Arthur Wallis was the son of 'Captain' Reginald and Mary Wallis. He attended
Monkton Combe School, near
Bath, Somerset, before going on to
Sandhurst and wartime service in the
Royal Tank Regiment. He was wounded at the
Anzio Bridgehead, an event that led him to question the compatibility of his army service with his sense of calling to Christian ministry. After the war, Wallis married Eileen Hemingway in 1949, and the couple had one son. From a
Plymouth Brethren background, Wallis came into the experience of the "
baptism with the Holy Spirit" in 1951, within a few weeks of his lifelong friend, the former
Southampton City Missioner, Oscar Penhearow. Following in his father's footsteps, Wallis then embarked on an itinerant preaching and teaching ministry, with a particular emphasis on
revival, prayer, the work of the
Holy Spirit, and the 'restoration' of the church. He had been affected by accounts of the Revival that took place on the
Isle of Lewis in 1949 which he visited. His book
In the Day of Thy Power (Christian Literature Crusade: 1956) was the result of this visit and his subsequent studies. He wrote eleven books on themes promoting the Christian life, and travelled widely (in particular to the US, Australia and New Zealand). For much of his life Wallis lived in
Talaton in Devon, moving in the last decade of his life, first to
Yorkshire to join Bryn Jones' Covenant Ministries, and later in 1981 to Southampton to be part of the leadership of the Community Church, Southampton. His book, ''God's Chosen Fast
(Kingsway: 1968) is an acknowledged classic on the topic of fasting, whilst his book The Radical Christian'' (Kingsway: 1981) calls the Christian to live the life of Jesus.
Baptism in the Holy Spirit Stanley Jebb records in
Arthur Wallis: A Tribute, that when asked, 'Why is there no exhortation in the
epistles to get baptised in the Holy Spirit?' he replied, 'For the same reason there is no exhortation to get baptised in water: the recipients of the letters had received both water and Holy Spirit baptism already.'
Fasting He wrote a book on fasting called ''God's Chosen Fast''. This work has been referred to by the pastor
John Piper.
Role of women In an article in
Restoration magazine entitles
Women in the Plan of God he wrote "The church and the world has yet to feel the impact of modern
Priscillas and
Phoebes, moving under the heavenly anointing and yet within the divine order." ==Personal life==