# AW Pink - Biographical Information



## Southern Presbyterian

Craig said:


> pulling an A.W. Pink.



Excuse the ignorance, but what is the nature of the refrence to A. W. Pink?


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## Blueridge Believer

Wythe County Calvinist said:


> Excuse the ignorance, but what is the nature of the refrence to A. W. Pink?




In the later years of Pink's life he became a recluse and would not fellowship with anyone hardly is what I am told. I do not know all of the particulars but maybe some here could elaborate.


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## MW

Blueridge reformer said:


> In the later years of Pink's life he became a recluse and would not fellowship with anyone hardly is what I am told. I do not know all of the particulars but maybe some here could elaborate.



To elaborate, he went to Scotland expecting to find the church of his dreams, and found himself in a nightmare. A. W. Pink outgrew the visible church of Christ on earth, which means he forgot what it means to be a servant of Christ labouring amongst mere mortals.


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## polemic_turtle

It was a difficult time of history: churches were either circling the wagons to guard against liberalism, were too Arminian to let Mr. Pink preach, or were hyper-Calvinistic. Mr. Pink encountered the first in paedobaptist churches which wouldn't allow a credobaptist to preach at their churches, the second in tent "revivals"( I'm not sure if he would endorse the term ), and the third in a Gospel Standard church which he pastored in Australia.


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## panta dokimazete

armourbearer said:


> To elaborate, he went to Scotland expecting to find the church of his dreams, and found himself in a nightmare. A. W. Pink outgrew the visible church of Christ on earth, which means he forgot what it means to be a servant of Christ labouring amongst mere mortals.



yup - and rationalized it, too...



> The last sixteen years of his life, he spent on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland, in virtual isolation by his own choice, rejecting formal association with any church.
> 
> Explaining his hermit-like existence, he quoted Jesus as saying, "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you." He went on to ask, "What world hated Christ and hounded him to death? The religious world, those who pretended to be most zealous for God's glory."


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## Southern Presbyterian

armourbearer said:


> To elaborate, he went to Scotland expecting to find the church of his dreams, and found himself in a nightmare. A. W. Pink outgrew the visible church of Christ on earth, which means he forgot what it means to be a servant of Christ labouring amongst mere mortals.



Thanks for the information. So, is there a good biography on Pink I can read? Where did you all get your information?


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## RamistThomist

Wythe County Calvinist said:


> Thanks for the information. So, is there a good biography on Pink I can read? Where did you all get your information?



Iain Murray wrote a biography on Pink. Anything Murray writes is fantastic. I think the biography has the name of Pink in the title, so it shouldnt be too hard to find.


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## bookslover

Wythe County Calvinist said:


> Thanks for the information. So, is there a good biography on Pink I can read? Where did you all get your information?



_The Life of Arthur W. Pink_ by Iain H. Murray. It's published by the Banner of Truth Trust and was recently re-issued in a second edition. It was originally published in 1981, I believe.

It's a fascinating read. Unfortunately, the second edition contains an appendix in which Murray tries to explain why he was justified in re-writing Pink's book on the sovereignty of God. He is, of course, not convincing. But, the biography itself is wonderful and very insightful.


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## MW

Wythe County Calvinist said:


> Thanks for the information. So, is there a good biography on Pink I can read? Where did you all get your information?



As intimated by others, Murray on Pink is the definitive biography. There are also his Letters, both published by Banner of Truth Trust. I would especially note Murray's criticism of Pink with relation to his inability to sit under a reformed ministry. In the Letters Pink is particularly scathing of the Free Presbyterian Church, but if you read them carefully you discover that his bitterness revolved around the fact that the FPs did not "honour" Pink as he thought he should have been. This, perhaps, is one problem which is often ignored in the modern church, where you have individuals thinking too highly of themselves than they ought to think, rather than in accord with the measure of faith which God has given them to be useful to others in the body. Reputation precedes the men, and they think they ought to be invested with responsibility on that basis alone, notwithstanding the fact they have done nothing to commend themselves to that particular congregation.


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## BobVigneault

AW Pink came up in another thread and stimulated quite a bit of interest. I've moved those posts to this thread where they can be added to freely without hijacking the other thread.

What would really be cool is if I had the ability to put this post at the beginning of the thread. Ah, the heartbreak of being a lesser moderator.


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## panta dokimazete

armourbearer said:


> As intimated by others, Murray on Pink is the definitive biography. There are also his Letters, both published by Banner of Truth Trust. I would especially note Murray's criticism of Pink with relation to his inability to sit under a reformed ministry. In the Letters Pink is particularly scathing of the Free Presbyterian Church, but if you read them carefully you discover that his bitterness revolved around the fact that the FPs did not "honour" Pink as he thought he should have been. This, perhaps, is one problem which is often ignored in the modern church, where you have individuals thinking too highly of themselves than they ought to think, rather than in accord with the measure of faith which God has given them to be useful to others in the body. Reputation precedes the men, and they think they ought to be invested with responsibility on that basis alone, notwithstanding the fact they have done nothing to commend themselves to that particular congregation.


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## Blueridge Believer

We would all do well to learn a lesson from brother Pink lest we fall into the same thing. It is easy for bitterness to creep up on you and a spirit of 'I'm the last and only one' type of thinking. Nevertheless, his books are of great help to many. The Sovereignty of God and The Christian Sabbath were of particular help to me. I thought he did a good job with his book on dispensationalism as well.


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## BobVigneault

Don't forget *The Attributes of God*. That book has lifted me out of my parochial mindset more than once.


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## bookslover

BobVigneault said:


> Don't forget *The Attributes of God*. That book has lifted me out of my parochial mindset more than once.



A friend of mind, Herb Pink, 87, is a distant relative of AWP. Herb's father and AWP's father were cousins. Herb was the Clerk of Session at one of our OPC churches here in Southern California for nearly 50 years before it closed down several years ago.

Herb is a really nice guy and truly devoted to his Lord. Until he was well into his 80s, he was a chaplain with one of the police departments here - riding along with officers into the wee hours of the morning on many occasions.

Herb was 32 when AWP died in 1952 at 66. They never met, unfortunately.

So, I know someone who is related to AWP. You may touch me later (heh).


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## Southern Presbyterian

Thanks for all the input. My reading list is now even longer.


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## KMK

BobVigneault said:


> Don't forget *The Attributes of God*. That book has lifted me out of my parochial mindset more than once.



I loved this book as well as the Christian Sabbath and his article on Tithing.

I believe The Attributes of God was compiled from some articles he wrote for a periodical that he himself edited (if I am not mistaken) Does anyone know anything about that periodical? (Maybe Ivan?)

Also, wasn't he a died in the wool Dispensational who later renounced? If so, to what eschatology did he change?


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## Pilgrim

KMK said:


> I loved this book as well as the Christian Sabbath and his article on Tithing.
> 
> I believe The Attributes of God was compiled from some articles he wrote for a periodical that he himself edited (if I am not mistaken) Does anyone know anything about that periodical? (Maybe Ivan?)
> 
> Also, wasn't he a died in the wool Dispensational who later renounced? If so, to what eschatology did he change?



The periodical was entitled "Studies in the Scriptures". I believe the Chapel Library is reprinting them. Almost all of the books by Pink available now are gleaned from "Studies". _The Sovereignty of God_ is an exception. 

Check out Pink's Archive.


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## bookslover

Pilgrim said:


> The periodical was entitled "Studies in the Scriptures". I believe the Chapel Library is reprinting them. Almost all of the books by Pink available now are gleaned from "Studies". _The Sovereignty of God_ is an exception.
> 
> Check out Pink's Archive.



It's funny about Pink's books. As you say, most of his books are articles collected from the series in his magazine. When he was alive, he was totally ignored by publishers. But, after he died, his body was hardly cold before publishers began cannibalizing his magazine to create the books. Which was easy since, as far as I know, Pink didn't bother to copyright anything.


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