Clarence Larkin was born in Pennsylvania in 1850 and was became a Christian at the age of 19. Initially he joined the Episcopal Church. He worked as a professional draftsman for a period and then became a teacher of the blind. He became a Baptist at the age of 32 and two years later ordained later ordained as a Baptist minister.
Clarence Larkin was not a premillennialist at the time of his ordination, but careful diligent study of the Scriptures correctly led him to adopt the premillennial position. Using his former drafting skills he began to make large wall charts for use in the pulpit, which in turn brought him two invitations to teach in two Bible schools. During this time he published a number of prophetical charts, which were widely circulated. He titled the charts that he used in the pulpit: Prophetic Truth.
During World War I he wrote his first book, which has become a Christian classic titled: Dispensational truth. It took him three years to design and draw the charts for the book. It was published in 1918 and even today is considered an integral part of any serious Bible student’s library. Some of the other books Reverend Larkin wrote are titled: Rightly Dividing the Word, The Book of Daniel, Spirit World, Second Coming of Christ.
During the last five years of his life, the demand for his books became so high that he had to give up his pastorate and spend all his time devoted to full-time writing. His books and charts are all considered Christian classics and have been immensely helpful to believers all over the world. Some of his work is available through public domain online libraries.
One cannot help but wonder if Clarence Larkin is able to watch from heaven’s mezzanine and realize the tremendous benefits his work brought to Christianity through his very thorough premillennial teachings. Clarence Larkin, a very unique and greatly gifted individual was called to be with the Lord on January 24, 1924. We imagine his service to the Lord during the millennial kingdom should prove to be very interesting.