Richard Baxter

Life

Baxter was born in 1615 at Rowton in Shropshire, England. He did not attend university and was largely self-taught. In 1638 he was ordained in the Church of England by the Bishop of Worcester. He then worked as a schoolmaster in Dudley and as an assistant minister in Bridgnorth before moving to Kidderminster in 1641.

During the English Civil War (Puritan Revolution), he sided with Parliament and served as a chaplain in the Parliamentary army from 1645 to 1647. After the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, he became a royal chaplain to Charles II but declined the bishopric of Hereford. At the Savoy Conference of 1661, he represented the Presbyterian side in discussions on revising the Book of Common Prayer, but no agreement was reached. Shortly before the Act of Uniformity took effect in 1662, he left the ministry of the established church and became a Nonconformist. He continued to preach thereafter and was punished on several occasions. In 1685 he was tried on the charge of having slandered the Church of England in his paraphrase of the New Testament, and he remained in prison until late 1686. He died in London in 1691.

Ministry and Achievements

Baxter's ministry at Kidderminster is credited with transforming the religious life of the entire community. With the help of an assistant, he visited a number of households in turn each week, teaching doctrine in catechetical question-and-answer form. He drew on this experience in The Reformed Pastor (1656), a book commending the practice to fellow ministers. His many other works include The Saints' Everlasting Rest, A Call to the Unconverted, and A Christian Directory. He also left a posthumously published collection of autobiographical writings.

He sought reconciliation among the denominations and, rather than adopting a denominational label, called himself a "mere Christian."

Influence on the Korean Church

The Reformed Pastor has been translated into Korean, including an edition in the "World Christian Classics" series of CH Books (formerly Christian Digest). In Korea it is presented as a classic of practical theology, the theological discipline concerned with the practice of pastoral ministry. The Saints' Everlasting Rest and A Call to the Unconverted are also available in Korean. The household visitation and individual spiritual guidance that Baxter emphasized are similar in character to the Korean church's practice of pastoral visitation (simbang). The Reformed Pastor is also known to have been recommended by John Wesley, leader of the Methodist movement, and it is therefore read by both Presbyterians and Methodists.

Assessment

Baxter is regarded as a figure who sought reconciliation among the various Protestant parties. At the same time, he was drawn into nearly every major controversy of his day. Theologically, he held that Christ's atonement is open to all people. He also described the gospel as a "new law" given by God, and repentance and faith as obedience to this law. For this reason, strict Calvinists have criticized his understanding of justification as "neonomianism." He is also sometimes classified with Amyraldism (hypothetical universalism, a view named after the French theologian Moïse Amyraut). Some critics have also noted that his writing is verbose and prone to digression. Nevertheless, his writings on pastoral ministry and piety continue to be widely read today.