John Howe was born in Leicestershire in 1630, where his father was thrown out of the ministry by archbishop Laud for his espousal of Puritanism. Educated at Cambridge and Oxford, Howe was for a time chaplain to Oliver Cromwell. After 1660 he refused to conform, served a dissenting congregation in London for a while, and then was pastor to an English congregation in Utrecht. He returned to London in 1687. Howe, like Baxter, was anxious to promote Christian unity and wrote extensively on the subject. Among his chief works are Blessedness of the Righteous, Delighting in God and Unity Among Protestants.