In pursuit of purity, unity, and liberty : Richard Baxter's Puritan ecclesiology in its seventeenth-century context / by Paul Chang-Ha Lim.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lim, Paul Chang-Ha.

Series:

Studies in the history of Christian traditions 0081-8607 ; v. 112.

Studies in the history of Christian traditions, 0081-8607 ; v. 112

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Baxter, Richard, 1615-1691.

Baxter, Richard.

Church--History of doctrines--17th century.

Church.

Church--History of doctrines.

Physical Description:

xix, 263 pages ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2004.

Summary:

This contextualised study illuminates the oft-misunderstood aspects of Richard Baxter's ecclesiology: purity, unity, and liberty. In doing so, it sheds further light on the nature of seventeenth-century English Puritanism, and the quest for the true church and the corresponding conflicts between the Laudians and Puritans.

Contents:

I. Works of Baxter ix

II. Journals, Monographs, Reference Works, and Miscellania xii

Chapter 1 Historiographical Introduction, Methodology, and Structure 1

I. Another Work on Baxter? Historiographical Justification 1

II. Methodology and Structure 14

Part I Reforming the Notae Ecclesiae

Chapter 2 Conversion and Catechizing: Preaching and Reform of the True Church 23

II. Preaching: Definition and Significance in Baxter 27

III. Conversionism, Modified Preparationism, and Plain Style 28

IV. Catechizing: A Necessary Supplement to Preaching 44

Chapter 3 Reforming the Entrance into the Visible Church: Baptism and Confirmation 53

II. Modern Historiography on Baxter's Baptismal Thought 56

III. Context of Baxter's Emerging Baptismal Thought 57

IV. Theological Considerations in Baxter's Baptismal Thought 60

V. Revitalized Confirmation: The "Perfecting" of Infant Baptism and Covenant Renewal 73

Chapter 4 Between Holy Fast and Unholy Feast: Baxter's Eucharistic Thought in Context 84

II. The Puritan Context of the Struggle for the Purity of the Lord's Supper 86

III. Baxter's Eucharistic Theology and the Question of Open Admission 88

IV. Preparation, Assurance, and the Communion of Saints 96

V. On Reforming Primitive Pastoral Discipline 103

Part II Unity, Purity, and Liberty Pursued

Chapter 5 The Pursuit of Purity in Unity: The Worcestershire Association and the Rhetoric of Partial Conformity 117

I. Introduction: Historical and Historiographical 117

II. Pursuing Purity without Separatism: A Puritan Dilemma 120

III. The Worcestershire Association: Its Genesis and Activity for the Pursuit of Purity in Unity in the Context of Religious Radicalism in the 1650s 123

IV. Purity Perfected and Anti-Popery Continued: The Quaker Threat and Baxter's Interpretation of the Proliferation of Sects 138

V. Occasional Communion and the Limits of Non-Conformity 144

Chapter 6 Sola Scriptura, Socinianism, Antinomianism, and Doctrinal Unity in Primitive Purity 156

II. The Clash of 1654 and Its Theological Background 161

III. Baxter, Sola Scriptura, Socinianism, and the Problem of Primitive Purity 166

IV. Baxter's Theological Pedigree 173

V. John Owen and Richard Baxter: Common Puritan Past, Divergent Dissenting Future? 182

Chapter 7 In Pursuit of Liberty: The Grotian Religion and the "True" History of Puritanism 191

II. The Problem of the Grotian Religion: Liberty and Legitimacy of Reformed Ministry 195

III. The Quest for the "Right" History of the Puritans 212.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [231]-253) and indexes.

ISBN:

9004138129

OCLC:

53932713