Arthur Tappan Pierson
Encyclopedia
Arthur Tappan Pierson was an American
Presbyterian pastor, early fundamentalist
leader, and writer who preached over 13,000 sermons, wrote over fifty books, and gave Bible
lectures as part of a transatlantic preaching ministry that made him famous in Scotland
and England
. He was a consulting editor for the original "Scofield Reference Bible
" (1909) for his friend, C. I. Scofield
and was also a friend of D. L. Moody
, George Müller
(whose biography 'George Muller of Bristol' he wrote), Adoniram Judson Gordon
, and C. H. Spurgeon
, whom he succeeded in the pulpit of the Metropolitan Tabernacle
, London
, from 1891 to 1893. Throughout his career, Pierson filled several pulpit positions around the world as an urban pastor who cared passionately for the poor.
Pierson was also a pioneer advocate of faith missions who was determined to see the world evangelized
in his generation. Prior to 1870, there had been only about 2000 missionaries from the United States in full-time service, roughly ten percent of whom had engaged in work among Native American
s. A great movement of foreign missions began in the 1880s and accelerated into the 20th century, in some measure due to the work of Pierson. He acted as the elder statesman of the student missionary movement
and was the leading evangelical
advocate of foreign missions in the late 19th century.
and abolitionist
roots. Born in New York City
, he was named after Arthur Tappan
, the famous New York abolitionist.
While attending a Methodist revival meeting in 1850 at the age of 13, he first publicly professed faith in Jesus Christ.
He graduated from Hamilton College, Clinton, New York
in 1857, and Union Theological Seminary
(1869).
In 1860, he had married Sarah Frances Benedict; they had seven children, all of whom professed conversion to Christianity before the age of 15 and later served as missionaries, pastors, or lay leaders.
At the age of forty, while serving as pastor of the largest church in Detroit, he attended a series of evangelistic messages and realized he was prideful and greedy, and had sought the approval of the rich. As a result, he led his wealthy congregation to reach out to the poor of Detroit. He then moved to banish the practice of pew rents and committed to accept his salary on a faith basis.
In 1889-90 he made a missionary tour of the United Kingdom
. Since 1888 he was editor of the Missionary Review of the World, and was lecturer on missions in Rutgers College in 1891 and Duff lecturer in Scotland
in 1892.
When Charles Spurgeon's
illness with Bright's disease
kept him from preaching, he asked Pierson to substitute for him while he recovered; but when Spurgeon unexpectedly died on January 31, 1892, the people of the Metropolitan Tabernacle invited Pierson to stay on, which he did for the next two years. It is notable that Spurgeon asked a Presbyterian minister who had not been baptized as a believer
to occupy the pulpit in his place. Pierson held the opinion that Christians could disagree on the mode of baptism and whether it should be administered to infants or believers only. He later became convinced that believer baptism was correct and on February 1, 1896 was baptized by Spurgeon's brother, James A. Spurgeon at the age of fifty-eight.
Pierson spoke with D. L. Moody at his Northfield Conferences and was also a speaker at the Keswick Convention
who promoted holiness piety
. During this period George Mueller and others had helped to change Pierson’s eschatology
from postmillennialism
to premillennialism
. As a missionary speaker A. T. Pierson influenced Robert Elliott Speer
, Samuel Zwemer, and John R. Mott to give their lives to missions.
Besides his contributions to missions, Pierson’s most notable influence was due to his commitment to orthodoxy. When liberalism began sweeping through the mainline denominations, Pierson joined other concerned Christian leaders in publishing "The Fundamentals", a series of booklets designed to answer the critics of Christianity. Because of his apologetic abilities, Pierson was invited to write five of the major articles. Each booklet was distributed freely to pastors throughout America. This marked the beginning of the Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy
in American churches. In time, the booklets were combined into a twelve volume set of books, which are still available today in a five volume set. Since then, Pierson has often been called the “Father of Fundamentalism.”
One of his most significant books was, In Christ Jesus (1898), where he came to the conclusion that this brief phrase "in Christ Jesus" a preposition followed by a proper name was the key to understanding the entire New Testament
.
After retiring, he continued to preach at churches and conferences at home and abroad.
He made Pyeongtaek University to be established in Korea in 1912. Many pators and scholars came from it.
On Pierson’s gravestone was a picture on an open Bible. On the Bible were engraved two verses. I John 5:11 “God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.” Matthew 28:19 “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”
Related to A.T. Pierson is Michael Curtis of Sanford, Florida who is pastor of Powerline Community Church.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Presbyterian pastor, early fundamentalist
Fundamentalism
Fundamentalism is strict adherence to specific theological doctrines usually understood as a reaction against Modernist theology. The term "fundamentalism" was originally coined by its supporters to describe a specific package of theological beliefs that developed into a movement within the...
leader, and writer who preached over 13,000 sermons, wrote over fifty books, and gave Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
lectures as part of a transatlantic preaching ministry that made him famous in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He was a consulting editor for the original "Scofield Reference Bible
Scofield Reference Bible
The Scofield Reference Bible is a widely circulated study Bible edited and annotated by the American Bible student Cyrus I. Scofield, that popularized dispensationalism at the beginning of the 20th century...
" (1909) for his friend, C. I. Scofield
Cyrus Scofield
Cyrus Ingerson Scofield was an American theologian, minister, and writer whose best-selling annotated Bible popularized dispensationalism among fundamentalist Christians.-Youth:...
and was also a friend of D. L. Moody
Dwight L. Moody
Dwight Lyman Moody , also known as D.L. Moody, was an American evangelist and publisher who founded the Moody Church, Northfield School and Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts , the Moody Bible Institute and Moody Publishers.-Early life:Dwight Moody was born in Northfield, Massachusetts to a large...
, George Müller
George Müller
George Müller , a Christian evangelist and Director of the Ashley Down orphanage in Bristol, England, cared for 10,024 orphans in his life...
(whose biography 'George Muller of Bristol' he wrote), Adoniram Judson Gordon
Adoniram Judson Gordon
Adoniram Judson Gordon was an American Baptist preacher, writer, composer, and founder of Gordon College and Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary.-Life:...
, and C. H. Spurgeon
Charles Spurgeon
Charles Haddon Spurgeon was a large British Particular Baptist preacher who remains highly influential among Christians of different denominations, among whom he is still known as the "Prince of Preachers"...
, whom he succeeded in the pulpit of the Metropolitan Tabernacle
Metropolitan Tabernacle
The Metropolitan Tabernacle is a large Reformed Baptist church in the Elephant and Castle in London. It was the largest non-conformist church edifice of its day in 1861. The Tabernacle Fellowship have been worshipping together since 1650, soon after the sailing of the Pilgrim Fathers...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, from 1891 to 1893. Throughout his career, Pierson filled several pulpit positions around the world as an urban pastor who cared passionately for the poor.
Pierson was also a pioneer advocate of faith missions who was determined to see the world evangelized
Evangelism
Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....
in his generation. Prior to 1870, there had been only about 2000 missionaries from the United States in full-time service, roughly ten percent of whom had engaged in work among Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
s. A great movement of foreign missions began in the 1880s and accelerated into the 20th century, in some measure due to the work of Pierson. He acted as the elder statesman of the student missionary movement
Student Volunteer Movement
The Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions was an organization founded in 1886 that sought to recruit college and university students in the United States for missionary service abroad. It also sought to publicize and encourage the missionary enterprise in general...
and was the leading evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
advocate of foreign missions in the late 19th century.
Career
Pierson was the ninth child of Stephen and Sallie Pierson, a family with strong ChristianChristian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
and abolitionist
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
roots. Born in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, he was named after Arthur Tappan
Arthur Tappan
Arthur Tappan was an American abolitionist. He was the brother of Senator Benjamin Tappan, and abolitionist Lewis Tappan.-Biography:...
, the famous New York abolitionist.
While attending a Methodist revival meeting in 1850 at the age of 13, he first publicly professed faith in Jesus Christ.
He graduated from Hamilton College, Clinton, New York
Clinton, Oneida County, New York
Clinton is a village in Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 1,952 at the 2000 census. It was named for George Clinton, a royal governor of the colony of New York....
in 1857, and Union Theological Seminary
Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York
Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York is a preeminent independent graduate school of theology, located in Manhattan between Claremont Avenue and Broadway, 120th to 122nd Streets. The seminary was founded in 1836 under the Presbyterian Church, and is affiliated with nearby Columbia...
(1869).
In 1860, he had married Sarah Frances Benedict; they had seven children, all of whom professed conversion to Christianity before the age of 15 and later served as missionaries, pastors, or lay leaders.
At the age of forty, while serving as pastor of the largest church in Detroit, he attended a series of evangelistic messages and realized he was prideful and greedy, and had sought the approval of the rich. As a result, he led his wealthy congregation to reach out to the poor of Detroit. He then moved to banish the practice of pew rents and committed to accept his salary on a faith basis.
In 1889-90 he made a missionary tour of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Since 1888 he was editor of the Missionary Review of the World, and was lecturer on missions in Rutgers College in 1891 and Duff lecturer in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
in 1892.
When Charles Spurgeon's
Charles Spurgeon
Charles Haddon Spurgeon was a large British Particular Baptist preacher who remains highly influential among Christians of different denominations, among whom he is still known as the "Prince of Preachers"...
illness with Bright's disease
Bright's disease
Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that would be described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. The term is no longer used, as diseases are now classified according to their more fully understood causes....
kept him from preaching, he asked Pierson to substitute for him while he recovered; but when Spurgeon unexpectedly died on January 31, 1892, the people of the Metropolitan Tabernacle invited Pierson to stay on, which he did for the next two years. It is notable that Spurgeon asked a Presbyterian minister who had not been baptized as a believer
Believer's baptism
Believer's baptism is the Christian practice of baptism as this is understood by many Protestant churches, particularly those that descend from the Anabaptist tradition...
to occupy the pulpit in his place. Pierson held the opinion that Christians could disagree on the mode of baptism and whether it should be administered to infants or believers only. He later became convinced that believer baptism was correct and on February 1, 1896 was baptized by Spurgeon's brother, James A. Spurgeon at the age of fifty-eight.
Pierson spoke with D. L. Moody at his Northfield Conferences and was also a speaker at the Keswick Convention
Keswick Convention
The Keswick Convention is an annual gathering of evangelical Christians in Keswick, in the English county of Cumbria.- History :The Keswick Convention began in 1875 as a catalyst and focal point for the emerging Higher Life movement in the United Kingdom. It was founded by an Anglican, Canon T. D....
who promoted holiness piety
Pietism
Pietism was a movement within Lutheranism, lasting from the late 17th century to the mid-18th century and later. It proved to be very influential throughout Protestantism and Anabaptism, inspiring not only Anglican priest John Wesley to begin the Methodist movement, but also Alexander Mack to...
. During this period George Mueller and others had helped to change Pierson’s eschatology
Eschatology
Eschatology is a part of theology, philosophy, and futurology concerned with what are believed to be the final events in history, or the ultimate destiny of humanity, commonly referred to as the end of the world or the World to Come...
from postmillennialism
Postmillennialism
In Christian end-times theology, , postmillennialism is an interpretation of chapter 20 of the Book of Revelation which sees Christ's second coming as occurring after the "Millennium", a Golden Age in which Christian ethics prosper...
to premillennialism
Premillennialism
Premillennialism in Christian end-times theology is the belief that Jesus will literally and physically be on the earth for his millennial reign, at his second coming. The doctrine is called premillennialism because it holds that Jesus’ physical return to earth will occur prior to the inauguration...
. As a missionary speaker A. T. Pierson influenced Robert Elliott Speer
Robert Elliott Speer
Robert Elliott Speer was an American religious leader and authority on missions.He was born at Huntingdon, Pa., graduated from Phillips Academy in 1886 and from Princeton in 1889, and studied at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1890-91. In 1891 he was appointed secretary of the American...
, Samuel Zwemer, and John R. Mott to give their lives to missions.
Besides his contributions to missions, Pierson’s most notable influence was due to his commitment to orthodoxy. When liberalism began sweeping through the mainline denominations, Pierson joined other concerned Christian leaders in publishing "The Fundamentals", a series of booklets designed to answer the critics of Christianity. Because of his apologetic abilities, Pierson was invited to write five of the major articles. Each booklet was distributed freely to pastors throughout America. This marked the beginning of the Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy
Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy
The Fundamentalist–Modernist Controversy was a religious controversy in the 1920s and 30s within the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America that later created divisions in most American Christian denominations as well. The major American denomination was torn by conflict over the...
in American churches. In time, the booklets were combined into a twelve volume set of books, which are still available today in a five volume set. Since then, Pierson has often been called the “Father of Fundamentalism.”
One of his most significant books was, In Christ Jesus (1898), where he came to the conclusion that this brief phrase "in Christ Jesus" a preposition followed by a proper name was the key to understanding the entire New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
.
After retiring, he continued to preach at churches and conferences at home and abroad.
He made Pyeongtaek University to be established in Korea in 1912. Many pators and scholars came from it.
On Pierson’s gravestone was a picture on an open Bible. On the Bible were engraved two verses. I John 5:11 “God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.” Matthew 28:19 “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”
Related to A.T. Pierson is Michael Curtis of Sanford, Florida who is pastor of Powerline Community Church.
Pierson's pastorates
- CongregationalCongregational churchCongregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
Church at Winsted, ConnecticutWinsted, ConnecticutWinsted is a census-designated place and an incorporated city in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is part of the town of Winchester, Connecticut. The population was 7,321 at the 2000 census.-History:...
, in the summers of 1859 and 1869 - Binghamton, New York (1860–1863)
- Waterford (town), New YorkWaterford (town), New YorkWaterford is a town in Saratoga County, New York, USA. The population was 8,515 at the 2000 census. The name of the town is derived from its principal village, also called Waterford. The town and village are in the southeast corner of Saratoga County, and north-northwest of Troy, New York.-...
,(1863–69) - Fort Street Presbyterian Church, Detroit, MichiganMichiganMichigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
(1869–82) - IndianapolisIndianapolisIndianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
, IndianaIndianaIndiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
(1882–83) - Bethany Collegiate Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
(1883,89) - Metropolitan TabernacleMetropolitan TabernacleThe Metropolitan Tabernacle is a large Reformed Baptist church in the Elephant and Castle in London. It was the largest non-conformist church edifice of its day in 1861. The Tabernacle Fellowship have been worshipping together since 1650, soon after the sailing of the Pilgrim Fathers...
, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
(1891–93) - Christ Church, London (1902–03).
Published works
- The Crisis of Missions (New York, 1886)
- Many Infallible Proofs: Chapters on the Evidences of Christianity (1886)
- Evangelistic Work in Principle and Practise (1887)
- Keys to the Word: or, Helps to Bible Study (1887)
- The Divine Enterprise of Missions (1891)
- Miracles of Missions (4 vols., 1891–1901)
- The Divine Art of Preaching (1892)
- From the Pulpit to the Palm-Branch: Memorial of Charles H. Spurgeon (1892)
- The Heart of the Gospel (sermons; 1892)
- New Acts of the Apostles (1894)
- LifePower: or, Character Culture, and Conduct (1895)
- Lessons in the School of Prayer (1895)
- Acts of the Holy Spirit (1895)
- The Coming of the Lord (1896)
- Shall we continue in Sin? (1897)
- In Christ Jesus: or, The Sphere of the Believer's Life (1898)
- Catharine of Siena, an ancient Lay Preacher (1898)
- George Muller of Bristol and his Witness to a Prayer-Hearing God (1899)
- Forward Movements of the last half Century (1900)
- Seed Thoughts for Public Speakers (1900)
- The Modern Mission Century viewed as a Cycle of Divine Working (1901)
- The Gordian Knot: or, The Problem which baffles Infidelity (1902)
- The Keswick Movement in Precept and Practice (1903)
- God's Living Oracles (1904)
- The Bible and Spiritual Criticism (1906)
- The Bible and Spiritual Life (1908)
- Godly Self-control (1909)