Editing Robert Baillie (section)

==Cromwellian invasion==

In the [[James Guthrie (minister)#Resolutioners versus Protestors|Resolutioner versus Protester]] schism in the Church of Scotland during the Cromwellian invasion of Scotland, Baillie sided with the [[Resolutioners]].  His ecclesiology saw the church as an ''ecclesia mixta'', comprising both reprobate and elect.  He rejected the Protestors' more exclusive vision of a church of visible saints in which membership (and by extension the ability to hold church office) should be restricted to godly "true" believers.  Baillie's concern was to maintain church unity and combat the threat posed by sectarians.{{sfn|Campbell|2017|p=107–111}}

Of the Resolutioners, [[Robert Douglas (minister)|Robert Douglas]] was, by head and shoulders, the acknowledged leader. His ministerial supporters included [[David Dickson (minister)|David Dickson]], Baillie, and James Wood. Among the Protesters the most outstanding ministers were [[James Guthrie (minister)|James Guthrie]], [[Samuel Rutherford|Samuel Rutherfurd]], [[Andrew Cant (minister)|Andrew Cant]], [[Patrick Gillespie (minister)|Patrick Gillespie]], and [[John Livingstone (minister)|John Livingstone]]; and, of the elders, [[Archibald Johnston|Wariston]] and Sir John Cheisly; the two most strenuous fighters being Guthrie and Wariston.{{sfn|Johnston|Fleming|1919|p=xxxix}}

Baillie's mentor [[Robert Blair (moderator)|Robert Blair]] urged him to disengage from the Resolutioner – Protestor conflict and concentrate on his academic writing.  Accordingly, during the 1650s Baillie immersed himself in his teaching at the University of Glasgow and writing treatises on Hebrew and biblical chronology.{{sfn|Campbell|2017|p=53}}