The Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 2

IV. Hastings-Virile American Exponent of Conditionalism

One prominent Advent Christian publisher and writer was HORACE, L. HASTINGS (1831-1899), editor, author, lecturer, and preacher. He was preceded by four successive generations of preachers. He began to preach when he was only eighteen, following in his Methodist preacher-father’s footsteps. He was a prodigious reader and diligent student. With an urge to write, and interested in the nature and destiny of man, he soon produced such tracts as Future Punishment; Intermediate State; Destiny of the Wicked; Will All Men Be Saved? They were well received because Hastings was a clear, forceful, and fearless writer, and hundreds of thousands of copies were circulated. Hastings’ major work was his Pauline Theology, or The Christian Doctrine of Future Punishment marcusstop (1853). Other titles were The Old Paths; or, the Primitive Doctrine of the Future Life (1855), and Retribution, or The Doom of the Ungodly, after the Resurrection of the Dead, Just and Unjust. On all counts he was a strong contender for Conditionalism. (Pictured on page 650.) CFF2 654.2

In 1860 Hastings was elected president of the Advent Christian Publication Society. He acknowledged no denominational name but “Christian.” His motto was “No creed but the Bible, no master but Christ, no name but Christian.” In 1865 he established the Scriptural Tract Repository, and started a monthly called The Christian, which attained a circulation of thirty-five thousand. He issued an enormous number of papers, tracts, and books, utilizing, it is said, a total of some eight hundred tons of paper in the process. ² CFF2 655.1

Another major Hastings interest was in the field of Christian evidences, in which he conducted an intensive campaign with anti-infidel literature, and through preaching on Boston Commons. Pursuant to his work, he traveled and preached widely in different lands. His most noted booklet was The Inspiration of the Bible, or Will the Old Book Stand? nearly three million copies having been issued up to 1898. It was translated into eighteen or so languages. ³ Hastings was an effective publisher of Conditionalist literature. CFF2 655.2