Ministry, reform and the religious press
Stockman was born in Poland, Maine, in 1821. He entered the Methodist ministry around 1841 and accepted William Miller’s teaching about Christ’s return. His older brother Levi was also a Methodist minister and Millerite. Edward later became a Free Will Baptist before joining the Advent Christians.
He also took part in the antislavery movement. Contemporary notices identify him as a lecturer for the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society in the 1850s. After the Civil War he supported the education of formerly enslaved people and was among the original incorporators of Storer College at Harpers Ferry. His later years included work on the Boston Advent Christian newspaper The World’s Crisis, first as assistant editor and then as editor. He died in Chelsea, Massachusetts, in 1901.
Angels in scripture and daily life
Foot-Prints of Angels in Fields of Revelation appeared through the Advent Christian Publication Society in 1890. In its preface Stockman explained that he wanted to show the relationship of angels to human life and redemption through scripture, rather than offer a scientific account of their nature. The introduction was supplied by W. H. Mitchell, whose words of recommendation should be distinguished from Stockman’s own text.
The book follows angelic activity through biblical history, the life of Jesus and the Christian expectation of his return. Stockman understood angels as created beings distinct from deceased humans. He assigned them work chiefly with bodies, events and the material world. The Holy Spirit, he wrote, worked especially within thought and conscience, while also possessing power over the physical world. This distinction let him describe several kinds of divine agency without treating angels and the Spirit as interchangeable.
