Albert Benjamin Simpson (December 15, 1843 – October 29, 1919), also known as A. B. Simpson, was a Canadian preacher, theologian, author, and founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA), an evangelical denomination with an emphasis on global evangelism that has been characterized as being Keswickian in theology.
Early life Simpson was born in Bayview, near Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada, as the third son and fourth child of James Simpson Jr. and Janet Clark.George A. Rawlyk, Aspects of the Canadian Evangelical Experience, McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, Canada, 1997, page 271 Author Harold H. Simpson has gathered an extensive genealogy of Cavendish families in Cavendish: Its History, Its People. His research establishes the Clark family (A. B. Simpson's mother's side), as one of the founding families of Cavendish in 1790, along with the Simpson family, and he traces common ancestors between Albert B. Simpson and Lucy Maud Montgomery, the author of Anne of Green Gables.
The young Albert was raised in a strict Calvinistic Scottish Covenanter Presbyterian tradition. His conversion of faith began under the ministry of Henry Grattan Guinness, a visiting evangelist from Ireland, during the revival of 1859. Simpson spent some time in the Chatham, Ontario, area and received his theological training in Toronto at Knox College, University of Toronto.
Presbyterian ministry After graduating in 1865, Simpson was subsequently ordained in the Canada Presbyterian Church, the largest of the Presbyterian groups in Canada that merged after his departure for the United States. At age 21, he accepted a call to the large Knox Presbyterian Church (closed in 1971) in nearby Hamilton, Ontario.
In December 1873, at age 30, Simpson left Canada and assumed the pulpit of the largest Presbyterian church in Louisville, Kentucky, the Chestnut Street Presbyterian Church. It was in Louisville that he first conceived of preaching the gospel to the common man by building a simple tabernacle for that purpose. Despite his success at the Chestnut Street Church, Simpson was frustrated by their reluctance to embrace this burden for wider evangelistic endeavor.
In 1880, Simpson was called to the Thirteenth Street Presbyterian Church in New York City where he immediately began reaching out to the world with the gospel. In August 1881, he experienced divine healing of a heart problem.J. Gordon Melton, Encyclopedia of Protestantism, Infobase Publishing, USA, 2005, p. 497 In October 1881, he adopted the vision of believer's baptism as a symbol of commitment and was baptized by immersion in a Baptist church.Daryn Henry, A.B. Simpson and the Making of Modern Evangelicalism, McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, Canada, 2019, p. 158-159 After discussing his change in beliefs at his church, he decided to leave it.
Evangelical ministry In 1881 he began an independent gospel ministry to the many new immigrants and the neglected masses of New York City.Daryn Henry, A.B. Simpson and the Making of Modern Evangelicalism, McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, Canada, 2019, p. 160 Beside active evangelistic work in the church, he published in 1882 a missionary journal, The Gospel in All Lands, the first missionary journal with pictures.J. Gordon Melton and Martin Baumann, Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices, ABC-CLIO, USA, 2010, page 605 Simpson also founded and began publishing an illustrated magazine entitled The Word, Work, and World. By 1911, this magazine became known as The Alliance Weekly, then Alliance Life. It is the official publication of The Christian and Missionary Alliance, in the US and Canada.
In 1882, Simpson began informal training classes in order to reach "the neglected peoples of the world with the neglected resources of the church".William Kostlevy, Historical Dictionary of the Holiness Movement, Scarecrow Press, USA, 2009, page 270 By 1883, a formal program was in place and ministers and missionaries were being trained in a multi-cultural context (This school was the beginning of Nyack College and Alliance Theological Seminary).
In 1885, he was invited to the International Convention of Holiness and Divine Healing in London, by the American pastor William Boardman, author of The Higher Christian Life.Michael G. Yount, A. B. Simpson: His Message and Impact on the Third Great Awakening, Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2016, p. 75 He taught about holiness and especially a sermon known as "Himself", that describes the sanctification as a focus on Christ himself and on his work on the cross.
In 1897 in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, Simpson founded the Christian and Missionary Alliance denomination, a merger of two organizations he had already founded - The Christian Alliance, which concentrated on domestic missions, and The Evangelical Missionary Alliance, which focused on overseas missions. Now known as The Alliance, it is currently estimated to have c. 24,000 churches and 6,700,000 members in 88 countries.
In 1889, Simpson and his church family moved into their new home at the corner of 44th St. and 8th Av. called the New York Tabernacle. This became the base not only of his ministry of evangelism in the city, but also of his growing work of worldwide missions.
Teaching In 1887, he began a series of sermons called “Fourfold Gospel” (“4-sided Gospel” or “Full Gospel”) in New York.Daryn Henry, A.B. Simpson and the Making of Modern Evangelicalism, McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, Canada, 2019, p. 168 According to him, this concept represents the 4 aspects of the ministry of Jesus Christ: "Jesus our Savior, Sanctifier, Healer, and Coming King".Randall Herbert Balmer, Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism, Baylor University Press, USA, 2004, page 128 This Fourfold understanding defined the evangelical Christianity that emerged from the Restorationist movement and laid a critical theological foundation for the Pentecostal movement. The Fourfold Gospel is symbolized in the logo of the C&MA: the Cross (Savior), the Laver (Sanctifier), the Pitcher (Healer), and the Crown (Coming King). He came to his special emphasis in ministry through his absolute Christ-centeredness in doctrine and experience.
Albert Benjamin Simpson was largely Keswickian, teaching the doctrine of entire sanctification heralded by the Higher Life movement. Simpson, however, departed from traditional Keswickian teaching in his view of progressive sanctification and rejection of suppressionism.Bernie A. Van De Walle, The Heart of the Gospel: A. B. Simpson, the Fourfold Gospel, and Late Nineteenth-Century Evangelical Theology, Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2009, p. 93; "Despite similarities, Simpson's sanctification doctrine included its own distinctives, not duplicating either Keswick or Holiness soteriology", p. 94; "Richard Gilbertson, like McGraw, distinguishes between Simpson's view of sanctification and those of Keswick and Wesleyanism: There have been frequent attempts to categorize Simpson and the C&MA. Often the assertion is made that Simpson held to a Keswick-type view of sanctification. More precisely, Simpson should be seen as having been influenced by Boardman's Higher Christian Life, a book which also impacted the Keswick movement. Other than an 1885 invitation to speak at one of their conferences, Simpson had little formal contact with the British Keswick movement."Gordon T. Smith, Conversion and Sanctification in the Christian & Missionary Alliance , awf.world, Brazil, 1992 : "He differed in some notable ways from the teachings of his contemporaries: he rejected the perfectionism of the Wesleyan-methodists; he did not accept the suppressionism of the Keswick movement." And "In these respects, the C&MA is distinct from the Keswick movement. The Alliance heritage is more life and work affirming. Our actions in the world do make a difference and are meaningful."
Plagued by illness for much of his life since childhood, Simpson believed he experienced divine healing after understanding it to be part of the blessing of abiding in Christ as Life and healing. He emphasized healing in his Fourfold Gospel and usually devoted one meeting a week for teaching, testimonies and prayer on these lines. Although such teaching isolated him (and the C&MA) from the mainline churches that either did not emphasize or outright rejected healing, Simpson was uncompromising in his beliefs.
Simpson's heart for evangelism was to become the driving force behind the creation of the C&MA. Initially, the Christian and Missionary Alliance was not founded as a denomination, but as an organized movement of world evangelism.
In his 1890 book, A Larger Christian Life, Simpson discussed his vision for the church:
Simpson composed the lyrics of over 120 hymns, 77 of which appear in the C&MA's 1962 hymnal, Hymns of the Christian Life, co-edited with R. Kelso Carter.Hymns of the Christian Life: A Book of Worship in Song Emphasizing Evangelism, Missions, and the Deeper Life, 1962 revised and enlarged edition. Harrisburg, PA: Christian Publications, 1962.
His missionary vision is illustrated by these words of his hymn, "The Missionary Cry":
At the turn of the 20th century, numerous Alliance members began adopting Pentecostal beliefs as a result of the widespread experience of tongues and other spiritual manifestations within the Alliance movement and at Alliance meetings.Bernie A. Van De Walle, The Heart of the Gospel: A. B. Simpson, the Fourfold Gospel, and Late Nineteenth-Century Evangelical Theology, Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2009, p. 20 While Simpson remained an ardent proponent of the doctrine of Spirit Baptism that was a central teaching in late nineteenth-century evangelicalism, he became publicly critical of various practices within the Pentecostal movement that he considered excessive.George Thomas Kurian, James D. Smith III, The Encyclopedia of Christian Literature, Volume 2, Scarecrow Press, USA, 2010, p. 566 In particular, Simpson publicly challenged the emerging Pentecostal teaching that "speaking in tongues" was the sole acceptable evidence of baptism with the Holy Spirit. Notwithstanding his public criticism, however, in his private spiritual life, Simpson sought for the gift of tongues.Charles Nienkirchen, A. B. Simpson and the Pentecostal Movement: A Study in Continuity, Crisis, and Change, Hendrickson, USA, 1992, pp. 131–140. While he did not ever speak in tongues, he did, in the course of his seeking, have other ecstatic experiences of the kind that often bore the criticism of Pentecostal excessiveness, such as an experience he described in his private journal, saying, "The Spirit came with a baptism of Holy laughter for an hour or more and I am waiting for all He has yet to give and manifest."A.B. Simpson, Simpson’s Nyack Diary, entry for Sept 12, 1907, reproduced in Charles Nienkirchen A. B. Simpson and the Pentecostal Movement: A Study in Continuity, Crisis, and Change, Hendrickson, USA, 1992, p. 145.
Death A. B. Simpson died in 1919 and his wife (née Margaret L. Henry) died in 1924.George Thomas Kurian, Mark A. Lamport, Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States, Volume 5, Rowman & Littlefield, USA, 2016, p. 2122 They are buried on the Rockland County Campus of Nyack College in Nyack, New York. Following the closure and sale of the Rockland Campus, they were disinterred on April 30, 2025, and reinterred at Oak Hill Cemetery.
Legacy A number of C&MA churches bear Simpson's name, including Simpson University in Redding, California; the Albert B. Simpson school in Lima, Peru; the A. B. Simpson Alliance School in Zamboanga City, Philippines; Sekolah Tinggi Teologi Simpson (Simpson Theological College) in Ungaran, Indonesia; and the Simpson Memorial Church in Jamalpur, Ahmedabad, India. Established in 1923, its centenary celebration was held from May 1, 2023, to April 30, 2024.
Works
The Gospel of Healing, New York: Word, Work & World Publishing Company; London: John Snow & Co. (1885);