Thursday, November 12, 2015

A 400th Birthday

Today marks the 400th birthday of Richard Baxter. I know his systematic theology was a very modern mish-mash of much error. His practical writings, however, are hard to beat for comprehensive, searching - very practical teaching. He doesn't leave stones unturned when he considers our thought life, the use of the tongue, domestic relation and much more. The Practical Works are thousands of pages long, but worth any time you can spend in them.

If you haven't tried him before and want somewhere simple to start - perhaps try here.

When I was a student, I found Baxter's directions about how to spend the day with God so useful that I simplified the language. It's here.

As he put it himself - "let the holy scriptures ever have the pre-eminence, and, next to them, those solid, lively, heavenly treatises which best expound and apply the scriptures, and next, credible histories, especially of the Church . . . but take heed of false teachers who would corrupt your understandings."