This is a biographical study which surveys the life and career of Boston Baptist Adoniram Judson Gordon (1836-1895) and examines pre-millennialism as his motivation and source of his theological understanding. The study examines a moderate Calvinistic Baptist, tracing his theological development and analyzing his embrace of pre-millennialism and its substantial impact on his pastorate, denominational work, relationships, and enterprises. Gordon's significant role in the shaping of late nineteenth-century North American Evangelical Protestant Christianity is demonstrated in this biography.

The New England Watch and Ward Society provides a new window into the history of American Protestantism during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. By suppressing obscene literature, gambling, and prostitution, the moral reform organization embodied Protestant efforts to shape public morality in an increasing intellectually and culturally diverse society.