presbyterians. He was, like all of us, a sinner, as he would be the first to point out. But he was also a saint--a saint who cared deeply about the glory of God, and a saint who was used greatly for the Glory of God.

Some of the most edifying books I have read have been Iain Murray's biographies. I'm especially grateful for this one, which has enabled me to know the man whose writings I have benefitted from for years. If you enjoy reading about the lives of men and women who have been greatly used by God, you will love this book.

This is one fabulous read. It is full of surprises and I found it hard to put down.

Rev G.W.Smith

This is a must read for Arthur W. Pink fans. I couldn't put it down. Pink's letters were a great insight into the struggles that he went through. GOD blessed him and blesses followers of Christ throuth trials. This work was an intimate portrait of one of my favorite authors.

About half way through and very excited to have read it so far. Pink led a very focused life which seperated himself from many and no doubt would remain the same if he lived in our day. Most of the time having a place to lay one's head depicts a person willing to forsake everything and Christians today stand to recognise this attitude in a world which seems to seperate itself from biblical truth.