Excerpt from Rich; Baxters Apology Against the Modest Exceptions of Mr. T. Blake, and the Digression of Mr. G. Kendall
For my part, I commend their zeal againfi Errour, fo it be Errour indeed, and fo they will moderate it with Charity and Humility. I am as firongly perfwaded that its the Diffenters that erre, as they are that its I. And were they as zealous againfi Errour indeed, I think I might have fpared the labour of fuch Writings as thefe. Bu: I remember how they reprehended 'bearm Rhennnm for his fu pofed coveteoufnefs, Bentue cflbeutue uttumenfiei. So are fuch Brethren charitable, fibi e fun. And all this comes a findio pur tium, and becaufe the Doetrine of the Unity of Chrifis Body, and the Communion of Saints (as Saints) is n0t reduced to praetice; and we love nor men fo much for being of the fame Body, as for being of the fame Side or Party with us; nor for being in the fame Chrifi as for being of the fame, Opinion. If he that knows Chrifi knows all things; and if Interefi in Chrifi alone be enough to make us Happy; then is it enough to make our Brother Arniable though [till we may be allowed, the diflike of his faults.
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He wrote 168 or so separate works -- such treatises as the Christian Directory, the Methodus Theologiae Christianae, and the Catholic Theology, might each have represented the life's work of an ordinary man. His Breviate of the Life of Mrs Margaret Baxter records the virtues of his wife, and reveals Baxter's tenderness of nature. Without doubt, however, his most famous and enduring contribution to Christian literature was a devotional work published in 1658 under the title Call to the Unconverted to Turn and Live. This slim volume was credited with the conversion of thousands and formed one of the core extra-biblical texts of evangelicalism until at least the middle of the nineteenth century.
Richard Baxter was ordained into the Church of England, 1638, but in two years allied with Puritans opposed to the episcopacy of his church. At Kidderminster (1641-60) he made the church a model parish. The church was enlarged to hold the crowds. Pastoral counseling was as important as preaching, and his program for his parish was a pattern for many other ministers. Baxter played an ameliorative role during the English Civil Wars.
He was a chaplain in the parliamentary army but then helped to restore the king (1660). After the establishment of the monarchy, he fought for toleration of moderate dissent in the Church of England. Persecuted for more than 20 years and was imprisoned (1685) for 18 months, the Revolution of 1688, replacing James II with William and Mary, brought about an Act of Toleration that freed Baxter to express his opinions.
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