Richard Baxter, Gildas Salvianus: The Reformed Pastor

Alison Searle (University of Leeds)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.04: English Writing and Culture of the Seventeenth Century, 1625-1688.
Vol. editors: Jennifer Brady (Rhodes College), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Neil Forsyth (Université de Lausanne), Claire Preston (Queen Mary, University of London), J A Roe (University of York), Virginia Mason Vaughan (Clark University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1656

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Non-Fiction
- Biography (literary)
Essays/ Lectures (any)

Resources

From its first publication to the present day, Richard Baxter’s impassioned text Gildas Salvianus; The Reformed Pastor (1656) has proved to be a successful and influential exploration of the pastor’s role within the parish. The title is taken from two early preachers who called their people to account for sin: Gildas, a monk in sixth century Britain and Salvian, who lived in fifth century Gaul and viewed the collapse of the Roman Empire as a divine judgement. Baxter comments: “I pretend not to the Sapience of Gildas, nor to the Sanctity of Salvian (as to the degree:) but by their names I offer you an excuse for plain dealing”. He takes comfort from the fact that as the direct approach of these men is “so much …

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980 words

Citation: Searle, Alison . "Gildas Salvianus: The Reformed Pastor". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 13 October 2006 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=13722, accessed 26 November 2024.]

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