John Owen, Richard Baxter and the Formation of Nonconformity

John Owen (1616-1683) and Richard Baxter (1615-1691) were both pivotal figures in forming the nonconformist landscape of Restoration England. Yet despite having much in common, they found themselves taking opposite sides in the theological debates that swept through Protestantism in the second half of the seventeenth century. By comparing and contrasting the parallel careers of these two men, this book not only explores the development of their beliefs, but also develops a broader understanding of the development of Restoration nonconformity.Placing these two figures in the context of earlier events, experience and differences, it argues that Restoration nonconformity was profoundly affected by the strained personal relationship between these two men, which has its roots in their contrasting experience of the English Civil War. This study will contribute to historiography that explores the continuities across seventeenth-century England, rather than seeing a divide at 1660. It fleshes out the way in which personality and experience shaped the development of wider movements.