Robert Abbot () was an English

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

who promoted

puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...

doctrines. With a living at

Cranbrook, Kent Cranbrook is a town in the civil parish of Cranbrook and Sissinghurst, in the Weald of Kent in South East England. It lies roughly half-way between Maidstone and Hastings, about southeast of central London. The smaller settlements of Sissing ...

, he wrote anti-Catholic works and cultivated a local circle among the Kent gentry.

Biography

Robert Abbot received his education at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, and later at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. The details of Abbot's ecclesiastical career are somewhat unclear, and can only be pieced together from fragmentary evidence, but based on something he wrote in his work ''Bee Thankfull London and her Sisters'', it is probable that he began his church service with a posting as "assistant to a

reverend The Reverend is an style (manner of address), honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and Minister of religion, ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and c ...

divine". A note in the margin indicates that the priest in question was "Master Haiward of Wool Church", in

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

. In 1616 he was appointed by George Abbot to the vicarage of Cranbrook in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. His ministry at Cranbrook was regarded as successful, but he was noted for his lack of tolerance towards nonconformists. In 1643, Abbot left Cranbrook, becoming vicar of Southwick,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

. Later, he became pastor at the "extruded" Udall of St Austin's, in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, where he apparently still served in 1657. Between 1657 and 1658, and in 1662, Abbot appears to vanish from record, and his activities are unknown.

Written works

Robert Abbot's books are conspicuous amongst the works of his time by their terseness and variety. In addition to those mentioned above he wrote ''Triall of our Church-Forsakers'' (1639), ''Milk for Babes, or a Mother's Catechism for her Children'' (1646), and ''A Christian Family builded by God, or Directions for Governors of Families'' (1653).

Identification of father

Abbot is sometimes mistakenly described as the son of the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

of the same surname, George Abbot. The misunderstanding may stem from a passage in Robert Abbot's work ''A Hand of Fellowship to Helpe Keepe out Sinne and Antichrist'', in which he thanks the Archbishop for "worldly maintenance," "best earthly countenance" and "fatherly incouragements."

References

;Attribution * Cited authorities: **

Brook A brook is a small river or natural stream of fresh water. It may also refer to: Computing *Brook, a programming language for GPU programming based on C *Brook+, an explicit data-parallel C compiler *BrookGPU, a framework for GPGPU programming ...

's ''Puritans'', iii. 182, 3; ** John Walker's ''Sufferings'', ii.183; ** Anthony Wood's ''Athenae'' (editor

Philip Bliss Philip Paul Bliss (9 July 1838 – 29 December 1876) was an American composer, conductor, writer of hymns and a bass-baritone Gospel singer. He wrote many well-known hymns, including "Hold the Fort" (1870), "Almost Persuaded" (1871); "Hallelujah, ...

), i.323; **

Samuel Palmer Samuel Palmer Hon.RE (Hon. Fellow of the Society of Painter-Etchers) (27 January 180524 May 1881) was a British landscape painter, etcher and printmaker. He was also a prolific writer. Palmer was a key figure in Romanticism in Britain and p ...

's ''Nonconformist's Memorial'' ii. 218, which confuses him with one of the ejected ministers of 1662. {{DEFAULTSORT:Abbot, Robert 1580s births 1660s deaths English Christian theologians 17th-century English Puritan ministers 17th-century English theologians Alumni of the University of Oxford Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge English religious writers 17th-century English male writers People from Cranbrook, Kent