“Eminent Spirituality and Eminent Usefulness”: Andrew Fuller’s Contribution to the Revitalization of the Particular Baptists in the Long Eighteenth Century

Abstract

Andrew Fuller was convinced that eminent spirituality in a minister would usually be attended with eminent usefulness in the ministry. Chapter 1 introduces the thesis and argues that this foundational conviction drove Fuller and made him an effective instrument of renewal in Particular Baptist life in the long eighteenth century. Chapter 2 outlines the decline experienced by Particular Baptist churches in England in the eighteenth century and Fuller’s assessment of the reasons for this decline. Chapter 3 explores Fuller’s instrumental role in the renewal experienced in these same churches during the last three decades of the eighteenth century. Chapter 4 describes in greater detail the undergirding convictions that made Fuller so effective by examining his pastoral theology as revealed in a sermon he preached at the 1787 ordination of Robert Fawkner. Chapter 5 concludes by recapitulating why Fuller’s foundational convictions on pastoral ministry need to be heard again today.