Legacy of Jonathan Edwards in the Theology of Andrew Fuller

Chris Chun, Ph.D. (2008), University of St. Andrews, is Associate Professor of Church History at the Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary near San Francisco, CA. He contributed chapters to Jonathan Edwards in Scotland (Edinburgh, 2011) and Understanding Jonathan Edwards: An Introduction to America’s Theologian (Oxford, 2009).

"Historical theology, as a discipline, is out of fashion: church historians have, with only a few exceptions, turned their attentions to social, cultural, and even economic history — all are valuable, but that is not to say that the history of ideas is not — and theologians seem generally impatient of the careful scholarly work needed to do history well. We should be grateful to Chris Chun, not just for the excellence of his work in this book, but for the timely reminder that patient and detailed historical work, coupled with a perceptive theological insight, can produce results that are not just worthy in scholarly terms, but important for wider narratives, and fascinating in themselves." - Stephen R. Holmes, University of St Andrews"The influence of Jonathan Edwards on Andrew Fuller and the English Baptist missionary movement has been touted by many, but itemized by none — until now. Chun provides the only in-depth exploration of Fuller’s critical appropriation of Edwards’ theology to appear thus far, pointing to places where he agreed and, just as importantly, disagreed with the American, and why. This work is essential reading to anyone interested in Edwards’ international legacy in the nineteenth century and beyond, and the way that legacy was reinvented in the hands of formative figures such as Fuller." - Kenneth P. Minkema, Jonathan Edwards Center, Yale University"Ours is not the first generation to take the theology of Edwards seriously. In the decades immediately following his death, his thought shaped much of the landscape of the Reformed world. This is especially true in the British Isles, of which the prime example is Andrew Fuller. Fuller's deep indebtedness to Edwards has been long known but never delineated in detail till now. Chris Chun's study of this intellectual influence of one Reformed giant upon another is indeed a landmark study." - Michael A. G. Haykin, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary"It is often the case in historical theology that scholars sense facts and trends that everyone assumes but nobody has thoroughly demonstrated. This is most certainly the case with Jonathan Edwards's influence upon Andrew Fuller. Chris Chun has done scholars a tremendous service by demonstrating exactly how Fuller appropriated Edwards into his own thought and used him as a theological resource in the debates of his own generation. In Edwards, Fuller found an ally in arguing for the type of evangelical Calvinism that gave rise to the modern missions movement in the English-speaking world. The Legacy of Jonathan Edwards in the Theology of Andrew Fuller is historical theology at its finest. It will undoubtedly become one of the key scholarly monographs in the ongoing renaissance of Fuller Studies." - Nathan A. Finn, The Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, in: Themelios , Vol. 37, No.3 (November 2012), pp. 536-538"The phrase ‘essential reading’ is overused, but if you have a keen interest in the eighteenth-century Particular Baptist life and the forces which shaped it, or indeed in the theology of Edwards and/or Fuller, then you should try to get hold of this book. Insights abound and its central arguments are ones that all serious students of Fuller will have to reckon with in future. I commend it most warmly." - Peter Morden, Spurgeon’s College, in: Baptist Quarterly, 45 (April 2013), p. 115