Baxter, Richard. - English Protestant theologian, b. at Rovton in 1615, d. in 1691. He was ordained an Anglican minister in 1638, but did not abandon the nonconformist doctrines of his family. From 1641 to 1662 he was pastor at Kidderminster, where he worked so fruitfully as to transform that village. Despite his nonconformist ideas, he celebrated the restoration of the monarchy. He was named chaplain to King Charles II (1660-85), and indeed in 1660 he was offered the episcopal see of Hereford, which he did not accept. The following year he took part in the conference held at the Savoy Palace for the revision of the *Prayer Book*. In 1662, having refused to adhere to the "Uniformity Act," by which all Anglican ministers were required to conform to the new *Prayer Book*, he was deprived of his parish at Kidderminster and suffered many persecutions. With the accession to the throne of King William III in 1688, his troubles ended, and when he died, the nonconformists mourned one of their principal leaders. Baxter’s literary activity was incredible.
His important *Practical Works* alone form 4 volumes in-folio; they were later reprinted in 23 volumes in 8vo and constitute an important collection of casuistry, polemics, and positive and moral theology. He also gained much fame from his treatise on *The Eternal Dwelling of the Saints* (vols. 22 and 23), much of which was suppressed in all editions printed after the Restoration because he had placed among the blessed certain deceased persons who were opposed to the monarchy. The doctrine known as Baxterian taught that common grace is given to all, but it needs another special grace to be effective for salvation: election and reprobation should not be attributed in the same way to God, who elects, but one cannot impute to Him the sin that produces reprobation; Christ died for all and for this reason an invitation is made to all, but not in the same way. As can be seen, Baxter departed from Calvinist doctrine on this point, though in others he clearly professed II. Almost foreseeing the efforts that centuries later would be made for the union of the Churches, Baxter wrote: *The True and Only Way of Concord of all the Christian Churches* (London 1680). In his view, the first condition would be to know the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Decalogue. In the united Church, civil magistrates would determine which religions should be approved, which tolerated or rejected; only ecclesiastics (bishops or simple ministers) would ordain candidates, and individual communities would choose their own pastors, etc. Among Baxter’s manifold writings there are some that are strongly anti-Catholic. Baxterianism had many opponents; one of these, Thomas Edwards, did not hesitate to print on the title page of his book, *Baxterianism Unmasked*, the following couplet: “Fronte in apparenza mite, ma veleno nel ventre; e sotto il miele, veleni nascosti mescolati.”