Andrew Fuller and the Search for a Faith Worthy of All Acceptation: Exploring Fullers Soteriology in Its Historical Context

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The eighteenth-century English minister Andrew Fuller lived a consequential life, debating noteworthy contemporaries such as Thomas Paine and contributing to the pioneering international work of William Carey. However, his soteriology remains his most significant theological contribution. Fuller explored the role that human agency plays in salvations reception, and he offered substantive theological proposals that many religious historians now credit with advancing the Evangelical Revival. Fullers work was both traditional and creative. He sought faithfulness to the broader Protestant tradition but developed that tradition in unique and contextually relevant ways.

Despite Fullers influence, much research into his life and work remains. Andrew Fuller and the Search for a Faith Worthy of All Acceptation examines heretofore underutilized primary sources related to Fullers theological development. It attends to neglected texts produced by Fullers opponents and mentors.

Analysing these sources provides a fresh reading of Fullers historical setting, one that contextualizes his theology and illuminates his constructive work on faith as a human response to the Gospel. This new interpretation allows scholars to discern more accurately the concepts that animated Fuller, the persons he sought to refute, and the sources on which he relied. This interpretation of Fuller challenges assumptions in contemporary scholarship and raises new questions for further research.

Reviews

In this much-needed book, David Rathel introduces great clarity to a subject that has often caused great confusion: the 'hyper-Calvinists' of eighteenth-century England and the origins of Andrew Fuller's evangelical convictions. Scholars of evangelicalism, Calvinism, and Anglo-American theology will all profit from a close reading of this important work. * Thomas S. Kidd, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, USA *
Andrew Fuller was the most influential Baptist theologian of the eighteenth century, his thought continuing to be the standard form of Evangelical Calvinism in the denomination down to the late nineteenth century. Fuller's understanding of the gospel can be fully understood only by knowing the ideas of his opponents. David Rathel has identified their Northamptonshire hyper-Calvinist tradition carefully for the first time and here he expounds it in a thorough work of scholarship. * David Bebbington, University of Stirling, UK *
David Rathels book Andrew Fuller and the Search for a Faith Worthy of All Acceptance is a valuable piece of scholarship for understanding this important historical figure and his contribution to soteriology. Dr Rathel immerses the reader into the context in which Andrew Fuller was formed as a pastor and theologian. Jewellers use black velvet to highlight the features of gemstones. Similarly, some artists use the background of a painting to focus the viewer's attention on its main plot. This is exactly what we see in Dr Rathel's brilliant work he draws our attention to the peculiarities of the environment in which the soteriological thought of Baptist pastor and theologian Andrew Fuller was formed. This masterful example of careful reading and nuanced interpretation of theological phenomena is to be commended. * Oleksandr Geychenko, Odesa Theological Seminary, Ukraine *
In this book, David Mark Rathel skillfully guides the reader through the debates that led to the emergence of an evangelical or moderate Calvinism during the late eighteenth century. His reading is comprehensive, his scholarship profound. Not only does he show breadth of knowledge, he also masterfully explains the nuances in the thought of a range of protagonists. Existing viewpoints are challenged, particularly regarding Andrew Fullers move away from hyper-Calvinism. The result is a lucid exposition which is informed, critical and original. * Robert Pope, University of Cambridge, UK *
This book is an excellent addition to the literature on Andrew Fuller, the most significant Baptist theologian of the long eighteenth-century. It is especially strong in the pathbreaking ways it maps Fullers particular context. Rathel avoids easy assumptions and carefully traces the contours of his subjects hyper-Calvinist setting in a work of considerable scholarship which is also written with clarity and verve. Consequently, the development of Fullers distinctive evangelical theology is illuminated as never before. This work is highly recommended, not only for students of Baptist life but also for all those interested in the growth of the global evangelical movement. * Peter Morden, Bristol Baptist College, UK *
A valuable contribution about Andrew Fuller and hypercalvinism, though there is more than enough material left for further research. * Theologia Reformata *

Author Bio

David Mark Rathel is Associate Professor of Christian Theology and Director of PhD and ThM research at Gateway Seminary in Los Angeles, USA.