From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

This 20th-century stalwart's dying words stated the approach to the Bible that must govern every Christian's thinking and living.

Arthur W. Pink, a man too little known among Christians today, was one of the leading Bible scholars of the twentieth century. Born in 1886 to Christian parents, Pink first became involved in theosophy, a forerunner of the New Age Movement, before repenting and becoming a Christian at age 22. Like several other great preachers and teachers of his time (including Charles Spurgeon, G. Campbell Morgan, and Martyn Lloyd-Jones), Pink was not a college-trained Bible scholar. But through self-study of the Word, clearly guided by the indwelling Spirit of God, Pink gained an understanding of Scripture far beyond that of the vast majority of preachers and seminarians of his day.

Studies In the Scriptures

Emigrating to the United States shortly before the First World War, Pink attended Moody Bible Institute for just two months, but then left to pastor congregations in several parts of the country, and for three years in Australia. Pink's greatest contributions began in 1922 when he founded a monthly magazine called Studies In the Scriptures, which he published for the next thirty years.

The magazine never had more than roughly a thousand subscribers around the world, but among their number were men such as Martyn Lloyd-Jones, who was often asked to advise young men preparing for the ministry. He counseled them not to waste their time reading the better-publicized men of the day such as Karl Barth, whose so-called neo-orthodoxy was leading many astray. If you want sound Biblical teaching, Lloyd-Jones frequently said, read Arthur Pink.

"The Scriptures Explain Themselves"

Pink left pulpit ministry before the age of fifty to live with his wife Vera on the Isle of Lewis, off the coast of Scotland. He spent the rest of his life immersed in the study of the Bible and the publication of Studies In the Scriptures. His habit was to dictate much of the material to his wife, who served as his typist and helped with editing. He finished all but four sentences of the last issue in early July 1952, and then dictated those final words after taking to the bed from which he would never rise. As he lay dying, slipping in and out of consciousness, he would sometimes speak as though he were dictating yet another edition of the magazine. His final words were, "The Scriptures explain themselves."

Arthur Pink left this world for glory with the thought on his mind that had governed his life and ministry, and must govern the life and thinking of every Christian: The Scriptures explain themselves. Scripture interprets Scripture. Or as the Reformers put it, Sola Scriptura - Scripture alone. The church of Jesus Christ must be the Scripture-driven church.

A Truth The Church Must Re-Grasp

The bright idea of the moment, the latest religious fad, the latest how-to book, the latest pronouncement of ecclesiastical officialdom or of some dominant personality in the church - these things do not interpret the Word of God. No man's or woman's opinion stands in authority over Scripture. "The Scriptures explain themselves."

The people and leaders of Christ's true church must handle the Word of God carefully. They must teach Scripture accurately. They must operate under the unbending principle that "the Scriptures explain themselves."

But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him." But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.... Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual [literally, "comparing things from the Spirit with things from the Spirit," i.e., comparing Scripture with Scripture]. (1 Corinthians 2:9-10, 12-13)

Ignoring that fundamental fact about God's Word is the root of Roman Catholicism. It is how cults have begun in the past, and how new cults and other un-Biblical movements have appeared in our day. The Word-Of-Faith, Purpose-Driven Church, Emergent Church, and social justice movements bear the marks of a cult - especially so as they demand loyalty to strong and domineering leaders, whose word becomes law in place of God's Word.

In contrast to these un-Biblical approaches, the people and leaders of a Scripture-driven church rightly and humbly handle the Word of God as we are commanded in 2 Timothy 2:15, and they employ the four-fold use of Scripture found in 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing [that is, accurately teaching] the Word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

That is how Arthur Pink handled the Word. He was not as well known as many other Christian teachers during his lifetime. His unwavering commitment to Scripture was not popular, and his death was little noted. But after his death much of the material contained in over three hundred issues of Studies In the Scriptures was compiled and published in over forty books that have made his studies available to a far wider audience. Those works include comprehensive studies of several books of the Bible and its major doctrines, as well as studies focusing on Christian living.

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones was often asked by young men studying for the ministry, "Whose works about Scripture and theology should I read?" In that era he counseled them to avoid the then-popular neo-orthodoxy of Karl Barth and the anti-supernaturalism of Rudolph Bultmann. "If you really want to read someone who comes to grips with the truths of Scripture," Lloyd-Jones would tell them, "then read Arthur W. Pink."

Likewise, in our time we caution our readers to avoid the so-called Christian hedonism of men like John Piper, the social-justice ecumenism of men like Timothy Keller and Rick Warren, and the doctrinal deviancies of so many others who have abandoned Biblical truth in pursuit of ungodly agendas. But we can without hesitation recommend the works of Arthur W. Pink.

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