Christian History

Richard Baxter and His Times

Church History

Richard Baxter’s theological, philosophical, and apologetical works have been neglected in favour of his devotional works. Yet this learned polymath engaged the best scientists, philosophers, theologians, and lawyers of his day. This class will examine Baxter’s defense of the Christian faith, his philosophy of the immortality of the soul, his peculiar exposition of the doctrine of justification, and more.

Taught by Dr. Michael Lynch.

Runs 1/10-3/19/22.

Auditing: participate in readings and live class sessions, but no graded assignments and no course credit
Full course part-time: individual classes on a for-credit basis; you can later apply them toward a Certificate or Degree
Full course full-time: for-credit courses (at least four per term) toward our Certificate or M.Litt in Classical Protestantism

Description

This Church History course is taught by Dr. Michael Lynch, and will run from January 10th through March 19th 2022. The syllabus is available here.

Above all else, the Puritan Richard Baxter (1615-1691) is known for his classic pastoral manual The Reformed Pastor – a work of great spiritual and practical depth, influential on generations of ministers.

And yet there is much more to Baxter than his pastoral and devotional work. He was a towering intellect, and produced theological, philosophical, and apologetical works which have been long neglected. A learned polymath, he engaged the best scientists, philosophers, theologians, and lawyers of his day. What’s more, he lived and ministered during the political turmoil of both the English Civil War, the Cromwell era, and the Restoration, and was never fully in harmony with either Royalists or Parliamentarians.

This class will examine the Baxter’s neglected defenses of the Christian faith, his philosophy of the immortality of the soul, his peculiar exposition of the doctrine of justification, and more.

Dr. Michael Lynch (Ph.D, Calvin Seminary) teaches Humanities, Theology, Latin, and Greek at Delaware Valley Classical School in New Castle, DE. He is the author of John Davenant’s Hypothetical Universalism: A Defense of Catholic and Reformed Orthodoxy.

Online only, runs 10 weeks, meeting 2 hrs./wk. via Zoom. Students will also have the option for class discussion in the Davenant Common Room Discord server. Register to reserve your spot and schedule will be set after a poll of participating students; if the class time does not fit your schedule, you will be eligible for a full refund.
This is a graduate-level course. Although a BA is not a necessary pre-requisite for this course, students should come prepared to do graduate-level work.