He was born in London and educated at the City of London School and at St John's College, Cambridge,[2] where he took the highest honours of his class in classics, mathematics and theology, and became a fellow of his college.

Abbott's open-minded inclinations in theology were prominent both in his educational views and in his books.

His theological writings include three anonymously published religious romances – Philochristus (1878), where he tried to raise interest in Gospels reading, Onesimus (1882), and Silanus the Christian (1908).

[4] More weighty contributions are the anonymous theological discussion The Kernel and the Husk (1886), Philomythus (1891), his book The Anglican Career of Cardinal Newman (1892), and his article "The Gospels" in the ninth edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, embodying a critical view which caused considerable stir in the English theological world.

[6] Many works have been inspired by the novella, including novel sequels and short films.