Trans-Atlantic Friendships moral government theory of the atonement from his American friends, these bonds merit further consideration. An examination of the breadth and depth of Andrew Fuller’s friendliness toward the New Divinity men and their ideas follows. To that end, we will consider briefly the theological relationship that served as the mutual link between Fuller and his New England counterparts. A survey of Fuller’s reading of and correspondence with these American theologians will further illustrate his theologically friendly relationship with the likes of Joseph Bellamy and Samuel Hopkins. Finally, a series of letters between Fuller and Hopkins; between Fuller’s proxy, John Ryland, and Hopkins; and between Fuller and Ryland will be shown to define the extent of Andrew Fuller’s friendship with the New Divinity. In the end, it will be seen that Fuller knew the New Divinity men, learned from the New Divinity men, befriended the New Divinity men, and yet believed there to be a limit to his friendship with the New Divinity men. A Mutual Friend The writings of your grandfather, President Edwards, . . . have been food to me and many others.2 In this 1805 letter to Timothy Dwight (1752–1817), president of Yale and a New Divinity man himself, Fuller admitted what most later historians have highlighted: the theological career of Andrew Fuller was nourished by the work of Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758). A casual reading of Fuller’s works proves this conclusion to be undeniable and unavoidable. As Tom Nettles notes, “Fuller made sure the world knew this by his many quotes of Edwards, his unabashed integration of Edwards’s ideas into his own major 2
Andrew Fuller, “Letter to Timothy Dwight (June 1, 1805),” Works 1:85.
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