John Gifford Bellet

John Gifford Bellet (1795–1864) was an Irish Christian writer and theologian, and was influential in the beginning of the Plymouth Brethren movement.

Life

Bellet was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1795. He was educated first at the Grammar School in Exeter, England then in London, and afterwards attended Trinity College Dublin, where he excelled in Classics^[1].

It was in Dublin that, as a layman, he first became acquainted with John Nelson Darby, then a minister in the established Church of Ireland, and in 1828 the pair began meeting with others such as Edward Cronin and Francis Hutchinson for communion and prayer.^[2]

Bellet had become a Christian in his adolescence and by 1827 was a layman serving the Church. In a letter[1] to James McAllister, written in 1858, he describes the episcopal charge of William Magee, Archbishop of Dublin, that sought for greater state protection for the Church. The Erastian nature of the charge offended Darby particularly but also many others including Bellet.^[3]

The pair bonded particularly over prophetic issues, and attended meetings and discussions together at the home of Lady Powerscourt, and Bellet and Darby (along with the brethren movement in particular) were particularly associated with dispensationalism and premillenialism.

Writing

Bellet wrote many articles and books on scriptural subjects, his most famous works being The Patriarchs, The Evangelists and The Minor Prophets.

Selected works

A substantial list of Bellet's works can be found via Stem Publishing[2]

• The Patriachs^[4]

• The Evangelists^[5]

• The Minor Prophets^[6]

• Short Meditations^[7]

External sources

• Collected writings of J.G. Bellet

• J.G. Bellet, 'The Memory of a Dearly Loved and Only Son'

• L. (Letty) M. Bellett, 'Recollections of the Late J.G. Bellet'
• Early Days of the Brethren Movement, a letter to James McAllister, June 7, 1858.

References