# Blues about Pink



## Von (Feb 5, 2018)

AW Pink is well-known for his books, but was apparently not so well-known in church. Can someone elaborate or justify on the following quote:

"_...To a friend he wrote that he went out to shop and get exercise for an hour, six days a week, but that otherwise he never left his study except when working in a small garden. While in Howe, he even published a note in Studies advising subscribers that "it is not convenient for us to receive any visitors, and respectfully ask readers who may visit these parts to kindly refrain from calling upon us, but please note that we are always glad to hear from Christian friends." *Rather than attend church, on Sunday mornings, Pink spent time ministering to readers by letter...*_"


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## JimmyH (Feb 5, 2018)

I too have been disturbed by Pink's forsaking the gathering ourselves together. Here is an interesting blog post addressing one brother's personal struggle with this issue ;
http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/stop-me-before-i-turn-into-aw-pink


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## Scott Bushey (Feb 5, 2018)

Could it not be said that A.W. was providentially hindered in those later days of his walk? Most believe he had clinical depression. Some might argue that that is a spiritual condition, others, not (fully).


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## Von (Feb 5, 2018)

Since I've read this about Pink, I am unable to read his work or even to quote him. His work seems dead to me now, lacking the lustre of a christian life lived.
Am I wrong in this?


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## Berean (Feb 5, 2018)

JimmyH said:


> I too have been disturbed by Pink's forsaking the gathering ourselves together. Here is an interesting blog post addressing one brother's personal struggle with this issue ;
> http://www.internetmonk.com/archive...om/archive/stop-me-before-i-turn-into-aw-pink




I get a 404 error on your link.

Try this one. http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/stop-me-before-i-turn-into-aw-pink

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## RamistThomist (Feb 5, 2018)

Berean said:


> I get a 404 error on your link.
> 
> Try this one. http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/stop-me-before-i-turn-into-aw-pink


I laughed at this:



> A well known Calvinistic blogger is dedicated to the task of pointing out the errors of current church movements. Along the way, post after post accumulates more and more names that can’t be trusted to stay within the boundaries of the truth.



I think I know who he is talking about.


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## Scott Bushey (Feb 5, 2018)

Von said:


> Since I've read this about Pink, I am unable to read his work or even to quote him. His work seems dead to me now, lacking the lustre of a christian life lived.
> Am I wrong in this?



As I said, would his condition be considered a providential hinderance? As well, Pink was not the only man of God who had issues of severe depression-some handle it differently. If Pink was elect, his sin would not have omitted him from glory. 

Lastly, no one has the data on Pink. Much is speculation as no one in history actually took up the task; hence, we give our brethren the benefit of the doubt and keep moving.

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## Jeri Tanner (Feb 5, 2018)

Iain Murray has a very well-written biography of Pink with a sympathetic view to his struggles on church attendance.He and his wife ended up (for financial reasons if I recall rightly) spending their last days on Stornoway, and apparently felt unwelcome at the Gaelic services there (and couldn't understand what was being said). Apparently they did attempt to go to church there but gave up on it. His life before that was spend in travel and in pastoring or working with this and that work. He did suffer a nervous breakdown and probably struggled from then on. I get the feeling he didn't have good understanding in areas, especially ecclesiology. I don't think he should be dismissed because of his lack of it; he was shaped by the state of the church around him and never had any formal theological training. I do recommend the book- as someone who struggles with hermitism, it served both as a comfort in a strange way and a warning when I read it. https://www.amazon.com/Life-Arthur-...517855732&sr=8-1&keywords=life+of+arthur+pink

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## Cedarbay (Feb 5, 2018)

Jeri, would you say more about hermitism? I've not heard of this.


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## RamistThomist (Feb 5, 2018)

Cedarbay said:


> Jeri, would you say more about hermitism? I've not heard of this.



It comes from the Greek word for desert or wilderness. A lot of monks retreated to the desert for prayer and fasting. The word hermit comes from _eremos_.


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## JimmyH (Feb 5, 2018)

Berean said:


> I get a 404 error on your link.
> 
> Try this one. http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/stop-me-before-i-turn-into-aw-pink


Thanks, edited my post to correct the link. 
Another great bio of A.W. Pink, besides Ian Murray's, is that by Richard Belcher ;
https://www.amazon.com/Arthur-Pink-...swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1517859343&sr=8-5

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## Cedarbay (Feb 5, 2018)

BayouHuguenot said:


> It comes from the Greek word for desert or wilderness. A lot of monks retreated to the desert for prayer and fasting. The word hermit comes from _eremos_.


Thank you, Jacob. As a definition this would be a fine activity and yet, Jeri, struggles with it and perhaps, Pink, did as well. I wonder how common this is amongst believers.


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## JimmyH (Feb 5, 2018)

From the two aforementioned bios of Pink I don't think it was as much that he was a 'hermit', but he was very concerned about correct doctrine and left churches where he felt the preaching was in error. He wanted to be a pastor and went back and forth from England to the USA, and back to the UK again, but his ambition wasn't realized. He eventually settled in Scotland, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, for the last 12 years of his life where he and his wife spent their last years he devoted himself fully to the small pamphlet he put out for 30 years, 'Studies In The Scriptures.'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Pink

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## Stephen L Smith (Feb 5, 2018)

Jeri Tanner said:


> Iain Murray has a very well-written biography of Pink


I enjoyed Iain Murray's biography and thought Iain was very fair to Pink's ministry and health.



JimmyH said:


> I too have been disturbed by Pink's forsaking the gathering ourselves together





Scott Bushey said:


> Most believe he had clinical depression.





Von said:


> Since I've read this about Pink, I am unable to read his work or even to quote him. His work seems dead to me now, lacking the lustre of a christian life lived.


After reading Murray's biography, it seemed to me that Pink had Aspergers Syndrome. Often people with Aspergers struggle to socialise with people including in church settings. Also in Pink's time there were not a lot of confessionally Reformed churches around. This may also explain some of Pink's struggle.

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## JimmyH (Feb 5, 2018)

Stephen L Smith said:


> I enjoyed Iain Murray's biography and thought Iain was very fair to Pink's ministry and health.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


From what I recall of the two bios I read that was definitely an issue with him. I attended churches that were non confessional when I was clueless but once informed I was fortunate to find an OPC congregation close by. 
I ponder sometimes whether it is 'better' to forsake church altogether, or to go in spite of incorrect doctrine, for those who are not so fortunate ? I suppose every situation/person is different, but it does seem a conundrum to me.


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## Cymro (Feb 5, 2018)

I have stood at the side of his grave in Sandwick cemetery, Lewis Island, and outside his house in Lewis Steet, and pondered over his refusal to join the worshippers in those more Reformed days. He did not seek fellowship with other Ministers, or attend the Free church which was quite near the home. Apparently his wife did after he died. It was because of his separation stance that Dr M.L.Jones would not have his books in his library. The locals said that his Brethren views were the hindrance, but if there were clinical issues that also could be a contributing factor.

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## Jeri Tanner (Feb 5, 2018)

Cedarbay said:


> Jeri, would you say more about hermitism? I've not heard of this.



Haha, I just meant that I tend to want to be a hermit! I like being at home. Not in the sense of having a disorder or being part of a religious order. [emoji4]


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## Cedarbay (Feb 5, 2018)

Jeri Tanner said:


> Haha, I just meant that I tend to want to be a hermit! I like being at home. Not in the sense of having a disorder or being part of a religious order. [emoji4]
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I thought it was more serious, and am glad it's not.

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## Stephen L Smith (Feb 5, 2018)

Cymro said:


> It was because of his separation stance that Dr M.L.Jones would not have his books in his library.


I'm not sure where you got this information from. In Iain Murray's biography he says MLJ was going through a difficult time and he was not able to get encouragement from the scriptures or the Puritans. He had a Pink work open (possibly his studies in the scriptures) and he saw the word 'glory'. Immediately, Murray tells us, he was blessed and spiritually encouraged.

Also MLJ encouraged ministers to read Pink for spiritual nourishment, not Barth or Brunner.



Cymro said:


> The locals said that his Brethren views were the hindrance


Pink was a bit of an odd ball theologically, but when he wrote 'The Divine Covenants' he is defending covenant theology. By this stage he appears to have left Brethren theology behind.

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## bookslover (Feb 5, 2018)

I think two things help to explain Arthur Pink (1886-1952). First, he left dispensationalism for the Reformed faith and attempted to minister as a pastor at a time (1920s - 1940s) when theological liberalism was rampant in the churches of his time (this era was, in fact, the high-water mark for classic liberal theology in the United States, and a time when neo-orthodoxy was beginning to take shape, not that it was an improvement). And, second, Pink had a rather blunt personality and temperament and was, apparently, not often willing to pull his verbal punches. It was the combination of both of these things that got him fired from just about every church he pastored.

If I remember rightly, his refusal to attend church in Stornoway came from a combination of bitterness over how he had been treated by churches in the past (when, in his view, he was only trying to improve their theology) and his own naturally cranky personality.

I don't think clinical depression or Asperger's Syndrome had anything to do with this - and those are just sheer guesses, anyway.

His real ministry was his monthly magazine, _Studies in the Scriptures_. By God's grace, Pink was able - under extraordinarily trying circumstances (especially during the war years) to put out an issue every month (with most of the articles written by him) and never miss an issue during the entire 31-year run of the magazine (1922-1953). The magazine is still read today because many of his articles have been published in book form, while the liberals who couldn't stand him are long-since forgotten.

Also, after Pink's death in 1952, and especially after _Studies in the Scriptures_ folded at the end of 1953, for which she assumed the position as editor (Pink had written enough material in advance to keep the magazine running that long), Pink's widow, Vera, was able to attend church regularly, make some new friends, and generally get out and about - to have more of a normal life, in other words). She died in Stornoway in 1962 and was buried beside her husband - also in an unmarked grave. The Pinks had no children.

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## JimmyH (Feb 5, 2018)

Cymro said:


> I have stood at the side of his grave in Sandwick cemetery, Lewis Island, and outside his house in Lewis Steet, and pondered over his refusal to join the worshippers in those more Reformed days. He did not seek fellowship with other Ministers, or attend the Free church which was quite near the home. Apparently his wife did after he died. It was because of his separation stance that Dr M.L.Jones would not have his books in his library. The locals said that his Brethren views were the hindrance, but if there were clinical issues that also could be a contributing factor.





Stephen L Smith said:


> I'm not sure where you got this information from. In Iain Murray's biography he says MLJ was going through a difficult time and he was not able to get encouragement from the scriptures or the Puritans. He had a Pink work open (possibly his studies in the scriptures) and he saw the word 'glory'. Immediately, Murray tells us, he was blessed and spiritually encouraged.
> 
> Also MLJ encouraged ministers to read Pink for spiritual nourishment, not Barth or Brunner.
> 
> ...


In the bio by Richard Belcher Pink began embracing covenant theology sometime before the 1933 edition of his pamphlet, Studies in the Scripture. I can't find my Ian Murray bio at present, but I think it had that 'Read Pink' blurb attributed to MLJ on the back cover. Not sure, but I know I've seen/read that before. I did find this review tonight through my friend google ;
https://discerningreader.com/the-life-of-arthur-w-pink/

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.”*

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## timfost (Feb 5, 2018)

I'm not a big Pink fan, but I have appreciated some of his writings. As with any non-inspired writer, take the good and leave the bad.

Here's some inspired wisdom that I think applies:

"Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? *Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.*" (Phil. 1:15-18)

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## jwithnell (Feb 7, 2018)

One cannot claim to embrace Christ but reject His bride. Pink was never recognized permanently for office by any church. That should give us pause. Had he been one of my sons (and one of them is developmentally impaired) I'd have told him to settle in one place with a good church, find other emploment, and whole-heartedly serve that church in a non-teaching capacity.

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## Scott Bushey (Feb 7, 2018)

Are invalids, part of the bride? Most invalids are providentially hindered. Pink didn't reject the organized church( from what we know), but that he had some kind of thorn in his flesh. The 'pause' we should give is to be gracious with the dear man. If we had more details, like, he rejected the church because of....but we don't; we do have some details of he having some kind of agoraphobia.

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## ZackF (Feb 7, 2018)

jwithnell said:


> One cannot claim to embrace Christ but reject His bride. Pink was never recognized permanently for office by any church. That should give us pause. Had he been one of my sons (and one of them is developmentally impaired) I'd have told him to settle in one place with a good church, find other emploment, and whole-heartedly serve that church in a non-teaching capacity.



I didn't know Pink was self-ordained. A man in my extended family was. For lack of better words he was absolutely impossible much of the time. These are two mere anecdotes but there are things to be said for the accountability that ordination implies.

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## Reformed Covenanter (Feb 7, 2018)

The promotion of A. W. Pink by Banner of Truth et al was a major mistake owing to his disastrous separatist ecclesiology. While I can sympathise with someone who is clinically depressed (and I _*might*_ grant that his condition was a valid medical excuse for not being able to attend church as regularly as one would like), he lived in the same town as the Revd Kenneth MacRae, who was a great preacher of the gospel, and he did not attend the Free Church in Stornoway.

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## Reformed Covenanter (Feb 7, 2018)

Stephen L Smith said:


> he appears to have *left* Brethren theology *behind*.

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## Jeri Tanner (Feb 7, 2018)

Reformed Covenanter said:


> The promotion of A. W. Pink by Banner of Truth et al was a major mistake owing to his disastrous separatist ecclesiology. While I can sympathise with someone who is clinically depressed (and I _*might*_ grant that his condition was a valid medical excuse for not being able to attend church as regularly as one would like), he lived in the same town as the Revd Kenneth MacRae, who was a great preacher of the gospel, and he did not attend the Free Church in Stornoway.



I did not know these facts about Pink. Did the Murray biography leave out these kinds of things, I wonder. I didn't understand reformed ecclesiology when I read the book. 


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## Reformed Covenanter (Feb 7, 2018)

Jeri Tanner said:


> I did not know these facts about Pink. Did the Murray biography leave out these kinds of things, I wonder. I didn't understand reformed ecclesiology when I read the book.



Jeri, admittedly it is over a decade since I read Iain Murray's biography of A. W. Pink (it may even have been in 2004). However, I distinctly recall Mr Murray referring to correspondence between Pink and Rev. MacRae in which they attempted to organise a meeting. It did not come off owing to some very petty reason about one only wanting to meet in the morning, while the other was only free to meet in the afternoon.

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## Jeri Tanner (Feb 7, 2018)

Very sad! 


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## ZackF (Feb 7, 2018)

Didn’t Murray publish MacRae’s work also?


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## Stephen L Smith (Feb 7, 2018)

ZackF said:


> MacRae’s


Yes he did. I would love to see it come back in print.


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## JimmyH (Feb 7, 2018)

Excerpts from the Wikipedia article on AWP. It has been some time since I read the two bios by Murray and Belcher, so whether these are accurate or not is unknown to me, but they do indicate that he had some difficulties which likely contributed to his apparent aversion to social interaction. He briefly attended Moody Bible Institute, had pastorates in Colorado, Kentucky, and South Carolina before having a nervous breakdown in 1923 from which the article states he recovered from by 1925.


> In 1925, the Pinks sailed to Sydney, Australia, *where he served as both an evangelist and Bible teacher at the Ashfield Tabernacle. But his impolitic preaching of Calvinist doctrine resulted in a unanimous resolve of the Baptist Fraternal of New South Wales not to endorse him*. From 1926 to 1928, *Pink served as pastor of two groups of Strict and Particular Baptists—for the first of which he was not Calvinistic enough because he asserted belief in the "free offer of the gospel and in human responsibility to receive the gospel.*"[12]





> Returning to England, *Pink was invited to preach at a pastorless church in Seaton, Devon; but though he was welcomed by some members, the overseers thought his installation as pastor would split the church*.[13] In the spring of 1929, Pink and wife returned to her home state of Kentucky where he intended to become pastor of the Baptist church in Morton's Gap. Once again his hopes were unrealized. To a friend he wrote, "I am more firmly convinced today than I was 14 months ago that our place is on the 'outside of the camp.' That is the place of 'reproach,' of loneliness, and of testing."[14]





> In 1940, Hove became a regular target of German air raids, and the Pinks moved to Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, where they remained for the rest of his life. The island was a bastion of Calvinism, *but church services were held mostly in Scots Gaelic, and visitors were not especially welcomed in any case*.[18]



There is a lot more info in the Wiki article that is worth reviewing, and the two aforementioned biographies by Murray and Belcher are worth the time. Pink's Life of David was a wonderful read, and I have quite a few other books by him, as well as collections of his 'Studies in the Scriptures' magazine from which most of the 'books' were gathered from after his demise.


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## bookslover (Feb 8, 2018)

JimmyH said:


> Excerpts from the Wikipedia article on AWP. It has been some time since I read the two bios by Murray and Belcher, so whether these are accurate or not is unknown to me, but they do indicate that he had some difficulties which likely contributed to his apparent aversion to social interaction. He briefly attended Moody Bible Institute, had pastorates in Colorado, Kentucky, and South Carolina before having a nervous breakdown in 1923 from which the article states he recovered from by 1925.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Westminster Theological Seminary in California has an almost complete set of the original _Studies in the Scriptures._


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## JimmyH (Feb 8, 2018)

bookslover said:


> Westminster Theological Seminary in California has an almost complete set of the original _Studies in the Scriptures._


SGP Books has put out 12 of a projected 17 volumes of Studies in the Scriptures. Volume 12 encompassing the 1943-1944 editions. I'm hoping Jay Green follows through with the other 5 volumes, but I suppose it is a cost issue. Times are hard.
I've been reviewing my copy of the Richard Belcher biography of Pink and he was a troubled man who had a difficult time with social interaction.


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## Scott Bushey (Feb 8, 2018)

JimmyH said:


> Pink and he was a troubled man who had a difficult time with social interaction.



Sounds like a clinical agoraphobia; which, in my opinion, would providentially hinder a person from gathering with groups.

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## JimmyH (Feb 8, 2018)

Scott Bushey said:


> Sounds like a clinical agoraphobia; which, in my opinion, would providentially hinder a person from gathering with groups.


It has been a few years since I read it so browsing through the Dr. Richard Belcher's excellent bio of Pink, refreshing my memory, it is very possible his social ineptitude advanced to agoraphobia. It is noted that in the 1938 edition of Studies in the Scripture he twice posted to readers ;
(April 1938) "Will readers kindly note we have instructed our landlady to notify all callers that we cannot receive visitors. The necessity for undisturbed study obliges us to insert this notice : so please do not call upon us." 
(Dec. 1938) "We regret that it is not convenient for us to receive any visitors, and respectfully ask that readers who may visit these parts to kindly refrain from calling upon us; but please note that we are always glad to hear from Christian friends, if it be only a line or two, whether it be accompanied by a gift or no."
Studies In The Scriptures ; SGP Books Volume 9

This in addition from Dr. Richard Belcher ; A.W. Pink Born To Write A Biography
Richbarry Press Columbia South Carolina 


> "Before moving to the next area of Pink's life, the present author feels a necessity to say something in way of analysis concerning Pink's conference ministry versus his pastoral ministry. He seemed quite successful as a conference speaker and something of a failure as a pastor. Why the difference in the two ministries ?
> The answer is that Pink seemed to be much better suited for the conference ministry than he was for the pastorate, for several reasons. First, he was not a sociable person. he did not seem to enjoy being with and fellowshipping with people. Some found it difficult to be with him or even to be in his presence. Remember the earlier statement by one who knew him well, who said he seldom smiled. In the pastorate after he had preached he would retire to his study to pray rather than greet the people at the door."


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## Stephen L Smith (Feb 8, 2018)

Reformed Covenanter said:


>


When I noted that Pink had left Brethren theology behind, you highlighted the "left behind" and attributed the quote to me. I said no such thing so you have transgressed the moral law by 'bearing false witness against your brethren' 

If you don't repent of this transgression you will indeed by 'left behind' in the Pretribulation rapture of the Saints


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## Reformed Covenanter (Feb 9, 2018)

Stephen L Smith said:


> When I noted that Pink had left Brethren theology behind, you highlighted the "left behind" and attributed the quote to me. I said no such thing so you have transgressed the moral law by 'bearing false witness against your brethren'
> 
> If you don't repent of this transgression you will indeed by 'left behind' in the Pretribulation rapture of the Saints



Well, I was just highlighting your words.


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## Pilgrim (Feb 9, 2018)

Stephen L Smith said:


> When I noted that Pink had left Brethren theology behind, you highlighted the "left behind" and attributed the quote to me. I said no such thing so you have transgressed the moral law by 'bearing false witness against your brethren'
> 
> If you don't repent of this transgression you will indeed by 'left behind' in the Pretribulation rapture of the Saints



I'm not sure that Pink ever embraced the totality of Brethren theology, (i.e. their teaching on local church organization or lack thereof) although he continued to admire some writers such as B.W. Newton long after abandoning dispensationalism, comparing him favorably to the Puritans and others in his work on sanctification, which I believe came later in his writing ministry. (Newton was not pre-trib however and ended up separated from the Darby Brethren himself.)

There is an article of his posted on the PB Ministries site that shows that he embraced some views characteristic of Landmark Baptists at one point, perhaps picked up either in KY or SC. (I'm not sure if it is still on the site as they've redeveloped it once or twice since I read that.)

By the 1940s, it seems that he basically denounced all of the denominations as sectarian. He was rejected by the Brethren due to his eschatology, (and probably soteriology, although I think some may have still been Calvinistic in Pink's day) rejected by Baptists because he was either too Calvinistic or not Calvinistic enough, and rejected by Presbyterians because he was not a pedobaptist. I think I remember reading in Murray's bio that if a church wouldn't let him teach he wasn't interested in attending either. Murray wrote that even though Pink rejected Brethren eschatology, it seems that he never abandoned the dispensational/Brethren idea that the churches were largely apostate with little to no hope of recovery.


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## Jack K (Feb 9, 2018)

Pink should have found a way to go to church. Sadly, the fact that he neglected this and appears to have done so with insufficient remorse ends up reflecting poorly on what he wrote, as is usually the case when a Christian writer's faults are made evident.

The lesson here is that those who presume to teach must also be rigorous about their Christian lifestyle and constantly open to correction from the wider church. Even one area of neglect in an otherwise upright life can do great damage. It's a sobering thought.

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