Christian History Home > Issue 89 > A Pen in God's Hand
A Pen in God's Hand
Richard Baxter wrote, preached, taught, and visited his way to become the model pastor.
Paul C. H. Lim | posted 1/01/2006 12:00AM
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The Prototypical Evangelical? Historians David Bebbington, Mark Noll, and George Rawlyk have identified four characteristic marks of "evangelicalism": a stress on conversion, a focus on Christ's redeeming work as the core of biblical Christianity, an acknowledgment of the Bible as the supreme authority, and an energetic and personal approach to social engagement and evangelism. According to Paul Lim, the life and ministry of Richard Baxter reveal all four of these qualities. Read more about this remarkable man.
On July 28, 1875, the town of Kidderminster in the English Midlands witnessed a rare moment of Christian unity. After over 200 years of deep Protestant divisions, clergy from all denominations came together for the unveiling and dedication of the statue of a Puritan preacher.
The inscription at the base of the statue read, "Between the years 1641 and 1660 this town was the scene of the labors of Richard Baxter, renowned equally for his Christian learning and his pastoral fidelity. In a stormy and divided age he advocated unity and comprehension, pointing the way to everlasting rest."
Baxter himself would have been pleased by the ecumenical spirit of the event. Refusing to be boxed into any party or sect, he called himself a "mere Christian"—a phrase that would influence C. S. Lewis centuries later—and spent his life trying to persuade his fellow Protestants to reconcile their doctrinal and political differences and work together towards holiness. "In necessary things, unity; in doubtful things, liberty; in all things, charity" was his motto.
By age 44, he was the most famous clergyman in England, known for completely transforming the town of Kidderminster and fostering cooperation between clergy. By his death in 1691 he had written over 130 books selling more copies than any other English writer of the time. This voluminous outpouring of pastoral and theological commentary earned him the nickname "scribbling Dick." Preaching and writing to awaken dulled consciences, comfort the afflicted, and point people to the rest found only in Christ, he was a hero for many Puritans.
When George Whitefield visited Kidderminster 50 years after Baxter's death, he commented, "I was greatly refreshed to find what a sweet savour of good Mr. Baxter's doctrine, works and discipline remained unto this day." And the legacy continues. Baxter's bestseller The Saints' Everlasting Rest is a classic in devotional literature. His autobiography remains one of the most trusted historical sources for understanding the religious and political culture of 17th-century England. His handbook for pastoral ministry, The Reformed Pastor, influenced preachers like Charles and John Wesley and Charles Haddon Spurgeon—who had his wife read it aloud on Sunday evenings to "quicken my sluggish heart."
A Shropshire lad
Richard Baxter was born on November 12, 1616, the only child of a landowner in Shropshire, England. His hometown of Rowton was spiritually sleepy and in need of what Patrick Collinson calls "a hotter sort of Protestants." The 80-year-old pastor never preached. Baxter was confirmed at age 15 without ever being asked to recite the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, or the Ten Commandments. Already winds of discontent were stirring that would provide the stormy religious background to the English Civil War. James I had just decreed that popular games could be played on Sundays, and Baxter recalled how after church the sounds of uproarious dancing around a maypole and the loud music of the tabor and pipe outside the window disrupted the family's devotions.
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