David Pawson
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David Pawson (born 1930) is a well-known British Bible teacher. His original intention was to enter farming and he attended the University of Durham to study for a BSc in Agriculture. Believing that God had other plans for him, Pawson rejected the opportunity to manage a farm in Scotland and turned to Christian ministry, studying for an MA in Theology from the University of Cambridge. After a short spell in Methodist ministry, he soon entered the British Royal Air Force serving as a chaplain for three years before later undertaking various pastorship roles, notably at two British Baptist churches: Gold Hill (Buckinghamshire) followed afterwards by Guildford Baptist Church (Surrey).
As pastor of Guildford Baptist Church (sometimes known by its building name, The Millmead Centre) he established a reputation among evangelicals and charismatics as a highly effective expositor of the Bible. Millmead became regarded as a model church among many Christians and under Pawson's ministry, it became the biggest Baptist church in Britain. After leaving Millmead in 1979, Pawson engaged in an itinerant worldwide Bible teaching ministry, and this has been his main work to the present day. He is a frequent speaker in the UK, although his speaking engagements have taken him to many other parts of the world, notably Australia, Israel and the United States. David Pawson currently resides in Hampshire in southern England with his wife Enid.
He has written a number of books including:
- Truth To Tell - Christianity Explained
- The Normal Christian Birth
- Unlocking The Bible Omnibus
- The Road to Hell
- Once Saved Always Saved?
- Jesus Baptises in One Holy Spirit
- Leadership is Male
- When Jesus Returns
- Word and Spirit Together: Uniting Charismatics and Evangelicals
- The Challenge of Islam to Christians
- Not as Bad as the Truth (Autobiography)
More popular, however, are his audio teaching messages which are primarily distributed by Anchor Recordings in the UK; Goodseed Ministries in the USA; David Pawson Ministries in Australia; Inspirational Media in New Zealand, and Truth to Tell Media in South Africa. He also appears regularly on various Christian radio and television broadcasting networks.
[edit] Teachings
In The Normal Christian Birth, Pawson argued that a biblical understanding of Christianity should incorporate more than a simple 'prayer of repentance'. Whilst accepting the fundamental basis of salvation by faith, he argued that the Biblical model of a person's "birth" included aspects which are frequently ignored or forgotten today. He offered four typical steps: repentance towards God; believing in Jesus, baptism in water and receiving the Holy Spirit. This, according to Pawson, is the biblical pattern for a "normal Christian birth". According to the book itself, "David Pawson advocates a synthesis of the 'liberal' emphasis on repentance, the 'evangelical' on faith, the 'sacramental' on baptism and the 'pentecostal' on the Spirit."
In Leadership is Male, he teaches that leadership is a role given by God to men. In so doing, he criticises men for not taking proper responsibility in important aspects of family and church life. He argues that modern men too often neglect their social obligations and should return to the Biblical model of manhood.
In The Road to Hell, Pawson is critical of Annihilationism, the teaching that the punishment of hell is not eternal. He teaches that people who go to hell suffer eternal punishing. According to the book itself, by "challenging the modern alternatives of liberal 'universalism' and evangelical 'annihilationism', David Pawson presents the traditional concept of endless torment as soundly biblical."
In Unlocking the Bible, (edited by Andy Peck) Pawson presents a book by book study of the whole Bible. The book is based on Pawson's belief that the Bible should be studied "a book at a time" and that the meaning of each book is best understood by learning why it was written. The book is the culmination of a series of specially organised sermons in which he preached through the background, purpose, meaning and relevance of each book of the Bible.
In When Jesus Returns, he discusses the major views on eschatology popular in the church today: amillennialism, postmillennialism and the various forms of premillennialism. He holds to a premillennial understanding but rejects the pre-tribulational and mid-tribulational views, favouring instead a post-tribulational eschatology.
In Jesus Baptises in One Holy Spirit, Pawson discusses the evidence for the Baptism in the Holy Spirit as a separate event to believing, repentance and water baptism. He argues that a believer does not receive the indwelling Holy Spirit until s/he is baptized in the Spirit, a distinct experience evidenced by charismatic gifts such as prophecy or tongues. This puts him between the evangelical view that the Spirit is automatically received when a person believes, and the Pentecostal view that receiving the indwelling Spirit (at conversion) and receiving the Baptism in the Spirit are two experiences with different purposes.
In Word and Spirit Together: Uniting Charismatics and Evangelicals (a revision of Fourth Wave), Pawson calls for an end to the division between charismatic and Evangelical Christians over the issue of charismatic gifts. He argues that the charismatic gifts are for today but that their practice should be built on a thoroughly biblical basis. He therefore calls for a middle line between the two groups, arguing that the two groups can learn from each other.
[edit] External links
The following are authorised distributors of David Pawson's audio recordings:
