Richard Baxter and Conversion : A Study of the Puritan Concept of Becoming a Christian

"...If you be not converted, you are not true Christians. You may have the name, but you have not the nature."Richard Baxter, A Treatise of Conversion 1657. Puritan religious experience was centered on conversion, the 'new birth' of the soul - the essence of Puritanism.Tim Beougher forensically dissects Baxters writings and life so that we see how he constructs a systematic theology of conversion. How relevant this is becomes clear as Beougher investigates how Baxter speaks to us today about controversies on justification, church discipline and the sacraments.Baxter was, arguably, the greatest of the Puritan pastors, over the period of his ministry in Kidderminster he had every person in his town to his house to enquire of their spiritual state. It was central to his care for his flock.In an era where authentic belonging is sought, but rarely found, Baxter can speak to us today just as effectively through this study by Tim Beougher.

Timothy K. Beougher is the Billy Graham Professor of Evangelism and Church Growth at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Prior to that he was assistant professor of evangelism at the Wheaton College Graduate School and associate director of the Institute of Evangelism at the Billy Graham Center