“Of all preaching in the world, (that speaks not stark lies,) I hate that preaching which tendeth to make the hearers laugh, or to move their mind with tickling levity, and affect them as stage-players use to do, instead of affecting them with a holy reverence of the name of God.” ― Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor.
Richard Baxter (1615-1691) has been recognized as being gifted with a pastoral heart. He labored for nearly twenty years as a pastor in Kidderminster, and historians note that his efforts were so effective that nearly everyone in the town was converted. Baxter’s philosophy of ministry and how to council congregants were recorded in his classic book, which is often recommended reading for seminaries, The Reformed Pastor.
Baxter was born in Rowtown, England. His family life was dysfunctional, his father was a gambler with large amounts of debt, and his mother was constantly ill. This resulted in Baxter being sent to live with his grandparents for the first ten years of his life. During that time he started to read books. At the age of ten, he returned home because his father was converted by the reading of the Scriptures. Baxter was grateful for his father because God used him as an instrument to convict him of sin and live for Christ. His education was largely informal and he particularly had a fondness for reading the Puritans, William Perkins, Richard Sibbes, and Ezekiel Culverwell. Eventually, he attended formal education at Wroxeter Grammar School. He received financial aid and was tutored by John Owen. After this, he was persuaded by Owen to forego university and pursue studies privately for the ministry and come under the mentorship of other men.
In 1638, he was an ordained minister in the Church of England and served as a schoolmaster in Dudley. After about two years, he left the Church of England to ally himself with the Puritans, which forced his move to Kidderminster. Historians note that Baxter was known as a forceful preacher who did not shy away from church discipline and controlled the Lord’s Supper. While this may seem harsh to modern readers, it is important to know that Baxter held a high view of church and her purity. During England’s Civil War, Baxter served as a chaplain for Cromwell’s army and even preached before him. Chaplaincy proved to be a fruitful ministry where he could implement his philosophy of ministry to soldiers and learn more doctrine. In 1647, Baxter had to leave his post as a chaplain due to a serious illness and as a result, he devoted more time and energy to his ministry in Kidderminster.
In 1662, due to the Act of Uniformity, Baxter (nearly fifty years old) was removed from his church. Around that same time, he married a young woman by the name of Margaret Charlton. Baxter found great comfort in his wife, who helped him in his ministry with areas of counseling, excepting confidential matters. Eventually, the Baxters moved to London and in that season he was imprisoned at least three times for preaching without a license (consequently, he never took up the pastoral calling again), and his books were taken from him. In 1685 when James II took the throne, Baxter was accused by the Chief Justice of teaching false doctrines and so should be hanged. Baxter was spared from hanging but was sentenced to five months in prison. The implementation of the Toleration Act of 1689 freed Baxter from many of his trials, which allowed him to focus on his writing.
Scholars note that Baxter was a “hardworking” minister who persevered through not only many trials but also illnesses (chronic pain and tuberculosis). By the time of his death, he had a library of over 150 treatises and countless letters and papers.
Puritan Scholar Joel Beeke notes that Richard Baxter’s theology was a “strange theological mix.” He had unusual views regarding salvation and atonement. However, this should not discourage someone from reading Baxter, specifically his devotional writings in which he encourages one’s personal holiness and sanctification. In these writings, his theology and his theological convictions are largely absent.
“All the longer your delay, the more your sin gets strength and rooting. If you cannot bend a twig, how will you be able to bend it when it is a tree?” – Richard Baxter
Recommended readings would be Richard Baxter’s sermon on Anger and his two most famous writings The Reformed Pastor and The Saint’s Everlasting Rest.