A Victorian dissenter : Robert Govett and the doctrine of Millennial Reward

Abstract

This thesis centers on Robert Govett (1813-1901), an English dissenting clergyman and author who wrote as a scholar of biblical prophecy, primarily on the subject of the “exclusion” of believers in the Millennial Kingdom, an idea of which he conceived. No similar study of Govett has ever been undertaken. My purpose in writing this thesis has been threefold; (1) to describe Govett, his life, and his printed work to those with a scholarly interest in the history of religious thought in the Victorian era; (2) to analyze Govett’s eschatological beliefs, especially those he originated; and (3) to investigate why a theologian widely respected within the English evangelical community, and who had published over one hundred and eighty books and tracts, disappeared from this community’s print culture early in the twentieth century.