The English theologian, pastor, and Nonconformist Richard Baxter (1615-1691) has been an advocate of ecumenism and also the author of over 160 books. The only son of a gentleman of"qualified real estate," Richard Baxter was created in Rowton, Shropshire, on Nov. 12, 1615, and has been mostly self-educated"from novels" with the"inconsiderable help of state tutors." After"it pleased God to wake" his spirit at age 15, he studied theology. Ordained at the ministry at 1638, 2 decades after he started assisting the vicar at Kidderminster, Worcestershire. Throughout the Puritan Revolution he served as a regimental chaplain, but two decades of campaigning struck his ever-precarious wellbeing. Convalescing at 1647 he composed The Saints' Everlasting Rest (1650), a enormous tome that comforts the afflicted and reflects life here and hereafter. Although ordained in the Church of England, Baxter flocked to a"diocesan episcopacy," where a bishop's authority extended over a diocese comprising many parish churches. This, he thought, was contrary to that which was practiced at the first ages of Christianity. In his opinion the rector of each parish should become a bishop, and no bishop could validly exercise jurisdiction over more than a recognized congregation. Baxter's sufferings were mitigated by union in 1662 to a woman 20 years his junior. Regardless of their differences of age and character, they discovered perfect companionship. She died in 1681, and he memorialized her"cheerful, shrewd, and incredibly handy life"
In 1660 Baxter was summoned to London to collaborate in strategies to restore the monarchy. He worked for a Restoration Church of England which could be reasonably episcopalian, such as Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and medium Baptists less sects but as members of a mutually acceptable body. Nevertheless, the Anglican hierarchy compared this strategy, and Baxter and many others of like mind were pressured into Nonconformity. Baxter, such as John Bunyan, was ruthlessly persecuted. Under James II he had been imprisoned for at least a year since he had assaulted church and say in his Paraphrase of the New Testament (1684). His"awakening ministry,""shifting voice," handsome features, and sincerity built a huge congregation. He continued to compose prolifically; his writings, although frequently diffuse and digressive, are strong, honest, and well educated. He started a series of ecumenical functions where he urged that the"True Catholicism" of a wide, universal Christian church. The Reformed Pastor (1656) and also A Phone for the Unconverted (1657) were more popular and powerful. He had been too outspoken and extreme to be successful in his time as a"reconciler." However, if he was heeded, the divide between Anglicanism and Dissent, that has sullied British Christianity and has been cured only now, could have been prevented.
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