Letters from Spartanburg (A. W. Pink)

Letters from Spartanburg

Richard P. Belcher, General Editor

Few men’s writings left the impact on the 20th century church as those from the pen of Arthur W. Pink. Yet the influence of his writings came largely after his death.

Anyone familiar with Pink’s life knows that he struggled constantly concerning the will of God for his life. Should he Pastor? Should he pursue an itinerant ministry? Or should he devote his time fully to ministry through his pen? Or should he seek to combine several of these ministries?

The truth is, he tried all of the above ministries, sometimes with much ambivalence and uncertainty. Finally in later years he devoted his life fully to a writing ministry, living in virtual seclusion in far-away Stornaway, Scotland on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides until he died in 1952.

The letters of this volume are unique as they detail his life and struggles while pastoring the Northside Baptist Church in Spartanburg, SC from the years 1917 to 1920. This was the time he wrote his most influential book, The Sovereignty of God, but only with much difficulty and concern as to its reception.

During this time he went through a nervous breakdown as he waited for God to show him His will. The value of these letters is that they show the reader the heart of Pink as he spoke concerning many doctrinal matters and church issues, including leaders of his day. A thorough index makes the volume not only easy to use to pursue a subject, but extremely interesting just to browse for a few moments.