Misplaced Pages

#401598

50-730: Thomas Dixon may refer to: Thomas Dixon (nonconformist) (died 1754), English minister and tutor Thomas Dixon (architect) (died 1886), Baltimore architect Thomas C. Dixon (died 1870s), hatter and political figure in Canada West Thomas Hill Dixon (1816–1880), superintendent of convicts in Western Australia Thomas Dixon (autodidact) (1831-1880), working class literary correspondent of Sunderland. Thomas Dixon (South African cricketer) (1847–1915) Thomas Dixon Jr. (1864–1946), American lecturer who wrote

100-439: A dissenting congregation at Whitehaven that had been founded by Irish presbyterians . Dixon was a disciple of Richard Baxter . During his time at Whitehaven, when he was considered the leading nonconformist of the then county of Cumberland , he established a dissenting academy that concentrated mainly on the education of future ministers. It was certainly in operation by 1710, the year after he and his probable advisor in

150-1107: A "Meer Christian": Richard Baxter's Account of the Restoration , UK: Theologian . For Baxter's involvement in the Great Ejection and the persecution of puritans, see Gatiss, Lee, The Tragedy of 1662: The Ejection and Persecution of the Puritans , Latimer trust, archived from the original on 11 September 2007 . For a small selection of Baxter's hymns, see his Cyberhymnal page . Grosart, Alexander Balloch (1885). "Baxter, Richard"  . In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography . Vol. 3. London: Smith, Elder & Co. Keeble, N. H. "Baxter, Richard (1615–1691)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi : 10.1093/ref:odnb/1734 . (Subscription or UK public library membership required.) For an exploration of some of Baxter's unpublished manuscripts and implications for his legacy see Manuscript and Print in

200-665: A bond for £400 in security for his good behaviour. But his worst encounter was with the Chief Justice , Sir George Jeffreys , in May 1685. He had been committed to the King's Bench Prison on the charge of libelling the Church in his Paraphrase on the New Testament , and was tried before Jeffreys on this accusation. No authoritative report of the trial exists; if the partisan account on which tradition

250-589: A consequence of the 1714 Schism Act . Dixon's status in the county enabled him to exert considerable influence in obtaining financial support for his students from the Presbyterian Fund Board. Among Dixon's academy pupils were John Taylor , George Benson the biblical critic, Caleb Rotheram of the Kendal Academy , and Henry Winder , author of the History of Knowledge . In 1722 or 1723, Dixon moved to

300-428: A long debate with Calvinist theologian John Owen . Interpreting the kingdom of God in terms of Christ as Christus Victor and Rector of all men, Baxter explained Christ's death as an act of universal redemption (penal and vicarious, though substitutionary in explication), in virtue of which God has made a new covenant offering pardon and amnesty to the penitent. Repentance and faith, being obedient to this covenant, are

350-422: A publication now in the public domain :  " Dixon, Thomas ". Dictionary of National Biography . London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. Richard Baxter Richard Baxter (12 November 1615 – 8 December 1691) was an English Nonconformist church leader and theologian from Rowton, Shropshire , who has been described as "the chief of English Protestant Schoolmen". He made his reputation in

400-536: Is a portrait of Baxter in Dr Williams's Library , Gordon Square , London. Baxter House, a boarding house at Old Swinford Hospital school in Stourbridge , is named after him. In Kidderminster, Baxter College (formerly Harry Cheshire High School), and a public park, Baxter Gardens, are both named after him. For more on Baxter's autobiography and its historical usefulness, see Gatiss, Lee, The Autobiography of

450-516: Is a squat stone obelisk with a bronze plaque on which is written "Richard Baxter great divine author and eminent citizen of the 17th century. Son of Richard Baxter and Beatrice née Adney born here in Rowton AD 1615. Died in London 1691". It resides on a triangle of grass at the centre of the village and is probably of late 19th century construction. It was designated a Grade II listed structure in 1983. There

500-474: Is based is accepted, Jeffreys was infuriated. Baxter was sentenced to pay 500 marks, to lie in prison till the money was paid, and to be bound to his good behaviour for seven years. Jeffreys is even said to have proposed he should be whipped behind a cart. Baxter was now approaching 70 years old, and remained in prison for 18 months, until the government, hoping to win his influence, remitted the fine and released him. Baxter's health had grown even worse, yet this

550-491: Is believed to have shared his views, although it is not evident in his published writings. He died on 23 February 1754, and was buried beside his father. Joshua Dobson of Cockey Moor preached his funeral sermon. His friend Seddon edited from his papers a posthumous tract, "The Sovereignty of the Divine Administration ;... a Rational Account of our Blessed Saviour's Temptation, &c.", a second edition of which

SECTION 10

#1732847563402

600-479: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Thomas Dixon (nonconformist) It was once thought that Thomas Dixon might have been the eponymous son of a nonconformist minister who was removed from the vicarage of Kelloe , County Durham in the Great Ejection of 1662. However, more recent studies consider this to be unlikely, although they do say that he

650-615: The Act of Uniformity 1662 took effect. His hope that moderate dissenters like himself could remain within the Church of England proved ill-founded, after this objective was obstructed by those on both sides. The Savoy Conference resulted in Baxter's Reformed Liturgy , though it was cast aside without consideration. Baxter continued to advocate for a comprehensive "national church", off and on, until his death. The same reputation which Baxter had obtained in

700-622: The Calvinist tradition of Predestination because he taught that Christians are placed under a type of faith-law. Baxter was born on 12 November 1615 at Rowton, Shropshire , in the home of his maternal grandfather, and baptised at its then parish church at High Ercall , before moving in February 1626 to his parents' home in Eaton Constantine . On 10 September 1662, Baxter married Margaret Charlton, who died in 1681. Richard's early education

750-534: The Diocese of Worcester . From 1662 until the indulgence of 1687, Baxter's life was constantly disturbed by persecution of one kind or another. He retired to Acton in Middlesex , for the purpose of quiet study, but was placed in prison for keeping a conventicle . Baxter procured a habeas corpus in the court of common pleas. He was taken up for preaching in London after the licences granted in 1672 were recalled by

800-563: The Ironsides . Cromwell avoided him; but Baxter, having to preach before him after he had assumed the Protectorship, chose for his subject the old topic of the divisions of the church, and in subsequent interviews argued with him about liberty of conscience , and even defended the monarchy he had subverted. This contact with Cromwell occurred when Baxter was summoned to London to assist in settling "the fundamentals of religion". In 1647, Baxter

850-587: The Floss Richard Baxter's "Saints Everlasting Rest" is listed as one of aunt Glegg's books. A prodigious hymn-writer, he published among others, 'He wants not friends that hath thy love'. Max Weber (1864–1920), the German sociologist, made significant use of Baxter's works in developing his thesis for " The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism " (1904, 1920). Weber takes advantage of Baxter's notion that

900-508: The King. The meeting house which he had built for himself in Oxendon Street was closed to him after he had preached there only once. In 1680, he was taken from his house; and though he was released that he might die at home, his books and goods were seized. In 1684, he was carried three times to the sessions house, being scarcely able to stand, and without any apparent cause was made to enter into

950-520: The Marches . He was reluctantly persuaded to go to court, and he went to London under the patronage of Sir Henry Herbert , Master of the Revels , with the intention of doing so, but soon returned home, resolved to study divinity . He was confirmed in the decision by the death of his mother. After three months spent working for the dying Owen as a teacher at Wroxeter, Baxter read theology with Francis Garbet,

1000-459: The above, was born in Bolton on 16 July 1721, and educated for the ministry at Kendal Academy , which he entered in 1738. His studies there were funded by the Presbyterian Fund Board. His first settlement was at Thame, Oxfordshire , from 1743, on a salary of £25 a year. On 13 May 1750, he became assistant to Dr. John Taylor at Norwich . Here, at Taylor's suggestion, he began a Greek concordance , on

1050-681: The civic parish of Wolverley and Cookley (neighbouring Kidderminster) was built around 1850 in memory of Baxter. It is a Grade II listed structure and resides on a hilltop on Blakeshall Common . This tribute of general esteem was erected nearly two centuries after Baxter's death, sculpted by Sir Thomas Brock and unveiled 28 July 1875. Originally in the Bull Ring, it was moved to its present site outside St Mary's parish church in March 1967. The Baxter Monument in Rowton, Shropshire (the village of his birth)

SECTION 20

#1732847563402

1100-605: The conditions of salvation. Baxter insisted that the Calvinists of his day ran the danger of ignoring the conditions that came with God's new covenant. Justification, Baxter insisted, required at least some degree of faith as the human response to the love of God. Baxter's theology was set forth most elaborately in his Latin Methodus Theologiæ Christianæ (London, 1681); the Christian Directory (1673) contains

1150-425: The controversy relating to Nonconformity and the Church of England. He soon became alienated from the Church on several matters; and after the requirement of the " et cetera oath ", he rejected episcopacy in its English form. Although generally regarded as a Presbyterian , he was prepared to accept a modified Episcopalianism , but regarded all forms of church government as secondary to religious practice. One of

1200-606: The country he secured in London. The power of his preaching was universally felt, and his capacity for business placed him at the head of his party. He was made a Royal chaplain, and offered the Bishopric of Hereford , but could not accept the offer without conforming. After his refusal, he was not allowed, even before the passing of the Act of Uniformity, to be a curate in Kidderminster, and Bishop George Morley prohibited him from preaching in

1250-458: The first measures of the Long Parliament was to reform the clergy; with this view, a committee was appointed to receive complaints against them. Among the complainants were the inhabitants of Kidderminster . The vicar George Dance agreed that he would give £60 a year, out of his income of £200, to a preacher who should be chosen by certain trustees. Baxter was invited to deliver a sermon before

1300-714: The garrison, preaching a sermon each to the soldiery, and the townspeople and strangers. Included among the congregants were Sir Richard Skeffington, Colonel Godfrey Bosvile , George Abbot the layman scholar, and others. After the Battle of Naseby he took the situation of chaplain to Colonel Edward Whalley 's regiment, and continued to hold it till February 1647. During these stormy years he wrote his Aphorisms of Justification , which on its appearance in 1649, excited great controversy. There were numerous critics Anthony Burges , John Crandon , William Eyre , George Lawson , John Tombes , Thomas Tully , and John Wallis , although Baxter

1350-517: The help of James Berry , who later became a colonel in the New Model Army , in 1638 Baxter became master of the free grammar school at Dudley . He commenced his ministry after being ordained by John Thornborough , Bishop of Worcester and was soon transferred to Bridgnorth , in Shropshire . Baxter remained at Bridgnorth for nearly two years, during which time he took a special interest in

1400-534: The late 1630s by his ministry at Kidderminster in Worcestershire , when he also began a long and prolific career as theological writer. Following the Act of Uniformity 1662 , Baxter refused an appointment as Bishop of Hereford and was expelled from the Church of England . He became one of the most influential leaders of the Nonconformist movement, spending time in prison. His views remain controversial within

1450-580: The leading elements in the Puritan ethos." In 2015, on the 400th anniversary of Richard Baxter's birth an exhibition of the correspondence between Baxter and Katherine Gell was made. The letters were said to be the basis of a book of Baxter's letters which was in preparation. Baxter's House in Bridgnorth is still standing near the High Street with a name plaque on the front. The Richard Baxter Monument in

1500-579: The listed works, Fasciculus literarum (1680), was, in fact, written by John Hinckley. In 1665, his works were translated into German by the Lutheran theologian, Johann Fischer . In 1674, Baxter cast in a new form the substance of Arthur Dent 's book The Plain Man's Pathway to Heaven under the title, The Poor Man's Family Book . In this way, Arthur Dent of South Shoebury was a link between Baxter and another great Puritan, John Bunyan . In 1679 Baxter made one of

1550-689: The local clergyman, adding to his reading (initially in devotional writings, of Richard Sibbes , William Perkins and Ezekiel Culverwell , as well as the Calvinist Edmund Bunny at age 14, and then in the scholastic philosophers ) orthodox Church of England theology in Richard Hooker and George Downham , and arguments from conforming puritans in John Sprint and John Burges . In about 1634, he met Joseph Symonds (assistant to Thomas Gataker ) and Walter Cradock , two Nonconformists . With

Thomas Dixon - Misplaced Pages Continue

1600-728: The novel made into Birth of a Nation Sir Thomas Dixon, 2nd Baronet (1868–1950), Northern Ireland politician Thomas Dixon (Irish cricketer) (1906–1985) Thomas Dixon Centre , built 1908, performing arts venue in Australia Thomas Sidney Dixon (1916–1993), involved in the Max Stuart case, a trial for murder in Australia See also [ edit ] Thomas Dickson (disambiguation) Tom Dixon (disambiguation) Thomas Homer-Dixon (born 1956), Canadian political scientist [REDACTED] Topics referred to by

1650-559: The people, and was unanimously elected as the minister of St Mary and All Saints' Church, Kidderminster . This happened in April 1641, when he was twenty-six. His ministry continued, with many interruptions, for about 19 years; and during that time he accomplished many reforms in Kidderminster and the neighbourhood. He formed the ministers in the country around him into an association, uniting them irrespective of their differences as Presbyterians, Episcopalians and Independents. The Reformed Pastor

1700-451: The plan of Taylor's Hebrew one, but the manuscript fragments of the work show that not much was done. He found it difficult to satisfy the demands of a fastidious congregation, and gladly accepted, in August 1752, a call to his father's old flock at Bolton. He was not ordained till 26 April 1753. He was friends with John Seddon of Manchester , then the only Socinian preacher in the district, and

1750-790: The practical part of his system; and Catholic Theology (1675) is an English exposition. His theology made Baxter very unpopular among his contemporaries and even into the next century caused a split among the Dissenters . As summarised by Thomas W. Jenkyn, it differed from the Calvinism on four points: Richard Baxter is remembered in the Church of England with a commemoration on 14 June. AG Matthews, in an article "The Works of Richard Baxter: an Annotated List" (Congregational Historical Society Transactions, XI (1932)) lists 141 books written by Baxter. Geoffrey Nuttall , in his biography of Baxter, published in 1965, reproduces this list, noting that one of

1800-560: The presbyterian meeting house at Bank Street in Bolton , Lancashire . Some sources say that he did so as the successor to Samuel Bourn , but others note a two-year ministry of Peter Withington between those of Bourn and Dixon. He continued the operation of his academy, which moved with him to Bolton. He also practiced medicine in the town, having been awarded the medical degree of M.D. from King's College, Aberdeen in 1718. Dixon died at his Bank Street manse on 14 August 1729, aged 50, and

1850-463: The production of wealth by itself gives glory to God, and is bad only insofar as it gives birth to idleness and "living merrily without care." Weber quotes Baxter who wrote "you may labour to be rich for God, though not for the flesh and sin." Robert K. Merton (1910–2003), founder of the sociology of science and well known for the so-called Merton Thesis , also followed Weber in making use of Baxter's Christian Directory as "a typical presentation of

1900-406: The same term This disambiguation page lists articles about people with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thomas_Dixon&oldid=1220763035 " Category : Human name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

1950-492: The title Call to the Unconverted to Turn and Live formed one of the core extra-biblical texts of evangelicalism until at least the middle of the 19th century. The remainder of his life, from 1687 onwards, was passed peacefully. He died in London and his funeral was attended by churchmen as well as dissenters. Richard Baxter rejected the idea of a limited atonement in favour of a universal atonement , which drew him into

2000-532: The venture, Edmund Calamy , had travelled together to Scotland, where in April Dixon had been awarded an honorary MA degree. In 1712, the academy gained the services of his former tutor, Coningham, who had left the similar institution in Manchester, and thereafter it had the reputation of being the leading nonconformist academy in the north of England, although it is possible that there was a hiatus in its operations as

2050-467: The very few known allusions to Sir Thomas Browne 's discourse The Garden of Cyrus , critically declaring to newly ordained priests, You shall have more.. solid truth than those in their learned Network treatises . Baxter's influence in New England is referenced in the first chapter of the 19th century devotional work "I Will Be A Lady – a book for girls" by Mrs. Tuthill. In George Eliot 's Mill on

Thomas Dixon - Misplaced Pages Continue

2100-774: Was a book which Baxter published in relation to the general ministerial efforts he promoted. When the First English Civil War began in August 1642, like many Baxter tried to avoid taking sides, but Worcestershire was a Royalist stronghold, and he was temporarily retired to the Parliamentarian town of Gloucester . He returned to Worcestershire late in 1642 only to be driven out again, and moved to Coventry , another Parliamentarian stronghold. There he found himself with no fewer than 30 fugitive ministers, among whom were Richard Vines , Anthony Burges , John Bryan and Obadiah Grew . He officiated each Sunday as chaplain to

2150-486: Was attended by about 1500 people on each side and ended in confused disorder. During this period he campaigned for the establishment of a new university in Shrewsbury to serve Wales, utilising buildings that were then used by Shrewsbury School . Lack of funding prevented success, and the premises ultimately became Shrewsbury town library. After the 1660 Stuart Restoration , Baxter moved to London, where he preached until

2200-471: Was buried in his meeting house. A memorial tablet placed there by one of his sons, Richard Dixon, described him as "facile medicorum et theologorum princeps" (easily chief among physicians and theologians). He had married Eleanor Stanger sometime after obtaining a bond to do so on 21 September 1708; she was the daughter of an elder of the Cockermouth Independent Church . Thomas Dixon, son of

2250-467: Was closest to Christopher Cartwright . Baxter's connexion with the Parliamentary army was a very characteristic one. He joined it that he might, if possible, contract the growth of sectaries in that field, and maintain the cause of constitutional government in opposition to republican tendencies of the time. He regretted that he had not previously accepted Oliver Cromwell 's offer to become chaplain to

2300-518: Was poor, being mainly in the hands of the local clergy, themselves virtually illiterate. He was helped by John Owen, master of the free school at Wroxeter , where he studied from about 1629 to 1632, and made fair progress in Latin . On Owen's advice he did not proceed to Oxford (a step which he afterwards regretted), but went to Ludlow Castle to read with Richard Wickstead, chaplain to the Council of Wales and

2350-476: Was printed in 1766. In 1810, Charles Lloyd , in his Particulars of the Life of a Dissenting Minister (1813), recorded a long letter, dated "Norwich, 28 September 1751", addressed by Dixon to Leeson, travelling tutor to John Wilkes, and previously dissenting minister at Thame; from this Browne has extracted an account of the introduction of Methodism into Norwich. [REDACTED]  This article incorporates text from

2400-488: Was probably the son of an episcopalian . He was born at Ravenstonedale in the county of Westmorland around 1679/80. He studied at Manchester under John Chorlton and James Coningham , probably from 1700 to 1704, during which period he was for some time uncertain whether he should follow the path of nonconformism or that of the Church of England . He served briefly in the ministry at Colchester from 1704, but by October 1705 had succeeded Roger Anderton as minister of

2450-501: Was staying at the home of Lady Rouse, wife of Sir Thomas Rouse, 1st Baronet , of Rous Lench, Worcestershire . There, though debilitated by illness, he wrote the most of a major work, The Saints' Everlasting Rest (1650). On his recovery he returned to Kidderminster, where he also became a prominent political leader. His sensitive conscience led him into conflict with almost all the contending parties in state and church. An all-day debate on 1 January 1650, with John Tombes at Bewdley

2500-536: Was the period of his greatest activity as a writer. He wrote 168 or so separate works, including major treatises such as the Christian Directory , the Methodus Theologiae Christianae , and the Catholic Theology . His Breviate of the Life of Mrs Margaret Baxter records the virtues of his wife and tenderness which otherwise might not have been known. A slim devotional work published in 1658 under

#401598