Tow was educated at the
Anglo-Chinese School. He was influenced first by
John Sung, and later by
Carl McIntire. He studied at
Faith Theological Seminary and was ordained in
Geneva in 1950 at a special meeting of the Philadelphia Presbytery of the
Bible Presbyterian Church. Tow returned to Singapore and became pastor of the Life Church English Service at "Say Mia Tng Teck Khah" or Life Church Teck Khah (located at 144 Prinsep Street) which was later renamed
Singapore Life Church. In 1955, he led a group out of the
Chinese Presbyterian Synod to form the
Bible-Presbyterian Church. Tow's congregation became known as
Life Bible-Presbyterian Church (Life BPC). He later returned to Faith Theological Seminary and completed a
Master of Sacred Theology degree. In 2003, Tow resigned from Life BPC and founded True Life Bible-Presbyterian Church. He had been criticized for holding to the doctrine of
Verbal Plenary Preservation (VPP) and, together with the other directors of the Far Eastern Bible College (FEBC), was sued in 2008 by Life BPC for teaching this doctrine in the Church's attempt to evict the College from the Gilstead Road premises which had been shared by the two institutions from the outset. However the Church failed as the
Court of Appeal of Singapore, the apex court in the Singapore legal system, ruled on 26 April 2011 that (i)“the VPP doctrine is actually closely related to the VPI doctrine which both parties [i.e., FEBC and Life BPC] adhere to,” (rejecting Life BPC’s contention in [59] of the Court of Appeal Judgement that it is “an entirely different creature from the VPI doctrine");” (ii) “the College, in adopting the VPP doctrine, has not deviated from the fundamental principles which guide and inform the work of the College right from its inception, and as expressed in the
Westminster Confession;” (iii) “[i]t is not inconsistent for a Christian who believes fully in the principles contained within the Westminster Confession (and the VPI [Verbal Plenary Inspiration] doctrine) to also subscribe to the VPP doctrine;” and (iv) “[i]n the absence of anything in the Westminster Confession that deals with the status of the apographs, we [the Court] hesitate to find that the verbal plenary preservation doctrine is a deviation from the principles contained within the Westminster Confession." ==Publications==