"An Engine of Destruction": Andrew Fuller's Response to Antinomianism

Abstract

Andrew Fuller was arguably one of the most important theological figures of the Long Eighteenth–Century. While his written responses to High Calvinism, Socinianism, Sandemanianism, and Deism are well known, Fuller’s response to Antinomianism has not received as much attention. Thus, this thesis will argue that the “engine of destruction” known as Antinomianism was the greatest threat to the Particular Baptists and their missionary enterprise. In doing so, it will summarize the rise and fall of Antinomianism from the time of the Reformation to the present day, emphasizing and distilling Fuller’s response to Antinomianism, chiefly from his late work Antinomianism Contrasted with the Religion Taught and Exemplified in the Holy Scriptures (1816), and explain both the aftermath of the Antinomian controversy and make application for modern believers.