"Nothing can be rightly known, if God be not known; nor is any study well managed, nor to any great purpose, if God is not studied. We know little of the creature, till we know it as it stands related to the Creator: single letters, and syllables uncomposed, are no better than nonsense. He who overlooketh him who is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, and seeth not him in all who is the All of all, doth see nothing at all." from Richard Baxter's The Reformed Pastor Richard Baxter was a pre-eminent Puritan of his day and one of the most well-respected pastors of his time-he coined the phrase 'mere Christianity, ' he served as a chaplain to the rebel army, and he languished in prison for his convictions. However, his greatest accomplishment was his care for his congregants, with whom he took time to meet and disciple. The Reformed Pastor is his book on how to be a good pastor. Like the man himself, it is difficult and challenging, but it also shows how one of the greatest pastors went about his duties with zeal and patience. "One of the great virtues of this book, that comes across quite strongly, is that Baxter actually believed everything he was teaching, and he acted as though he believed it." From Doug Wilson's Introduction