The New International Encyclopædia/Fuller, Andrew

FULLER, (1754-1815). An English

Baptist minister, controversial writer, and promoter of foreign missions. He was born at Wicken, Cambridgeshire, February 5, 1754. He received the rudiments of an education at the free school of Soham, and in 1775 was chosen pastor of the Baptist congregation of that place. In 1782 he removed to Kettering, Northamptonshire, to take the pastorate of a congregation there, and remained there till his death, May 7, 1815. His first interest in foreign missions was shown in 1784, and his sermon, The Gospel of Christ Worthy of All Acceptation (Northampton, 1785), greatly impressed Carey, the first Baptist missionary. When the Baptist Missionary Society was formed at Kettering in 1792, he became its secretary, and gave the remainder of his life to its affairs. His writings were very popular; they include: The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared as to Their Moral Tendency (1794); The Gospel Its Own Witness (1799); An Apology for the Late Christian Mission to India (1808). There are several editions of his collected works. For his biography, consult: Rylands (London, 1816); T. E. Fuller (London, 1863); and A. G. Fuller (London, 1882).