A. B. Simpson

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Albert Benjamin Simpson, founder of The Christian and Missionary Alliance was born December 15, 1843 in Bayview, Prince Edward Island, Canada. At an early age he felt the call of God on his life to preach and later experienced a dramatic conversion to faith in Jesus Christ.

Read Today’s Simpson Devotional

After discovering a line in Walter Marshall’s Gospel Mystery of Salvation, “The first good work you will ever perform is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,” Simpson committed his life to “Jesus Only”—the anthem that also ignited an unquenchable passion in his heart to reach the lost.

He went on to enroll at Knox College (Toronto) for theological training. After graduation in 1865, Simpson accepted a pastorate at Knox Presbyterian Church in Hamilton, Ontario, marrying Margaret Henry the same weekend.

In 1873, at age 30, Simpson left Canada to pastor the Chestnut Street Presbyterian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, and later the Thirteenth Street Presbyterian Church in New York City (NYC). His desire to minister to the flood of immigrants pouring into NYC met with great opposition from the leadership of his church. He eventually resigned his prestigious pastorate and set out to establish the Gospel Tabernacle, a church in the heart of the city, where all—the poor, homeless, sick, and displaced—would be welcome.

Simpson’s ministry to New York’s immigrants caused him to wonder about the unreached masses throughout the world. It was then that he developed an insatiable burden for the worldwide evangelization of lost souls. Singlemindedly focused on this burden, Simpson began assembling like-minded people with a passion for taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth. He proceeded to hold evangelistic meetings on Sunday afternoons. These gatherings, which then grew to camp meetings and revivals in other locations along the East coast, were essentially the beginnings of The Christian and Missionary Alliance—a society fully devoted to experiencing the “deeper life” in Christ and completing the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). Having also personally experienced a miraculous physical healing, Simpson would go on to coin the foundation of the Alliance’s doctrine—The Fourfold Gospel: Christ our Savior, Sanctifier, Healer, and Coming King.

Simpson was a prolific writer from the start of his ministry, having authored 101 books and countless hymns, periodicals, booklets, articles, and curriculums over his lifetime. His influence went on to move the hearts of missionaries, pastors, and people of all denominations towards spreading the gospel in all lands.

Compilations about Simpson

Charles Nienkirchen

• The Man, the Movement & the Mission (a documentary history) (pdf)

John Sawin Indexes

• Articles of A.B.S. as Found in His Periodicals (Alliance magazine 1897-1919; Living Truths 1902-1907) (pdf)
• An Introduction to the Writings of A.B.S. (Part I, chronological) (pdf)
• An Introduction to the Writings of A.B.S. (Part II, alphabetical) (pdf)
• Missionary Sermons by A.B.S. (chronological and alphabetical) (pdf)
• Sermons by A.B.S. as Found in His Periodicals (chronological) (pdf)
• Texts of A.B.S. Sermons in Biblical Sequence (pdf)
• Topics of Sermons by A.B.S. (alphabetical) (pdf)
• The Life and Times of A.B. Simpson (pdf)

Books by Simpson

• A Larger Christian Life (pdf)
• Missionary Messages (pdf)
• Service for the King (pdf)
• The Challenge of Missions (pdf)
• The Fourfold Gospel (pdf)
• The Gospel of Healing (pdf)
• The Lord for the Body (pdf)
• Walking in the Spirit (pdf)
• Wholly Sanctified (pdf)

Personal Journals and Writings

• A.B. Simpson’s Nyack Diary, 1907-1916 (pdf)
• A.B. Simpson’s Solemn Covenant, 1861 (pdf)
• A.B. Simpson’s Surviving Diary, 1879-1880 (pdf)

Photographs

• Albert Benjamin Simpson at age 17
• A.B. Simpson at age 17
• A.B. Simpson, Hamilton pastorage
• A.B. Simpson, “Jesus Only” portrait
• A.B. Simpson, 1890
• Albert Benjamin Simpson, formal portrait
• Albert Benjamin Simpson, seated
• Albert & Margaret Simpson, Hamilton, Ontario
• Albert & Margaret Simpson, Nyack New York
• Margaret Henry Simpson, portrait
• Margaret Henry Simpson, formal portrait
• Old Orchard Convention with Simpson, 1886
• Simpson with Paul Rader, 1912
• Funeral procession for A.B. Simpson, Nyack, NY

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