A Reader’s Guide to R. A. Torrey

Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts. JEREMIAH 15:16

Torrey is one of the easiest classic writers to read. He wrote plainly, arranged his material under numbered heads, and nearly always told the reader what to do next. He also wrote a great deal — more than forty books — and repeated himself freely, so that the same teaching and even the same stories turn up in several places. The guide below is meant to save the reader time.

Begin here

How to Pray. His best-known book: short, practical chapters on the importance of prayer, praying to God, praying in the name of Christ and according to His will, praying in the Spirit, persevering, and hindrances to prayer. Not yet in the Ochorus library, but widely available.

How to Succeed in the Christian Life. A handbook for new Christians on beginning right, confessing Christ, assurance, Bible study, prayer, work, companions and guidance. The best single introduction to Torrey’s practical teaching. In the Ochorus library.

The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit. His fullest treatment of the Spirit, from His personality to His work in the believer, in prayer and in the prophets. The chapters on the Spirit as a Person, as Teacher and in prayer are among his best. In the Ochorus library.

On the Holy Spirit

Baptism with the Holy Spirit. A short book setting out his distinctive teaching: what the baptism is, why it is needed, the seven steps to receive it, refillings, and how power is lost. The last two chapters are the most valuable. In the Ochorus library, and best read with chapters four to six of this volume.

On the Bible and the faith

The Fundamental Doctrines of the Christian Faith. Sermons preached to his Los Angeles congregation on inspiration, the doctrine of God, the deity and humanity of Christ, the Spirit, the atonement, justification, the new birth, the resurrection, the devil and future punishment. Dense with texts and sharp in tone, but the clearest statement of what he believed. In the Ochorus library.

How to Study the Bible for Greatest Profit and What the Bible Teaches. The first gives methods; the second gathers what Scripture says on each great subject, arranged as propositions with proof texts. Useful reference books. Not yet in the Ochorus library.

Difficulties in the Bible. His answers to alleged errors and contradictions. Some of the answers have dated; the spirit of honest engagement has not. Not yet in the Ochorus library.

On prayer and evangelism

How to Bring Men to Christ. His handbook for personal work, with Scripture for every kind of person and a closing chapter of hints that every Christian can use. In the Ochorus library.

The Power of Prayer and the Prayer of Power. A later book on prayer, gathering many of his convictions and experiences. Not yet in the Ochorus library.

Sermons. Fourteen of his evangelistic sermons are in the Ochorus library, including The Greatest Sentence That Was Ever Written, The Great Attraction: The Uplifted Christ, The Most Important Question, Excuses, Refuges of Lies and The Day of Golden Opportunity. They show the evangelist at work. Read them aloud if you can; they were made to be heard.

Approach with care

Baptism with the Holy Spirit and the chapter on it in The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit present a disputed view, and they are best read with 1 Corinthians 12:13 and Ephesians 5:18 open beside them. The two sermons on hell at the end of The Fundamental Doctrines are serious and honest but lurid in places. And Torrey’s polemic against Christian Science, Unitarians and liberal ministers, scattered through his doctrinal sermons, reflects the controversies of his day; take the substance, not the scorn.

About Torrey

Roger Martin, R. A. Torrey: Apostle of Certainty (1976), is the standard modern life, sympathetic and well documented. George T. B. Davis, Torrey and Alexander: The Story of a World-Wide Revival (1905), is a contemporary account of the great missions, written in the glow of the events. The Ochorus author page carries a shorter biography.

Three counsels for reading him

Read him with the Bible open. His method was to pile up texts and dare the reader to check them. Check them.

Read him for the practice rather than the scheme. Where he gives numbered steps or conditions, take them as a searching of the heart, not as a formula that obliges God.

And read him on your knees. He believed that truth which did not lead to prayer and action had not yet done its work. Stop at the end of a chapter and do the next thing he tells you, or pray instead of reading on.

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 TIMOTHY 2:15