“The Grand Encouragement”: Andrew Fuller’s Pneumatology as a Reception of and Advancement on Orthodox, Puritan, and Evangelical Perspectives on the Holy Spirit

Abstract

This dissertation argues that Andrew Fuller’s doctrine of the Holy Spirit combined traditional Puritan teaching on the sovereign work of the Spirit in the conversion of sinners with an evangelical emphasis on mission. Chapter 2 provides an overview of the Puritan movement, with a particular focus on pneumatological development within the three most influential Puritan theologians for Fuller: John Bunyan, John Owen, and Thomas Goodwin. Chapter 3 examines key issues in Puritan pneumatology, with a focus on the work of the Spirit in conversion and mission.

Chapter 4 surveys the eighteenth-century context which immediately proceeded Fuller, namely the High-Calvinist Particular Baptists and the Evangelical revivals. Chapter 5 provides an overview of the work of the Spirit in conversion and mission within the theologies of John Gill and Jonathan Edwards.

Chapter 6 provides the relevant background to Fuller’s pneumatological writings, covering his break from High Calvinism, the formation of the Baptist Missionary Society, and apologetic writings. Chapter 7 covers Fuller’s doctrine of the work of the Spirit in conversion and mission.