The Andrew Fuller Center Review – EDIT - Word of Truth

would be focused in its construction,
and understandable and useful to the
least educated of hearers. 19 A sermon,
insisted Fuller, should not be a “mob of
ideas,” multiplying headings and themes,
but should instead have “unity of design.”
20 “A preacher, then, if he would
interest a judicious hearer, must have an
object at which he aims, and must never
lose sight of it throughout his discourse,”
something which Fuller wrote was “of
far greater importance than studying
well-turned periods, or forming pretty
expressions.” He wrote that it is this
unity and simplicity that “nails the attention
of an audience.” 21 A sermon that
is composed of a central theme is an aid
to the judicious and attentive hearer, but
Fuller was also concerned that the less
educated in the congregation could also
comprehend and apply the message:
In general, I do not think a minister
of Jesus Christ should aim at ne
composition for the pulpit. We ought
to use sound speech, and good sense;
but if we aspire a er great elegance of
expression, or become very exact in
the formation of our periods, though
we may amuse and please the ears of
a few, we shall not pro t the many,
and consequently shall not answer
the great end of our ministry. Illiterate
hearers may be very poor judges of
preaching; yet the e ect which it produces
upon them is the best criterion
of its real excellence. 22
Fuller’s desire for simplicity likewise
included studied reticence in delivery,
as well as composition. He eschewed
performance as much as scholasticism:
“Avoid all a ectation in your manner—
Do not a ect the man of learning by useless
criticisms: many do this, only to display
their knowledge. Nor yet the orator,
by high-sounding words, or airs, or gestures.
Useful learning and an impressive
delivery should by no means be slighted;
but they must not be a ected.” 23 As we
will see below, rather than a ected gestures
or emotions, Fuller urged preachers
to enter into their ministry with
true godly feelings and a ection, which
would be communicated more authentically
than those that were contrived.
Finally, preaching that is plain and
perspicuous to the hearer must be
grounded, wrote Fuller, in the straightforward,
diligent, and spiritual study of
the preacher: “To preach the gospel as
we ought to preach it requires, not the
subtlety of the metaphysician, but the
simplicity of the Christian.” 24 Preacher
and hearer alike come to the gospel in its
simplicity, so that, spiritually discerned,
it can be practically applied.
“Preaching Christ”: e Evangelical nature
of Fuller’s preaching
To say that Fuller preached the gospel,
or that he was an evangelical preacher,
is not to say enough. Fuller himself felt
the need to de ne and defend the gospel
and the evangelical nature of preaching
ministry in his own day, and delineating
Fuller’s convictions about preaching
helps us to appreciate what made him an
evangelical. Fuller was concerned with
just this further de nition of evangelical
preaching when he said, in an ordination
charge, “I have heard complaints
of some of our young ministers, that
though they are not heterodox, yet they
are not evangelical; that though they do
not propagate error, yet the grand, es-
This letter of the English Baptist
leader John Ryland, Jr.
(1753–1825) to the American
theologian and New Divinity theologian
Samuel Hopkins (1721–1803), who
had served the First Congregationalist
Church in Newport, Rhode Island, since
1769, is an extremely important text. As
it reveals, while Ryland and his friends
were sympathetic to the New Divinity,
they were also critical of certain elements
of this American theological perspective.
Ryland is especially, and rightly,
dubious about one of the hallmarks
of Hopkinsianism, as Hopkins’ system
of thought became known, namely, his
argument about the willingness of the
believer to be damned for the glory of
God. Ryland points out the theological
and spiritual incongruity of this tenet.
Other concerns of Ryland include the
tendency to speculation and failure to
ground theology rmly in the subsoil of
Scripture. e letter also reveals Ryland’s
deep admiration of the mentor who was
common to both he and Hopkins, Jonathan
Edwards (1703–1758). He would
have been delighted to know that most
of Edwards’ manuscripts were preserved
and are now available either in print or
on-line.
e accompanying photograph of a
portion of the letter shows the way that
Ryland used virtually every inch and
both sides of a foolscap sheet to write
the letter. e only modernization of the
text that has been made in the following
transcription has been the replacement
of underscore marks at the end
of sentences by full stops or the occasional
comma. e footnotes have been
added by the editors. e asterisk a er
Nathanael Emmons’ name is part of the
original letter and indicates an appended
comment of Ryland. 1 is letter has
not been published before.
Dr. Hopkins Feb. 21 1803 2
Dear Sir
Bro[ther] Fuller 3 lately sent me a Letter
from you, which had been 3 y[ea]rs in
coming, & a few days ago I rec[eived]
yours to my self. Before then I had heard
a false report that you were gone to
Heaven, or I sh[ould] have written long
ago to you. o[ugh] I believe I have
never heard from you since I sent you
Booth’s D[ea]th of legal hope etc. 4 I am
much obliged to you for your last favor;
and have copied, and sent to Bro[ther]
Fuller, your Remarks on his Bedford
Sermon. 5 I advised him either to print