Richard Baxter

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 divine. A Shropshireman, Baxter was educated locally and became master of Bridgnorth Grammar School (1638). Contact with nonconformists, however, sowed doubts about Anglicanism and episcopacy. After a spell as vicar of Kidderminster (1642) and parliamentary army chaplain, he became disillusioned by both sides in the Civil War. In 1660 he welcomed Charles II back, but his inflexibility at the Savoy conference helped its breakdown. After refusing the See of Hereford, he preached in London until ejected after the Act of Uniformity (1662). Having helped overthrow James II, he welcomed William and Mary.

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’).