Andrew Fuller Split The Particular Baptist Denomination
Gospel Standard 2008:
A Book Review
The Works of Andrew Fuller; very large hardback; 1012 pages; price £27; published by The Banner of Truth Trust, and obtainable from Christian bookshops.
We must confess we were rather surprised that Banner of Truth should publish the works of the renowned Baptist minister, Andrew Fuller (1754-1815). As is well known, the publication of Fuller’s The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation in 1785 split the old Particular Baptist denomination in two. There were many like Gadsby, Warburton, Kershaw and Philpot who rejected Fuller’s teaching (and interestingly, with this section a wonderful time of spiritual prosperity followed).
Reading Fuller carefully (now and years ago), we have found it difficult to assess exactly what he did believe. He appears to have made the atonement to be for sinners generally, but the limitation being by (a) God’s choice, and (b) the Holy Spirit’s work. The Baptist historian A.C. Underwood believed that this led to the old Baptist denomination accepting general redemption, and the Particular Baptists merging with the General Baptists in 1891. (Andrew Fuller also advocated what came to be known as the “free offer,” though he himself would not have used that term.) Yet when the General Baptist leader, Dan Taylor, felt Fuller had come over to their position, Andrew Fuller was upset and said he would rather go to the ends of the earth than become a General Baptist! Again, when some suggested he was a Baxterian, he said that reading Richard Baxter’s works made him physically ill. All of which points to the confusion in Andrew Fuller’s views.
We are, therefore, amazed at the claims of the publishers that he was “the greatest theologian” of his time; “the most able theological writer” that ever belonged to the Particular Baptists; and “the greatest theologian of the late eighteenth-century Baptist community.” The kindest thing seems to be to say that he was a very sincere man, but his views were confused and often not right. To add to the confusion, it has been said that Fuller himself never preached Fullerism!
It is wrong to suggest, as some have done, that it was only the Gospel Standard Strict Baptists who rejected Fullerism. Most of the present day Grace Baptist churches in Suffolk were formed as a protest, issuing in the formation of the Suffolk and Norfolk Union. William Rushton of Liverpool who wrote against Fuller was an “Association Baptist.” John Stevens, whose Helps for the Disciples of Immanuel, was a refutation of Fullerism, was quite antagonistic to Gadsby and the Gospel Standard. Abraham Booth, perhaps the leading, best known Baptist minister of his day, author of The Reign of Grace, also entered into controversy with Andrew Fuller.
The Works of Andrew Fuller is a mammoth work, 1012 very large pages. Of course, The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation is only part of the volume, though Fuller’s most renowned work. It is only fair to say that also included are the works where he wrote strongly against the errors of Deism, Socinianism, Universal Salvation – insisting on the vital importance of the Trinity and the essential Deity of the Son of God. Like Gadsby, he strongly opposed Sandemanianism.
There are various sermons and sketches, some on believers’ baptism (Andrew Fuller was a strong Strict Baptist), pieces on the Book of Genesis and the Book of Revelation, and a life of Samuel Pearce. At the beginning is a biography of Andrew Fuller himself (93 pages). He was pastor of the Particular Baptist church at Kettering, Northamptonshire.
Perhaps it should be mentioned that most of the print in this large volume is small.
It may be argued the Strict and Particular Baptist churches of the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries were at their strongest when they remained independent congregations, unaffiliated with Magazines and Societies. This strength was lost during the latter half of the 19th century when the churches clamored around favorite periodicals and regional associations. Although the Magazines were largely responsible for creating a party-spirit and culpable for stirring up needless controversy, they nevertheless contain many valuable resources which may prove a blessing for this generation. Although they differed on various points of doctrine, they invariably held to high views of sovereign grace, denouncing as heresy the pernicious teachings of Andrew Fuller. The majority of Strict and Particular Baptist churches during the 18th and 19th centuries were Hyper-Calvinists.
