Puritan · 1656

The Reformed Pastor

Richard Baxter (1615-1691)

A pastoral treatise written during Baxter's ministry at Kidderminster and based on his program of systematic personal instruction across every household in his parish. Baxter presses two arguments: ministers must first be genuinely converted and spiritually alive themselves before they can rightly shepherd others, and Sunday preaching is not enough without the direct personal examination and instruction of every soul in their care. The book has shaped Reformed ideals of the pastoral office for nearly four centuries.