The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 4

VIII. Haskell-Father of Tract Societies and the Bible Work

The last to be named in this chapter is Stephen N. Haskell (1833-1922). ³³ He was born in Massachusetts and joined the Congregational Church in 1848. Only nineteen when he heard his first Adventist sermon in 1852, he was soon preaching the Adventist faith, supporting himself by manufacturing soap. And before long he had a company of believers ready for baptism. He was the father of the Tract and Missionary Societies, started in 1869, which later developed into multiplied thousands of local church literature bands. He was similarly responsible for systematic Bible studies and the launching of the Bible instructor work. He was ordained in 1870, and was a strong promoter of educational, health, and publishing institutions. He was president of the New England, Maine, and California conferences, and was a wise counselor. He was also the pioneer in the work of the church in Australia and New Zealand, England, and South Africa, and materially strengthened its missions by a tour of India, China, and other non-Christian lands in 1888-1889. PFF4 1107.2

He was the author of several works, particularly The Story of Daniel the Prophet and The Story of the Seer of Patmos, both in the field of prophecy, and The Cross and Its Shadow, on the sanctuary service. He also taught Bible at the Avondale College, in Australia. His interpretation of prophecy was conspicuously clear and simple. He was pre-eminently the teacher and preacher of the common man. His strength lay in presenting in elemental or popular form what others had dug out by scholarly research. So with his two books on prophecy. There was nothing new in his exposition, which accorded with the best interpretation in the Adventist ranks. PFF4 1108.1

Thus it was that the men surveyed in these last three chapters pondered the vastness of the plan of God revealed through Bible prophecy-its breadth and depth and height; its beauty, completeness, and winsome appeal. It filled their minds with awe and reverence, fortifying the soul, nerving the spirit, and putting unalterable purpose into their lives, which they dedicated without reserve to God and truth. It gave them a sense of insight into the lofty purpose of the Eternal, and the part they were destined to play in the final scenes of the divine drama of the ages. God was counting on them, they felt, to faithfully do their part. It was this consciousness of a mission for God that made them crusaders for a cause. PFF4 1108.2