FULLER, iU ANDREW, born February 0, 1754, was tho son of a small farmer at Wicket', in Cambridgeshire • but received his very limited education chiefly at Soham, whither his father, who was of dissenting principles, removed while he was yet young. In 1770 he became a member of the Baptist church at Soham, where, in the absence of a regular minister, he began to preach occasionally at a very early age. Early in 1775, his miuistrations having proved very acceptable, be was regularly ordained pastor of the church of which Ire had for some time taken the obarge at the request of his fellow membere,• and in 17S2 he accepted an invitation to remove to a Baptist church at Kettering, in Northamptonshire, over which ho presided until his death, which occurred on the 7th of May 1815.
Fuller took au active part iu the formation, in 1792, of the Baptist Miesionary Society, of which he was secretary until his death ; and he travelled extensively in England, Scotland, and Ireland to preach in behalf of this institution, the interests of which he promoted with untiring zeal. His theological works are numerous and highly prized by the nonconformists; though many of them are small, and relate to controversial subjects, often of temporary interest His first appear mice in print was in 1784, when he published a sermon on 'The Nature and Importance of Walking by Faith,' Alertly after which be printed a treatise, which was written in 1781, entitled 'The Gospel worthy of all acceptation ; or the duty of all sinners to believe in Jesus Christ,' a work which, from its alleged tendency to Arminian ism, involved him in a warm controversy with the ultra-Calvinists. This work has been, like several of his other more important writings, repeatedly reprinted. Another important controversy was raised by the publication, in 1793, of the first edition of his 'Calviniatio and Soeinian in stems examined and compared, as to their moral tendency.' The anti•Soeinian views promulgated in this work were attacked by Dr. Joshua Toulmin in The Practical Efficacy of the Unitarian Doctrine considered,' and by Mr. Kentish, to whom he replied in
1797 in his Socinisniem Indefensible, on the ground of its moral tendency.' Fuller engaged in the Deistical controversy by the pub lication, in 1500, of ' The Oospel its own Witness; or the holy and divine harmony of the Chrietian Religion, contrasted with the immorality and absurdity of Deism.' In 1802 he collected into a small volume a series of ' Letters fo Mr. Fidler, on the doctrine of Universal Salvation,' which had originally appeared in the 'Evangelical Magaziue,' and In 1810 lin entered upon another theological con troversy by publishing hie 'Strictures on Sandernanianiem.' About 1803 he wrote, in answer to numerous attacks by the euemies of Christian misslona, his ' Apology for the late Christian Missions in In lie: Among the less controversial works of Fuller were many single sermons And religious tracts, some of which are yet in high esteem, and the folloeing larger works :—'Memoirs of the Rev. Samuel l'earce, of Birmingham,' 1800; 'The Backslider ; or an inquiry into the nature, symptoms, and effects of Religious Declension, with the means of recovery,' 1801 ; Expository Discourses on the Book of Calais,' 2 vols., 1806; Dialogues, Letters, and Essays on various subjects,' 1800; a volume of ' Sermons on various subjects,' 1814; and 'Expository Discourses on the Apocalypse,* 1815, the latter being prepared for publication just before, but not Issued till after his death.
Fuller's works have been repeatedly reprinted in America as well as In this country, and the college of New Jersey, about the year 1798, conferred upon him the degree of D.D., which however ho declined to use. Ills ' Complete Works' were collected and published in several volumes in 1831, and reprinted in one very thick volume, with a new memoir by his son, Andrew Gunton Fuller, in 1845.
(Ifeveoirs of the Res. Andrew Fuller, by J. Ryland, D.D., 1816; Rev. 3. W. Morris, 1820; and A. G. Fuller, 1815.)