ARTHUR MAXWELL
AUTHOR, PASTOR
Very few Christians ever have the opportunity to live out prophecy during their life. They either report on what has happened or speculate on what will be happening. Arthur Maxwell is unique in that he became somewhat of a folk hero during and after the blitzkreig of WW II. London was being bombed, and an invasion by the Nazis seemed imminent. Winston Churchill had given his famous speach "We'll fight them in the streets, on the beaches and in the alleys ..." During the darkest hours in England's history, Maxwell, editor of the Signs of the Times magazine declared that Hitler would not succeed in taking over Europe. Pointing to the prophecy of Daniel 2, Maxwell wrote that there would never be a fifth world empire, for God had spoken. The German army had rolled through France like a hot knife through butter and now sat less than twenty miles across the English Channel. Maxwell staked his reputation on God's prophetic word holding true. Author Mark Finley recounts the circumstances in his book on prophecy for the last days:"Hitler arrogantly believed he could conquer Europe with the strength of his armies. And during 1941 who would dare say he was wrong? His predictions of a united Europe under the Nazi regime seemed to be coming true. Who could dare to challenge his claim?One man did. Arthur S. Maxwell edited the Signs of the Times magazine during the 1940's. Through a series of editorials he forecast the downfall of Hitler and the failed unification of Europe based on a series of prophecies in the second chapter of the Book of Daniel. Maxwell was so confident that the prophet Daniel had it right that he featured Hitler's defeat even at the pinnacle of his power on the cover of his magazine. Some of Maxwell's colleagues cautioned him not to be so bold. But he believed God's words. He accepted God's words to the prophet Isaiah: "See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare: before they spring into being I announce them to you." (Is 42:9)[THE NEXT SUPERPOWER, Mark Finley, RHPA 2005]
Arthur Stanley Maxwell was born on January 14, 1896 in London, England, and passed to his rest on November 13, 1970 in Mountain View, CA, at 74 years old. In 1912 Arthur joined the canvassing work as one of the early student colporteurs. He rose to become editor of the Present Truth magazine, a post he held for sixteen years, then moved on to a similar posting as editor of Signs of the Times where he served faithfully for 34 years. In 1934, Maxwell's concern for religious freedom reached a climax in his appearance before the League of Nations to oppose proposed legislation that would have imposed great hardship on Sabbath keepers. Maxwell authored 112 books with circulation world-wide of well over 50 million copies in 27 languages. The most famous of these are the Uncle Arthur Bedtime and Bible Stories. Pastor Maxwell moved freely with governors, prime ministers and the highest clergy. The book Maxwell considered to be his major single volume is"Your Bible and You." Colporteurs used to include this book in their demonstrations (I still do), as it sums up the gospel perhaps better than any other single volume. He was father of 4 sons and two daughters, all whom later became writers.I recently met a non-Adventist mother who came out of her room with a personally addressed letter clutched affectionately in her hand, signed by "Uncle Arthur." She told me it was her prize possession and that it had meant so much to her that an important man such as Uncle Arthur would take the time to write a little girl.