Richard Baxter

The English theologian, pastor, and Nonconformist Richard Baxter (1615-1691) was an advocate of ecumenism and the author of more than 160 books.

The only son of a gentleman of "competent estate, " Richard Baxter was born in Rowton, Shropshire, on Nov. 12, 1615, and was largely self-educated "out of books" with the "inconsiderable help of country tutors." After "it pleased God to awaken" his soul at age 15, he studied theology. Ordained in the Anglican ministry in 1638, 2 years later he began assisting the vicar in Kidderminster, Worcestershire. During the Puritan Revolution he served as a regimental chaplain, but 2 years of campaigning broke his ever-precarious health. Convalescing in 1647 he wrote The Saints' Everlasting Rest (1650), a huge tome which comforts the afflicted and reflects on life here and hereafter.

Although ordained in the Church of England, Baxter objected to its "diocesan episcopacy, " whereby a bishop's authority extended over a diocese containing many parish churches. This, he believed, was contrary to what was practiced in the early ages of Christianity. In his view the rector of every parish ought to be a bishop, and no bishop could validly exercise authority over more than one established congregation.

Baxter resumed his pastoral work at Kidderminster. His "awakening ministry, " "moving voice, " handsome features, and sincerity built up a tremendous congregation. He continued to write prolifically; his writings, while often diffuse and digressive, are forceful, rational, and well informed. He began a series of ecumenical works in which he advocated the "True Catholicism" of a broad, universal Christian church. The Reformed Pastor (1656) and A Call for the Unconverted (1657) were popular and influential.

In A Holy Commonwealth (1659) Baxter defended monarchy as the best form of government—but only if the king subordinated himself to the law of "God, the Universal Monarch." In 1660 Baxter was summoned to London to cooperate in plans to restore the monarchy. He worked for a Restoration Church of England which would be moderately episcopalian, including Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and moderate Baptists not as sects but as members of one mutually acceptable catholic body. But the Anglican hierarchy vehemently opposed this plan, and Baxter and others of like mind were forced into Nonconformity. Stringent laws ousted more than 2000 ministers, denying them the right to preach. Baxter, like John Bunyan, was ruthlessly persecuted. Under James II he was imprisoned for more than a year because he had allegedly attacked church and state covertly in his Paraphrase of the New Testament (1684).

Baxter's sufferings had been mitigated by marriage in 1662 to a woman 20 years his junior. Despite their differences of age and temperament, they found ideal companionship. She died in 1681, and he lovingly memorialized her "cheerful, wise, and very useful life."

Among Baxter's major works were Methodus theologiae (1665), Reason for the Christian Religion (1667), The Christian Directory (1673), Catholick Theology (1675), A Treatise of Episcopacy (1681), and his autobiography, Reliquiae Baxterianae (1696).

Baxter died on Dec. 8, 1691. He was too outspoken and intense to succeed in his own time as a "reconciler." But if he had been heeded, the split between Anglicanism and Dissent, which has sullied British Christianity and is being healed only today, would have been avoided.

Further Reading

A study of Baxter should begin with The Autobiography of Richard Baxter, edited by J.M. Lloyd Thomas (1925; new ed. 1931), followed by F.J. Powicke, A Life of the Reverend Richard Baxter (1924). Hugh Martin, Puritanism and Richard Baxter (1954), untangles 17th-century politics and theology and provides basic bibliographical guidance. Richard Schlatter, ed., Richard Baxter and Puritan Politics (1957), admirably treats A Holy Commonwealth and related works. For the religious context see Irvonwy Morgan, The Nonconformity of Richard Baxter (1946).

Additional Sources

Baxter, Richard, The autobiography of Richard Baxter, London, Dent; Totowa, N.J., Rowman & Littlefield 1974. □

Richard Baxter 1615–91, English nonconformist clergyman. Ordained in 1638, he began his ministry at Kidderminster in 1641. He sided with Parliament when the civil war broke out and served (1645–47) as a chaplain in Cromwell's army, where he urged moderation in both religious and political opinions. At the Restoration, Baxter was chosen by Charles II as one of the royal chaplains. He took a leading part at the Savoy Conference (1661), where he tried to provide means that would permit moderate dissenters to stay in the Church of England. He declined an offer of the bishopric of Hereford, and with the passage of the Act of Uniformity (1662) he left the Church of England. Despite the persecution of nonconformist ministers, Baxter continued to preach; his followers were known as Baxterians. After a trial conducted with great brutality by Judge Jeffreys, he was imprisoned for 18 months on the charge of having libeled the Church of England in his Paraphrase of the New Testament (1685). Among Baxter's voluminous works are The Saints' Everlasting Rest (1650), Gildas Salvianus, the Reformed Pastor (1656), and A Call to the Unconverted (1657). His autobiographical Reliquae Baxterianae (1696) was edited (1925) by J. M. L. Thomas.

Bibliography: See N. H. Keeble, Richard Baxter: Puritan Man of Letters (1982).

Baxter, Richard (1615–91), Puritan. He was ordained in 1638 but in 1640 rejected belief in episcopacy in its current English form. In 1641 he became curate to the incumbent of Kidderminster; he laboured here until 1660, largely ignoring denominational distinctions. Early in the Civil War he temporarily joined the Parliamentary Army; after leaving it in 1647, he wrote his devotional classic, The Saints' Everlasting Rest (1650). He took part in the recall of Charles II in 1660, but declined to accept the bishopric of Hereford. He was then not permitted to return to Kidderminster or hold any living. At the Savoy Conference he presented the Exceptions to the BCP. Between 1662 and 1687 he suffered persecution. He left nearly 200 writings. They breathe a spirit of unaffected piety and reflect his love of moderation. His hymns include ‘Ye holy angels bright’. In CW, feast day, 14 June.

Baxter, Richard (1615–91). Puritan writer and theologian. Shropshire born and largely self-educated, Baxter was influenced by two Nonconformist preachers, Joseph Symons and Walter Craddock. Ordained deacon in 1638 by the bishop of Worcester, he served as curate at Kidderminster. At the Restoration he refused the bishopric of Hereford, taking his place with other ejected Nonconformists. His total literary output of 141 books and pamphlets includes such outstanding works as The Saints’ Everlasting Rest (1650) and Gildas Salvianus: The Reformed Pastor (1656). His lengthy autobiography, Reliquiae Baxterianae, was edited by Matthew Sylvester and published posthumously in 1696. Some of his hymns are still in use (e.g. ‘Ye holy angels bright’).

Baxter, Richard (1615–91), a Presbyterian divine who sided with Parliament and was a military chaplain during the Civil War. His The Saint's Everlasting Rest (1650) and Call to the Unconverted (1657) played an important part in the Evangelical tradition in England and America. Fined and imprisoned after the Act of Uniformity under both Charles II and James II for his Nonconformist preaching, he shared his sufferings with his young wife ‘who cheerfully went with me into prison’. In her memory he wrote Breviate of the Life of Margaret Charlton (1681). Baxter was fined by Judge Jeffreys on the charge of libelling the Church in his Paraphrase of the New Testament (1685).

Baxter, Richard (1615–91) English Puritan minister. He was ordained as an Anglican clergyman, but rejected belief in episcopacy and became a NONCONFORMIST. In 1645 he became chaplain to a ROUNDHEAD regiment. He published the first of some 150 pamphlets in 1649 and in 1650 The Saints' Everlasting Rest, an important devotional work. During the Commonwealth period, his appeals for tolerance did not succeed. At the Restoration he became a royal chaplain but refused a bishopric. The 1662 Act of Uniformity forced his resignation, and in about 1673 he took out a licence as a Nonconformist minister. In 1685 he was imprisoned and fined by Judge JEFFREYS for ‘libelling the Church’.