S. P. Pittman (1876–1965)

Gospel preacher, song writer, and missionary to Japan.>br>
Samuel Parker Pittman was the second child of Joseph Aren and Annie Hardy Pittman. He was born on a farm in Haywood County, Tennessee, on February 28, 1876. In 1883 Brother Pittman's parents moved to Paducah, Kentucky, where he attended Professor J. Page Parker's Academy for two years. In 1885 his parents moved again to Ocala, Florida, where he studied music under his great-aunt until his entrance, at the age of sixteen, into the Nashville Bible School, now known as David Lipscomb College. About a year after Brother Pittman's arrival in Ocala, James A. Harding conducted a protracted meeting there and baptized him. At the Nashville Bible School Brother Pittman studied Latin, Bible, and Greek under Brother Harding and William and David Lipscomb. He graduated with the Bachelor of Expression degree from the Martyn College of Oratory, Washington, D. C., in 1897 and returned to teach in the Nashville Bible School. After twenty-seven years there he went to the University of Tennessee in 1924 and, in 1927, received his Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in English and a minor in Greek. He returned to the Bible School and taught there until 1946. On December 21, 1940, Brother Pittman and Mrs. Carrie Redden Wyatt, of Murray, Kentucky, were married at the home of E. H. Ijams, who was president of David Lipscomb College. They now reside just off the David Lipscomb College campus. Brother Pittman has given his time freely to the preaching of God's message, having preached in twenty-six states and the District of Columbia. His power lies in his knowledge of the Bible and in his ability to present the Christian fundamentals such as faith, humility, love, and brotherly kindness. In 1929 he went to Japan, teaching, encouraging, and edifying native and foreign Christian workers. Not only a great teacher and preacher, he is a writer and composer. Although not a voluminous writer, he has contributed to books and journals and has written several tracts including The Two Covenants and The Value of a Soul . As a composer he has had only one of his songs published, but has written several others, including hymns and college songs. Brother Pittman's twinkling eyes, warm heart, and greater interest in the inner man rather than the outer, 'have encouraged and aided many downhearted students. His honesty, courtesy, generosity, sympathy, and outstanding spirituality have endeared him to the hearts of all who know him. [The Minister's Monthly, December 1958].