“Lord, Teach Us to Pray”: Spurgeon's Meditations on the Lord's Prayer

December 12, 2013 Andrew Fuller Center

By Evan D. Burns

Charles Spurgeon was a master at taking a familiar biblical text and staring at it long and hard until he saw mountains of spiritual treasure emerge. He read the Bible as a beggar in search for bread, and he never stopped looking even in places he had searched before. Here is a simple example of his active meditation on a familiar text—“The Lord’s Prayer” (Matt 6:9). Let us seek and find the riches of God's Word, even in familiar places.

“After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, etc.” Matthew 6:9.
This prayer begins where all true prayer must commence, with the spirit of adoption, “Our Father.” There is no acceptable prayer until we can say, “I will arise, and go unto my Father.”
This child-like spirit soon perceives the grandeur of the Father “in heaven,” and ascends to devout adoration, “Hallowed be thy name.” The child lisping, “Abba, Father,” grows into the cherub crying, “Holy, Holy, Holy.”
There is but a step from rapturous worship to the glowing missionary spirit, which is a sure outgrowth of filial love and reverent adoration—“Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Next follows the heartfelt expression of dependence upon God—“Give us this day our daily bread.”
Being further illuminated by the Spirit, he discovers that he is not only dependent, but sinful, hence he entreats for mercy, “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors:” and being pardoned, having the righteousness of Christ imputed, and knowing his acceptance with God, he humbly supplicates for holy perseverance, “Lead us not into temptation.” The man who is really forgiven, is anxious not to offend again; the possession of justification leads to an anxious desire for sanctification. “Forgive us our debts,” that is justification; “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” that is sanctification in its negative and positive forms.
As the result of all this, there follows a triumphant ascription of praise, “Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever, Amen.” We rejoice that our King reigns in providence and shall reign in grace, from the river even to the ends of the earth, and of his dominion there shall be no end.
Thus from a sense of adoption, up to fellowship with our reigning Lord, this short model of prayer conducts the soul. Lord, teach us thus to pray.[1]

[1]Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, “October 29.”

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Evan D. Burns (Ph.D. Candidate, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is on faculty at Asia Biblical Theological Seminary, and he lives in Southeast Asia with his wife and twin sons. They are missionaries with Training Leaders International.

“That He Might Find Access To Their Souls”

November 25, 2013 Andrew Fuller Center

By Evan D. Burns

In a sermon delivered at the Old Jewry Chapel, London, on December 27, 1797, Andrew Fuller unpacked the implications of soul prosperity from the book of 3 John: “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth” (3 John 2). Fuller’s sermon demonstrates his uncommon ability to wring out of a simple text every drop of biblical import and implication. Outlined here are his observations of the prosperous soul:

What then are those marks of a prosperous soul which it behoves us to aspire after?
1)   A prosperous souls is one in whom the truth dwells, and dwells richly.
2)   The prosperous soul is a soul where the doctrinal and the practical parts of religion bear lovely proportion and are united.
3)   The prosperous soul is a soul in which is united a happy mixture of the retired and the active—a happy attention to the duties of retirement mingled with an equal attention to the duties of active life.
4)   The prosperous soul may be known by this, that it is accompanied by a good degree of public spirit, and largeness of heart.
5)   The prosperous soul is dispossessed of an ambitious spirit—it is meek and lowly.
The standard which prosperity of soul affords to our safety in prosperity of other kinds [is]:
1)   That prosperity of soul makes prosperity of other kind safe.
2)   With prosperity of soul, the general good is promoted.[1]

Fuller’s concluding appeal is for his hearers to be prosperous in soul for the sake of being evangelical in action. He sees mercy ministry as the door that opens the soul to prosper with the balm of the gospel.

To this I may add, that the relieving of men’s bodies to get access to their minds is a primitive and an excellent practice. The Son of God himself—and who can doubt that he had access wherever he pleased?—has set us the example; he went among the poor, the blind, the lame, the diseased. He mingled himself with them, and healed their bodies, that he might find access to their souls. The Almighty God, in human nature, would not overturn the laws of humanity; his desire was to establish and sanctify them. Let us operate by a system he himself has established, and do good to the bodies of men with a view to obtain access to their minds, thus relieving the temporal wants of the afflicted poor, and administering the balm of consolation unto the wounded spirit.[2]

[1] Andrew Gunton Fuller, The Complete Works of Andrew Fuller, Volume 1: Memoirs, Sermons, Etc., ed. Joseph Belcher (Harrisonburg, VA: Sprinkle Publications, 1988), 405-08.

[2]The Complete Works, 1:409.

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“I Dare Not Trifle with My Commission”

November 14, 2013 Andrew Fuller Center

By Evan D. Burns

As a writer, Emily C. Judson (1817-1854) sketched some illuminating anecdotes of her marriage to Adoniram Judson (1788-1850) that exhibit his Christ-enamored piety. She recorded his single-minded devotion to preaching the gospel as a missionary and his refusal to entertain people with stories of his labors, as though he were some kind of Christian celebrity. Emily recounted Judson speaking about Christ’s gospel at her home church (soon after they were married in 1846), though the people were manifestly disappointed with his lack of sensational stories. This account illustrates Judson’s humility in seeking to draw attention to Christ and his gospel instead of Judson’s own reputation. His self-forgetfulness would be a stranger to our self-promoting contemporary culture.

A short time before Dr. Judson left this country, he took considerable pains to visit my native village, and the church with which I first united…. After the usual sermon was over, he spoke for about fifteen minutes, with singular simplicity, and, as I thought, with touching pathos, of the “precious Saviour,” what he has done for us, and what we owe to him…. After the exercises were over, several persons inquired of me, frankly, why Dr. Judson had not talked of something else; why he had not told a story, etc.; while others signified their disappointment by not alluding to his having spoken at all. On the way home, I mentioned the subject to him.
“Why, what did they want?” he inquired; “I presented the most interesting subject in the world, to the best of my ability.”
“But they wanted something different—a story.”
“Well, I am sure I gave them a story—the most thrilling one that can be conceived of.”
“But they had heard it before. They wanted something new of a man who had just come from the antipodes.”
“Then I am glad they have it to say, that a man coming from the antipodes had nothing better to tell than the wondrous story of Jesus’ dying love. My business is to preach the gospel of Christ, and when I can speak at all, I dare not trifle with my commission. When I looked upon those people today, and remembered where I should next meet them, how could I stand up and furnish food to vain curiosity—tickle their fancies with amusing stories, however decently strung together on a thread of religion? That is not what Christ meant by preaching the gospel. And then, how could I hereafter meet the fearful charge, ‘I gave you one opportunity to tell them of me—you spent it in describing your own adventures!’”
He acknowledged that the diffusion of missionary information was a thing of great importance, but said that the good of the cause of missions did not require a lowering of the standard of gospel preaching; and that whatever was done for missions at the expense of spirituality in the American churches, was lost on the world.[1]

[1]Wayland, Memoir, 2:368-370.

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A new book by Dr. Michael Haykin: Ardent Love for Jesus: Learning from the eighteenth-century Baptist revival

November 12, 2013 Andrew Fuller Center

By Dustin Bruce

Building on years of teaching experience, D.A. Carson is quoted at saying, “students don’t learn everything I teach them. What they learn is what I am excited about, the kinds of things I emphasize again and again and again and again.” Michael Haykin’s new book, Ardent Love for Jesus, is this concept translated into book form. Each chapter may be compared to having one’s ear to the door of a classroom, listening intently as Haykin delivers a passionate lecture on a favorite subject: a band of eighteenth-century Baptists whose pursuit of the Risen Lord changed their denomination and the world.

Haykin begins by setting the context of the Baptist revivals, establishing a complicated British history and the rise of hyper-Calvinism as the winds that cooled the piety of Baptist churches in Britain. Yet, with men like John Gill, who fought to preserve the ember of orthodoxy among Baptist ranks, the spark remained for a fresh awakening when the Spirit would blow and ignite Baptist churches once again.

This book is about that fire of revival experienced by eighteenth-century Baptist men and women and what it can teach us today.

Chapters include:

‘A very dunghill in society’: The Calvinistic Baptists and their need for revival
‘The Saviour calls’: The ministry and piety of Benjamin Francis and Anne Steele
‘A little band of brothers’: Friendship and revival in the life of John Ryland Jr.
‘I wish I had prayed more’: John Sutcliff and the Concert of Prayer for revival
‘A dull flint’: Andrew Fuller and theological reformation
‘What a soul’: The revival piety of Samuel Pearce
‘A wretched, poor and helpless worm’: Revival activism–the legacy of William Carey

Appendix: Eighteenth-century Baptists and the gifts of the Holy Spirit in revival

I encourage you to pick up this helpful volume and have your heart warmed in love for Jesus.

Available at Amazon and The Book Depository.

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Dustin Bruce lives in Louisville, KY where he is pursuing a PhD in Biblical Spirituality at Southern Seminary. He is a graduate of Auburn University and Southwestern Seminary. Dustin and his wife, Whitney, originally hail from Alabama.

The choice of Moses: “the sweetest of all sweets”

November 11, 2013 Andrew Fuller Center

By Michael A.G. Haykin

A text that I have long meditated upon and that has been profitable to my soul has been the description of Moses’ treasure in Hebrews 11:24–26. I never noticed until last night when I was perusing J.W. Morris, coll. and arr., Miscellaneous Pieces on Various Religious Subjects, Being the Last Remains of The Rev. Andrew Fuller (London: Wightman and Cramp, 1826) that Andrew Fuller preached a sermon on this very text entitled “The choice of Moses” (Miscellaneous Pieces on Various Religious Subjects, 293–297). Here is choice portion—very Edwardsean with the mention of “sweet”—from the sermon:

“The society of the people of God, though afflicted, reproached, and persecuted, exceeds all the pleasures of sin while they do last. It is delightful to cast in our lot with them; for the bond of their union is holy love, which is the sweetest of all sweets to a holy mind. If we have once tasted of this, every thing else will become comparatively insipid. How sweet a bond of union is the love of Christ!—How sweet is the fellowship of saints! Even when borne down with reproaches and afflictions, how sweet are the tears of sympathy!”

____________________ Michael A.G. Haykin is the director of the Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies. He also serves as Professor of Church History and Biblical Spirituality at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. Haykin and his wife Alison have two grown children, Victoria and Nigel.

A Reading-Plan for The City of God

November 7, 2013 Andrew Fuller Center

By Michael A.G. Haykin

When I have lectured on Augustine’s seminal work, The City of God, I have often mentioned a reading plan I have for the work. Here it is below. The number prior to the full stop refers to the book (there are twenty-two books in The City of God), and the numbers after the full stop refer to the chapters within the respective books.

1.1–36: why Augustine wrote The City of God

4.1–4: the nature of kingdoms without justice

11.1–4: the origin of the two cities, the city of God and the city of man

12.4–9: the origin of evil

13.1–24: man’s fall and sinfulness

14.1–28: the two cities

15.1–2: the two cities at the beginning of time

20.1–30: the end of the two cities

21.1–2: the eternality of the punishment of the wicked

22.8–9: an excursus on miracles

22.29–30: the beatific vision

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Michael A.G. Haykin is the director of the Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies. He also serves as Professor of Church History and Biblical Spirituality at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. Haykin and his wife Alison have two grown children, Victoria and Nigel.

Charles Hodge on Demons and Evil Spirits

October 31, 2013 Andrew Fuller Center

By Ryan Patrick Hoselton

You may be thinking that this is another Fundamentalist rant against Halloween. It’s not. In fact, I love dressing up in costumes, and I especially love candy. There is nothing wrong with how most celebrate Halloween. It’s a fantastic opportunity for parents to bond with children, communities to come together, and it’s a great excuse to eat candy.

However, the fact that most Westerners can enjoy the holiday with lightheartedness indicates a major shift in our culture: most do not take evil spirits as seriously as previous centuries. My colleague at work asked me what I’ve been writing about recently, and when I explained the topic of evil spirits, he said: “that’s ridiculous.” Case in point. Thankfully, we’ve come a long way since the Salem Witch Trials, but have we gone too far to largely ignore the dimension of evil spirits? Of course there are still groups that celebrate witchcraft and the occult, but the mainstream culture has largely dismissed any notion of evil spirits as unscientific, mythical, and antiquated—if not in theory then at least in practice and conscientiousness. The truth is that the realm and agency of evil spirits is no light matter, and it exists just as actively in our modern world as it always has.

Charles Hodge (1797–1878), the Princeton theologian and author of the seminal Systematic Theology, maintained that “great evils…have arisen from exaggerated views of the agency of evil spirits” (Systematic Theology, 1.XIII.4). Nonetheless, he also recognized the reality of the evil supernatural realm and warned Christians not to underestimate it. “There is no special improbability in the doctrine of demoniacal possessions” Hodge wrote, “Evil spirits do exist. Why should we refuse to believe, on the authority of Christ, that they were allowed to have special power over some men? The world, since the apostasy, belongs to the kingdom of Satan” (1.XIII.4).

Many believers wrongly assume that the dimension of evil forces has no bearing on them. Hodge challenges Christians to consider that if we believe what the Scriptures say about the activity of evil spirits in the Old Testament and Apostolic eras, what indication to we have that it would be any different today? “As to the power and agency of these evil spirits,” they are “represented as being exceedingly numerous, as everywhere efficient, as having access to our world, and as operating in nature and in the minds of men” (1.XIII.4). Demons are still operative, actively trying to manipulate and pollute the souls of men and women. Thus we ought to “be on our guard and seek divine protection from the machinations of the spirits of evil” (1.XIII.4). It is important to have a right and balanced theology of evil spirits in order to understand the import of Christ’s victory over them.

Redeeming the world from the dominion of Satan “was the special object of the mission of the Son of God” (1.XIII.4). Christ’s incarnation was the apex of history when “he manifested his power” over the rule of Satan, “making the fact of his overthrow the more conspicuous and glorious” (1.XIII.4). Christ overturned the force of Satan’s power by conquering sin and rising victorious from the grave, demonstrating who truly has authority over death. That God sent his own Son to defeat evil forces shows that he takes them very seriously, and we should do likewise.

If men and women do not submit to the authority of God, they will bow to the authority of Satan. Perhaps the manifestation of mankind’s allegiance to Satan does not appear supernatural on the surface in our Western world, but it is nonetheless deceptively real. Christ will come again to claim his kingdom, and he will put a final end to Satan and his followers and gloriously deliver his people from their power.

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Ryan Patrick Hoselton is pursuing a ThM at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He lives in Louisville, KY with his wife Jaclyn, and they are the parents of one child.

“There is No Middle Ground”

October 31, 2013 Andrew Fuller Center

By Evan D. Burns

October 31, 1517 ought always to be remembered as the sacred day when the Spirit of God used the German Augustinian monk, Martin Luther (1483-1546), to launch the Protestant Reformation. Luther was a prophetic voice that took no prisoners with his theological assertions. His theological persuasion and unbreakable dissent emerged from his knowledge of the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures. The Reformation was the rediscovery of the Word. And it was through the languages that Luther unearthed the treasure of the gospel: justification by faith alone.

The following excerpts from his commentary on Galatians exemplify his zeal for this doctrine:

There is a clear and present danger that the devil may take away from us the pure doctrine of faith and may substitute for it the doctrines of works and of human traditions. It is very necessary, therefore, that this doctrine of faith be continually read and heard in public…. This doctrine can never be discussed and taught enough. If it is lost and perishes, the whole knowledge of truth, life, and salvation is lost and perishes at the same time. But if it flourishes, everything good flourishes.[1]

If the doctrine of justification is lost, the whole of Christian doctrine is lost…. For between these two kinds of righteousness, the active righteousness of the Law and the passive righteousness of Christ, there is no middle ground. Therefore he who has strayed away from this Christian righteousness will necessarily relapse into the active righteousness; that is, when he has lost Christ, he must fall into a trust in his own works.[2]

Therefore we always repeat, urge, and inculcate this doctrine of faith or Christian righteousness, so that it may be observed by continuous use and may be precisely distinguished from the active righteousness of the Law. (For by this doctrine alone and through it alone is the church built, and in this it consists).[3]

The second kind of righteousness is our proper righteousness, not because we alone work it, but because we work with that first and alien righteousness. This is that matter of life spent profitably in good works, in the first place, in slaying the flesh and crucifying the desires with respect to the self.[4]

For Luther, eternal joy and eternal punishment were at stake in this doctrine. To him, the minister of the Word ought to be fervent and constant in teaching this doctrine. One cannot be casual and lackadaisical in proclaiming Christian righteousness. As Luther said, there is no middle ground. This doctrine is absolutely essential for salvation.

Luther’s invincible weapon of justification by faith was produced in the factory of the original languages. Consider his grave concern that gospel ministers know Greek and Hebrew in “To the Councilmen of All Cities in Germany That They Establish and Maintain Christian Schools” (1524):[5]

In proportion then as we value the gospel, let us zealously hold to the languages….

And let us be sure of this: we will not long preserve the gospel without the languages. The languages are the sheath in which this sword of the Spirit is contained; they are the casket in which this jewel is enshrined; they are the vessel in which this wine is held; they are the larder in which this food is stored; and, as the gospel itself points out, they are the baskets in which are kept these loaves and fishes and fragments. If through our neglect we let the languages go (which God forbid!), we shall not only lose the gospel.

It is inevitable that unless the languages remain, the gospel must finally perish.

But where the preacher is versed in the languages, there is a freshness and vigor in his preaching, Scripture is treated in its entirety, and faith finds itself constantly renewed by a continual variety of words and illustrations.

We should not be led astray because some boast of the Spirit and consider Scripture of little worth, and others, such as the Waldensian Brethren think the languages are unnecessary.

So I can by no means commend the Waldensian Brethren for their neglect of the languages. For even though they may teach the truth, they inevitably often miss the true meaning of the text, and thus are neither equipped nor fit for defending the faith against error. Moreover, their teaching is so obscure and couched in such peculiar terms, differing from the language of Scripture, that I fear it is not or will not remain pure. For there is great danger in speaking of things of God in a different manner and in different terms than God himself employs. In short, they may lead saintly lives and teach sacred things among themselves, but so long as they remain without the languages they cannot but lack what all the rest lack, namely, the ability to treat Scripture with certainty and thoroughness and to be useful to other nations. Because they could do this, but will not, they have to figure out for themselves how they will answer for it to God.

[1]Timothy Lull. Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings, 2^nd ed. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2005 (18).

[2]Lull (22).

[3]Lull (22).

[4]Lull (136).

[5]Luther’s Works, ed. W. Brandt and H. Lehman (Philadelphia Muhlenberg Press, 1962), 357-366.

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“The Best Sermon Upon Baptism That I Have Ever Heard”

October 17, 2013 Andrew Fuller Center

By Evan D. Burns

On September 6, 1812, at Lal Bazaar Church in Calcutta, Adoniram and Ann Judson were baptized by William Ward. They departed the States as paedo-baptists, and through much Scriptural searching on their voyage, they arrived in India as convinced credo-baptists. In a sermon at Lal Bazaar Baptist church, Adoniram contended for believer’s baptism. His argument was so theologically articulate and textually faithful that the great missionary-theologian and linguist, William Carey, said it was the best sermon on believer’s baptism that he had ever heard. In this portion of a letter written by Carey to Dr. Staughton on October 20, 1812, Carey recounts the Judson’s baptism in India:

Since their arrival in Bengal, brother and sister Judson have been baptized. Judson has since that preached the best sermon upon baptism that I have ever heard on the subject, which we intend to print. I yesterday heard that brother Rice had also fully made up his mind upon baptism.

As none of us had conversed with brother Judson before he showed strong symptoms of a tendency towards believers’ baptism, I inquired of him what had occasioned the change. He told me, that on the voyage, he had thought much about the circumstance that he was coming to Serampore, where all were Baptists; that he should, in all probability, have occasion to defend infant sprinkling among us; and that, in consequence, he set himself to examine into the grounds of Pedobaptism. This ended in a conviction, that it has no foundation in the word of God, and occasioned a revolution in his sentiments, which was nearly complete before he arrived in India.[1]

What made Judson’s sermon on baptism the best that Carey had ever heard? What made it worthy of publishing numerous editions on the Baptist press in India? Moreover, what made the Judson’s risk losing their missionary support from the Congregationalists and risk joining the Baptists?

Adoniram Judson’s theological acumen and willingness to risk demonstrates his unswerving allegiance to the Word of God and his commitment to obey every command of God. Ann records her thoughts on the transition from paedo-baptist convictions to credo-baptist convictions. Her record demonstrates Adoniram’s dogged commitment to biblical exegesis over against denominational tradition.

Mr. Judson resolved to examine it candidly and prayerfully, let the result be what it would. No one in the mission family knew the state of his mind, as they never conversed with any of us on this subject. It was very fearful he would become a Baptist, and frequently suggested the unhappy consequences if he should. He always answered, that his duty compelled him to examine the subject, and he hoped he should have a disposition to embrace the truth, though he paid dear for it. I always took the Pedobaptists’ side in reasoning with him, although I was as doubtful of the truth of their system as he.[2] After we came to Calcutta, he devoted his whole time to reading on this subject, having obtained the best authors on both sides. After having examined and re-examined the subject, in every way possible, and comparing the sentiments of both Baptists and Pedobaptists with the Scriptures, he was compelled, from a conviction of the truth, to embrace those of the former. I confined my attention almost entirely to the Scriptures, comparing the Old with the New Testament, and tried to find something to favor infant baptism, but was convinced it had no foundation there. I examined the covenant of circumcision, and could see no reason for concluding that baptism was to be administered to children because circumcision was. Thus, my dear parents and sisters, we are both confirmed Baptists, not because we wished to be, but because truth compelled us to be. A renunciation of our former sentiments has caused us more pain than any thing which ever happened to us through our lives.[3]

[1]James D. Knowles, The Memoir of Mrs. Ann H. Judson, Wife of the Rev. Adoniram Judson, Missionary to Burmah, Including a History of the American Baptist Mission in the Burman Empire, 2^nd ed. (London: Wightman and Cramp, 1829), 66.

[2]Original spelling: “Pedobaptism”

[3]Robert T. Middleditch, Burmah’s Great Missionary: Records of the Life, Character, and Achievements of Adoniram Judson (New York: E.H. Fletcher, 1854), 52-53; James D. Knowles, The Memoir of Mrs. Ann H. Judson, Wife of the Rev. Adoniram Judson, Missionary to Burmah, Including a History of the American Baptist Mission in the Burman Empire, 2^nd ed. (London: Wightman and Cramp, 1829), 62-63; Francis Wayland, A Memoir of the Life and Labors of the Rev. Adoniram Judson, D.D. (Boston: Phillips, Samson, and Company, 1853), 1:108.

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Audio for "Andrew Fuller & His Controversies" Now Online

October 15, 2013 Andrew Fuller Center

By Steve Weaver

Audio of this year's conference, Andrew Fuller & His Controversies, is now available online for free streaming or MP3 download. The conference, which was held on September 27-28, 2013, featured speakers such as Paul Helm, Mark Jones, Tom Nettles, Nathan Finn and other scholars. You may access the audio for the conference here. Audio of previous conferences is available by clicking on "Conference" on this website's left sidebar. On the conference page, you may choose from previous conferences on the right sidebar. Most of these include the audio of all sessions for free streaming or MP3 download.

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Steve Weaver serves as a research assistant to the director of the Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies and a fellow of the Center. He also serves as senior pastor of Farmdale Baptist Church in Frankfort, KY. Steve and his wife Gretta have six children between the ages of 2 and 14.

Children and Church History

October 7, 2013 Andrew Fuller Center

By Dustin Bruce

Recent years have witnessed a recovery of biblical teaching related to the responsibility of Christian parents to be their children’s primary disciplers. Groups like The Center for Christian Family Ministry and events like the D6 Conference have championed the Bible’s command to “bring them [children] up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4).

In Deuteronomy 6:7, God instructs Israel to teach their children his commands throughout the course of the day. In Joshua 4, Israel constructs a monument of stones as a teaching tool to educate the coming generations of God’s mighty saving acts. And while it is vital to teach children God’s commands and how he has worked through salvation history, it is also important to educate children on how God has worked to preserve a people for his own possession throughout the history of the Church.

While this can seem no easy task, thankfully, there a number of good resources available to help. Here are a few of my personal favorites:

The Church History ABC’s: Augustine and 25 other Heroes of the Faith by Steve Nichols and Ned Bustard

Reformation Heroes by Diana Kleyn and Joel Beeke

The Christian Biographies for Young Readers Series by Simonetta Carr

History Lives: Chronicles of the Church by Brandon Withrow and Mindy Withrow

Heroes of the Faith Series by Sinclair Ferguson

The renewed emphasis on biblical family discipleship is something to celebrate. But let’s not forget to equip our children with a working knowledge of Church History.

Join in:

What are some of your favorite tools for teaching children Church History?

Are there any children’s books that focus on Baptist history?

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“A Large Portion Do Not Preach the Gospel at All”

October 3, 2013 Andrew Fuller Center

By Evan D. Burns

In his eminent biography of Adoniram Judson, Francis Wayland carefully demonstrates how the Judson’s valued the preaching of the gospel in missions as opposed to doing other good “fruitful” ministries which seemed to bring in more immediate “fruit”. The following account is very applicable to missions, especially today amidst our need-for-speed missions pragmatism.

During these long years of preparation, surrounded by heathen, not one of whom had ever received a single Christian idea, and, for the greater part of the time, destitute of any religious associations, except what they found in each other, Mr. and Mrs. Judson were never for a moment harassed with a doubt of ultimate success. It never entered into their minds that it might be desirable to find a more promising field. If the idea had once arrested their attention, he could not, he said, tell what the result might have been; but God preserved them from being tempted with it. They never felt a single regret or misgiving, and hence their letters never even allude to it, except it be to encourage their friends at home, who, they feared, might despond, in consequence of their want of success. They always enjoyed the most entire certainty as to the result of their labors, though occasionally doubting whether they should live to witness it. Their confidence rested solely and exclusively on the word of God. They believed that he had promised; they, doing, as they believed, his will, accepted the promise as addressed to themselves personally. Their daily work was a transaction between God and their own souls. It never seemed possible to them that God could be false to his promises. Their confidence was the offspring of that faith which is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. By it they went forth, not knowing whither they went. By faith, through many long years of discouragement, they endured, as seeing Him who is invisible; relying not at all on what they could do, but wholly on what God had promised to do for them.

….The direct way of securing the aid of almighty power, is to follow in the path marked out by omniscient wisdom. Mr. Judson therefore endeavored, first of all, to ascertain the manner in which Christ and his apostles labored to extend Christianity. This seems plainy exemplified in the New Testament. It is by the action of individual mind on individual mind. It is by embracing every opportunity, which our intercourse with men presents, to tell them of the love of Christ, of their danger and their duty, and to urge them, in Christ’s stead, to be reconciled to God. Thus did Christ, and thus did his apostles labor. They had no plan, no sapping and mining, no preparatory work, extending over half a generation before they should be ready for direct and energetic effort. As the apostles opened their commission, they saw that it commanded them to preach the gospel to every creature. They obeyed the commandment, and God wrought with them by signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.

Mr. Judson followed these examples, and his labors were attended with signal success. Hence it will be perceived that he addressed himself at once to adults, to those who denied the existence of an eternal God; and the Holy Spirit carried the message directly to their hearts. Missionaries have sometimes said that we could scarcely expect men grown old in heathenism ever to be converted, since they were beyond the reach, at least, of our immediate efforts. We must therefore begin with children. We must establish schools, by our superior knowledge gain influence over the young, and with their daily lessons instill into their minds a knowledge of Christianity. And more than this: as the religious systems of the heathen are indissolubly associated with false views of astronomy, geography, and physical science generally, if we can correct these errors, the religion resting upon them must by necessity be swept away. As these views have been carried into practice, a change has naturally come over missionary stations. Ministers of the gospel to the heathen have become schoolmasters. Instead of proclaiming the great salvation, they have occupied themselves in teaching reading, spelling, geography, arithmetic, and astronomy. While some are thus engaged as teachers, others are employed as book makers for the schools. Thus it sometimes comes to pass, that of the men sent out for the express purpose of preaching the gospel, a large portion do not preach the gospel at all.[1]

[1]Francis Wayland, The Memoir of Adoniram Judson, 1:205-208.

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Who’s Ultimately Converting?

September 20, 2013 Andrew Fuller Center

By Ryan Patrick Hoselton

Contextualization—in culture and on the mission field—has perennially been one of the most sensitive and complicated subjects for Christians interested in sharing their faith. To what degree should believers talk, dress, act, and think like their non-Christian community in order to effectively present the gospel to it? Andrew Fuller (1754–1815) offers a helpful test for Christians wrestling through these questions, simply ask: who’s ultimately converting? Are you seeing unbelievers embrace a new identity in Christ, or are your neighbors actually seeing you convert?

In his apologetic work against the Socinian Joseph Priestley (1733–1804), Fuller paralleled the compromise of doctrine to cultural trends to an example of a compromise on the mission field:

Nearly the same things might be observed respecting heathens and Mahometans. We may so model the gospel as almost to accommodate it to their taste; and by this means we may come nearer together: but – whether, in so doing, we shall not be rather converted to them, than they to us, deserves to be considered. Christianity may be so heathenized that a man may believe in it, and yet be no Christian. Were it true, therefore, that Socinianism had a tendency to induce professed infidels, by meeting them, as it were, half way, to take upon them the Christian name, still it would not follow that it was of any real use. The popish missionaries, of the last century, in China, acted upon the principle of accommodation; they gave up the main things in which Christians and heathens had been used to differ, and allowed the Chinese every favourite species of idolatry. The consequence was, they had a great many converts, such as they were; but thinking people looked upon the missionaries as more converted to heathenism, than the Chinese heathens to Christianity.^{^[1]}

Why would unbelievers even consider becoming a Christian when its representatives have nothing unique to offer, for what would they “do more, by embracing Christianity, than they already do?”^{^[2]} When Christians compromise their doctrine for the sake of reaching a certain demographic, they divest their mission of its life-source. The missionaries that Fuller referenced “stripped the gospel of all its real glory” and “of all that is interesting and affecting to the souls of men.”^{^[3]} When identifying with unbelievers, be careful not to lose your own identity. Don’t be ashamed of the uniqueness of the gospel when evangelizing. The reality is that the gospel is different than us, and that’s exactly why we need it.

^{^[1]} Andrew Fuller, The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared, As to their Moral Tendency, in The Complete Works of the Rev. Andrew Fuller with a Memoir of His Life by Andrew Gunton Fuller, 3 Vols., ed. Joseph Belcher (Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society, 1845. Repr., Harrisonburg, VA: Sprinkle, 1988), 2:126.

^{^[2]} Andrew Fuller, The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined, in Complete Works, 2:127.

^{^[3]} Andrew Fuller, The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined, in Complete Works, 2:126–27.

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Ryan Patrick Hoselton is pursuing a ThM at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He lives in Louisville, KY with his wife Jaclyn, and they are expecting their first child in August.

“Truth Itself is of the Greatest Importance”

September 19, 2013 Andrew Fuller Center

By Evan D. Burns

On September 27-28, 2013, The Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies will host its 7^th Annual Conference on “Andrew Fuller & His Controversies” at Southern Seminary. (Register here). In keeping with the theme of this conference, consider Andrew Fuller’s motivations behind theological controversy. Near the end of his “Reply to Philanthropos” in Section IV, “On the Death of Christ,” Andrew Fuller discloses his heart for engaging in controversy. Fuller is a great pastoral example of contending for truth without being contentious:

As I did not engage in controversy from any love I had to the thing itself, so I have no mind to continue in it any further than some good end may be answered by it. Whether what I have already written tends to that end, it becomes not me to decide: but, supposing it does, there is a point in all controversies beyond which they are unprofitable and tedious. When we have stated the body of an argument, and attempted an answer to the main objections, the most profitable part of the work is done. Whatever is attempted afterwards must either consist of little personalities, with which the reader has no concern; or, at best, it will respect the minutiæ of things, in which case it seldom has a tendency to edification. To this I may add, though I see no reason, at present, to repent of having engaged in this controversy, and, in similar circumstances, should probably do the same again, yet it never was my intention to engage in a controversy for life….

A reflection or two shall conclude the whole. However firmly any of the parties engaged in this controversy may be persuaded of the goodness of his cause, let us all beware of idolizing a sentiment. This is a temptation to which controversialists are particularly liable. There is a lovely proportion in Divine truth; if one part of it be insisted on to the neglect of another, the beauty of the whole is defaced; and the ill effects of such a partial distribution will be visible in the spirit, if not in the conduct, of those who admire it.

Further, Whatever difficulties there may be in finding out truth, and whatever mistakes may attend any of us in this controversy, (as it is very probable we are each mistaken in some things,) yet, let us remember, truth itself is of the greatest importance. It is very common for persons, when they find a subject much disputed, especially if it is by those whom they account good men, immediately to conclude that it must be a subject of but little consequence, a mere matter of speculation. Upon such persons religious controversies have a very ill effect; for finding a difficulty attending the coming at the truth, and at the same time a disposition to neglect it and to pursue other things, they readily avail themselves of what appears to them a plausible excuse, lay aside the inquiry, and sit down and indulge a spirit of scepticism. True it is that such variety of opinions ought to make us very diffident of ourselves, and teach us to exercise a Christian forbearance towards those who differ from us. It should teach us to know and feel what an inspired apostle acknowledged, that here we see but in part, and are, at best, but in a state of childhood. But if all disputed subjects are to be reckoned matters of mere speculation, we shall have nothing of any real use left in religion….

Finally, Let us all take heed that our attachments to Divine truth itself be on account of its being Divine. We are ever in extremes; and whilst one, in a time of controversy, throws off all regard to religious sentiment in the gross, reckoning the whole a matter of speculation, another becomes excessively affected to his own opinions, whether right or wrong, without bringing them to the great criterion, the word of God. Happy will it be for us all if truth be the sole object of our inquiries, and if our attachment to Divine truth itself be, not on account of its being what we have once engaged to defend, but what God hath revealed.^{^[1]}

^{^[1]}Andrew Gunton Fuller, The Complete Works of Andrew Fuller, Volume 2: Controversial Publications, ed. Joseph Belcher (Harrisonburg, VA: Sprinkle Publications, 1988), 510-11.

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Top Five Reasons You Should Attend Andrew Fuller and His Controversies

September 5, 2013 Andrew Fuller Center

By Dustin Bruce

With the Fuller Conference coming up later this month, I thought I would present you with five reasons to consider attending this year’s conference. Thanks to Dustin Benge for contributing a number of these.

1. Engage first-class scholarship in the field of Baptist studies. The Andrew Fuller Center exists to further historical research and interest in the field of Baptist history, theology, and related disciplines. The annual conference, which features a number of distinguished speakers, serves as one way we try and do this. This year, you can hear notable scholars such as Paul Helm, Mark Jones, Tom Nettles, Nathan Finn, and more.

2. Equip yourself to face current controversy from a historical perspective. The Fuller Conference is not just for scholars. At The Andrew Fuller Center, what we care about most is the church. With every conference, we aim to empower ministers and lay leaders to serve more effectively in the context of local Baptist churches.

This year is no different. What church does not face controversy from time to time? If you are a ministry leader, come learn how to handle questions on hyper-Calvinism, Arminianism, and eschatology from a historical perspective.

There is truly nothing new under the sun. Controversies don’t die; they just reappear under a different name. You may have never heard the term ‘Socinianism,’ but listening to Dr. Nettles on the topic will guide your approach to dealing with its modern counterpart, Unitarianism. The same could be said about Deism, Socinianism, and more.

3. Engross yourself into another century. Evangelicals all too often fall into what C.S. Lewis described as “Chronological Snobbery,” the penchant to automatically discredit ideas from the past and uncritically accept contemporary thought. At the Andrew Fuller Conference, you will have the opportunity to leave the twenty-first century and travel back to the eighteenth-century. In doing so, you may just find that much of what you assume to be true is false (and vice-versa).

4. Enjoy the close fellowship of a smaller conference. At The Andrew Fuller Center, we thank God for giant conferences that bring together thousands to extol the riches of God’s grace through preaching and song. Yet, this is not our aim. At the Fuller Conference, our intention is to create a thriving environment of brotherly affection centered on the gospel. With our smaller size and more pointed focus, we think we do just that. Come join us and enjoy the fellowship of godly men and women in a smaller, more intimate conference setting.

5. Experience the campus of Southern Seminary. The Andrew Fuller Center has the great benefit of being located on the beautiful campus of Southern Seminary. Come join us and enjoy the amenities of The Legacy Hotel and Conference Center while enjoying Southern’s 80-acre campus located in the Cherokee Park section of Louisville, KY. Close to everything Louisville has to offer, the Fuller Conference would pair great with a family trip to this historical city.

We hope you will join us at the 7^th annual Andrew Fuller Conference. If you have any questions, contact:

The Office of Event Productions

Phone: (502) 897-4072

Email: eventproductions@sbts.edu

The Andrew Fuller Center

Phone: (502) 897-4613

Email: andrewfullercenter@sbts.edu

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“The Grand Theme of the Christian Ministry”: Fuller’s Christocentric Homiletics

September 5, 2013 Andrew Fuller Center

By Evan D. Burns

In a sermon entitled, “Preaching Christ,”[1] Andrew Fuller carefully considered what it means for true ministers of the gospel to truly preach Christ. His sermon is very relevant in that he argues for the central place that preaching Christ must take in the ministry of a true gospel minister.

From his main text—“We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake” (2 Cor 4:6)—Fuller considered the preaching model of the apostles and asked these questions: What did they not preach? What did they preach? What did they consider themselves to be?[2] Negatively, he argued that the apostles did not preach themselves because their goals were not “worldly advantage… ease and indolence… applause… [and] proselytes to ourselves.”[3] Positively, he contended that as the apostles preached, by extension, ministers today ought to preach, “Christ Jesus the Lord.... [Ministers should] exhibit his Divinity and glorious character…, hold up his atonement and mediation as the only ground of a sinner’s hope…, hold up the blessings of his salvation for acceptance, even to the chief of sinners…, [and] preach him as “the Lord” or Lawgiver, of his church, no less than a Saviour.”[4] And he concluded by claiming that as the apostles did, ministers today should consider themselves to be servants for Christ’s sake.

In Fuller’s introduction he warns that not all ministers are true Christians. The ministry is not a mere religious occupation. It is a service to Christ. The gospel truths which ministers must teach are worthy of meditation by the ministers themselves and not just their flocks. Ministers themselves must meditate on the Word in order to feed their own souls before they can feed their churches. The Word will not benefit a minister and his preaching unless his preaching is mixed with his own faith and religious affection.

Fuller’s sermon is relatively short but full of many timeless instructions. Here are three of the choicest excerpts from Fuller’s sermon:

WHAT THE APOSTLES DID PREACH:—We preach “Christ Jesus the Lord.” This is the grand theme of the Christian ministry. But many have so little of the Christian minister about them, that their sermons have scarcely any thing to do with Christ. They are mere moral harangues. And these, forsooth, would fain be thought exclusively the friends of morality and good works! But they know not what good works are, nor do they go the way to promote them. “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”.… Preach Christ, or you had better be any thing than a preacher. The necessity laid on Paul was not barely to preach, but to preach Christ. “Woe unto me if I preach not the gospel!”.… Some are employed in depreciating Christ. But do you honour him. Some who talk much about him, yet do not preach him, and by their habitual deportment prove themselves enemies to his cross.… If you preach Christ, you need not fear for want of matter. His person and work are rich in fulness. Every Divine attribute is seen in him. All the types prefigure him. The prophecies point to him. Every truth bears relation to him. The law itself must be so explained and enforced as to lead to him.^{^[5]}

Hold up his atonement and mediation as the only ground of a sinner’s hope.—It is the work of a Christian minister to beat off self-righteous hope, which is natural to depraved man, and to direct his hearers to the only hope set before them in the gospel. Be not concerned merely to form the manners of your congregation, but bring them to Christ. That will best form their manners. The apostles had no directions short of this: “Repent, and believe the gospel.” They never employed themselves in lopping off the branches of sin; but laid the axe to the root. Your business with the sins of mankind is, to make use of them to convince your hearers of the corruption of their nature, and their need of a radical cure.^{^[6]}

Preach him as “the Lord,” or Lawgiver, of his church, no less than as a Saviour.—Christ’s offices must not be divided. Taking his yoke, and learning his spirit, are connected with coming to him. Believers are “not without law unto God, but under the law to Christ.” The preaching of Christ will answer every end of preaching. This is the doctrine which God owns to conversion, to the leading of awakened sinners to peace, and to the comfort of true Christians. If the doctrine of the cross be no comfort to us, it is a sign we have no right to comfort. This doctrine is calculated to quicken the indolent, to draw forth every Christian grace, and to recover the backslider. This is the universal remedy for all the moral diseases of all mankind.^{^[7]}

[1]Andrew Gunton Fuller, The Complete Works of Andrew Fuller, Volume 1: Memoirs, Sermons, Etc., ed. Joseph Belcher (Harrisonburg, VA: Sprinkle Publications, 1988), 501-504.

[2]Fuller, The Complete Works, 502.

[3]Fuller, The Complete Works, 502.

[4]Fuller, The Complete Works, 503-504.

^{^[5]}Fuller, The Complete Works, 503.

^{^[6]}Fuller, The Complete Works, 503.

^{^[7]}Fuller, The Complete Works, 503-504.

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New Book by Dr. Haykin: Travel With Jonathan Edwards

September 3, 2013 Andrew Fuller Center

By Steve Weaver

Dr. Haykin has authored a book with Ron Baines for by the UK publisher Day One. The book is part of Day One's Travel Guides series and traces the footsteps of the colonial American theologian Jonathan Edwards. The volume includes a biographical introduction to Edwards with full-color maps and photographs highlighting key sites related to his life and ministry. For more details on the volume, see the info sheet provided by the publisher. The book is available for order from Amazon.com.

Dr. Douglas A. Sweeney of the the Jonathan Edwards Center at TEDS recently gave his recommendation to the book on the Edwards Center's blog. He wrote that the volume "is a wonderful travel guide to the the world of Jonathan Edwards. It is historically-informed, biographically-detailed, and designed for use by church historical tourists."

Be sure to check out this and the other Travel Guides offered by Day One. They are excellent companions as you travel in North America, the United Kingdom and beyond.

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Steve Weaver serves as a research assistant to the director of the Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies and a junior fellow of the Center. He also serves as senior pastor of Farmdale Baptist Church in Frankfort, KY. Steve and his wife Gretta have six children between the ages of 2 and 14.

Caveat on Reading John Gill

August 27, 2013 Andrew Fuller Center

By Ian Hugh Clary

The Confessing Baptist website recently linked to an article by pastor Mike Waters of Heritage Reformed Baptist Church in North Canton, OH. Pastor Waters and I are acquaintances, so I thought it would be nice to read what he had to say, especially as he encourages us to read John Gill (1697-1771). Having studied Gill at some length, I am thankful for pastor Waters’ five reasons for reading “Dr. Voluminous,” possibly the leading Baptist theologian of the eighteenth century. We should read Gill, according to Waters, because he was Reformed, baptistic, theological, pastoral, and Christocentric. These are all very good reasons, and I’m glad pastor Waters shared them with us.

I would like to add my own endorsement of reading Gill, but with one caveat: be careful. In many ways, Gill is worth regular and sustained reading. In certain areas, he is absolutely stellar. I am thinking pre-eminently of his work on the Trinity and the deity of Christ, and also, of course, his work on baptism. I advocate care in reading Gill, however, because of the serious problems in Gill’s theology noted by pastor Waters, namely Gill’s high Calvinism and his tendencies to antinomianism. I am more than aware of the debates surrounding the interpretations of Gill on both scores, and I agree that Gill was nuanced enough as a theologian and exegete to be able to dodge those charges in absolute terms. But there can be no doubt that many of his disciples—such as John Brine in the eighteenth century, and the Gospel Standard Baptists of the nineteenth—were not as careful.

Our biggest concerns should be those expressed by subsequent Baptists like Andrew Fuller, who admired Gill, but saw the necessity of critiquing those dangerous elements in his theology. For instance, Gill was against the idea of “offering” the gospel to sinners, he advocated eternal justification, and though he wrote against antinomianism, there is a strain of it in his works. All of this comes out more strongly in the writings of his followers. While Gill was a noteworthy exegete—he was a leading Hebraist in his day, and a master of many ancient languages—he also took to performing exegetical back-flips to suit his theology. I think here of his distinctions between “active” and “passive” justification, and “legal” and “evangelical” repentance. Both of these are notions that Fuller took to task in his justly famous Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation.

Of course, being involved with the Andrew Fuller Center, I would recommend reading Fuller’s works—especially Gospel Worthy. Fuller, like Gill, also wrote on the deity of Christ and baptism, and was a great defender of evangelical Calvinism. I would also recommend reading Abraham Booth, another great Baptist theologian from that period who is, by and large, quite trustworthy. Even better, if you are really interested in Baptist theology, read all three! But keep the problems with Gill in mind, and take to heart the criticisms that have been laid at his feet, whether by the men of that earlier period, as I have noted, or those today like Tom Nettles, Peter Naylor, or Robert Oliver. Critical appreciation is a must!

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Ian Hugh Clary is finishing doctoral studies under Adriaan Neele at Universiteit van die Vrystaat (Blomfontein), where he is writing a dissertation on the evangelical historiography of Arnold Dallimore. He has co-authored two local church histories with Michael Haykin and contributed articles to numerous scholarly journals. Ian lives in Toronto with his wife and two children.

Southern Baptists, Evangelicalism, and … Andrew Fuller?

August 23, 2013 Andrew Fuller Center

By Nathan A. Finn

Ever since “evangelical” became a household word in 1976, scholars have been debating the relationship between Southern Baptists and evangelicalism. In 1982, Mercer University Press published a book titled Are Southern Baptists Evangelicals? In that volume, James Tull essentially moderated a debate between James Leo Garrett and Glenn Hinson. Garrett argued Southern Baptists are “denominational” evangelicals, while Hinson distanced Southern Baptists from American evangelicalism.

In 1994, David Dockery edited a collection of essays for B&H titled Southern Baptists and American Evangelicals: The Conversation Continues. Some of the contributors were Southern Baptists (including Garrett and Hinson), while others were non-SBC evangelical scholars. Most of the contributors argued for some form of continuity and discontinuity between Southern Baptists and the broader evangelical movement.

Since 2006, several scholars have revisited this discussion in the form of journal articles and contributed book chapters. Examples include Malcolm Yarnell, William Brackney, Jeff Robinson, and Nathan Finn. Others such as Dockery, Al Mohler, Steve Lemke, Timothy George, and Russell Moore have also participated in this discussion through conference addresses, popular articles, and online writings. Still other scholars don’t so much enter into the debate as they assume that Baptists either are or are not evangelicals.

This scholarly discussion applies to Baptists and evangelicals in general, not just in America. At this year’s annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, I will be participating in a session that looks at various perspectives on Andrew Fuller’s thought. My paper is titled “Andrew Fuller: An Evangelical Theologian.” I hope to dialogue with the mostly Baptist authors who are reticent to identify Baptists with evangelicalism, but I also hope to engage scholars who discuss Fuller as if he were a generic evangelical who just happened to be a Baptist. (David Bebbington, Mark Noll, and Bruce Hindmarsh fall into the latter category.)

I will contend that Fuller, like most Baptists, most certainly was an evangelical. But, it would be anachronistic to divorce Fuller’s evangelical emphases from his Baptist identity. He was a Baptist evangelical, or, perhaps more specifically, a Baptist Edwardsean. His version of evangelicalism, while certainly exhibiting the characteristics of evangelicalism is general, was filtered through his robustly baptistic understanding of ecclesiology. Keith Grant goes partly down this road in his recent monograph on Fuller’s pastoral theology, but I hope to push a bit farther. Prior to the advent of nondenominational evangelicalism—a mostly 20^th-century phenomenon—most evangelicals filtered their evangelicalism through the lens of their denominational identity. And for Fuller, that denominational identity was Particular Baptist.

I would suggest that contemporary Southern Baptists who are convictionally baptistic but also committed to a broader evangelicalism might learn something about our own identity from the Fullerites who wed similar emphases in their own context. To be a theologically orthodox Southern Baptist is to be an evangelical, albeit a particular type of evangelical.

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Nathan A. Finn is associate professor of historical theology and Baptist Studies at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is also an elder at First Baptist Church of Durham, NC and a senior fellow of the Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies.

“Determine to Stand by Christ”: Judson’s Letter to His Sons

August 22, 2013 Andrew Fuller Center

By Evan D. Burns

Writing in a letter to his sons who were studying in Worcester, Adoniram Judson pled with them to relentlessly pursue God. This warm letter exemplifies his affection for Jesus, his heavenly-minded spirituality, his consecrated piety, and his evangelistic spirit. Moreover, Judson’s earnest words serve as an extraordinary window into his fatherly heart, which is not always demonstrated clearly by his numerous biographers. If I had one letter to write to my sons, would I say this?

Is it possible that I have letters from you at last? I had waited so long that I began to think it would never be. And I am so glad to hear of your welfare, and especially that you have both been under religious impressions, and that Elnathan begins to entertain a hope in Christ! O, this is the most blessed news. Go on, my dear boys, and not rest until you have made your calling and election sure. I believe that you both and Abby Ann will become true Christians, and meet me in heaven; for I never pray without praying for your conversion, and I think I pray in faith. Go to school, attend to your studies, be good scholars, try to get a good education; but, O, heaven is all. Life, life, eternal life! Without this, without an interest in the Lord of life, you are lost, lost forever. Dear Adoniram, give your heart at once to the Saviour. Don’t go to sleep without doing it. Try, try for your life. Don’t mind what anybody may say to the contrary, nor how much foolish boys may laugh at you. Love the dear Saviour, who has loved you unto death. Dear sons, so soon as you have a good hope in Christ that your sins are pardoned, and that Christ loves you, urge your pastor and the church to baptize and receive you into communion. They will hold back, thinking you are too young, and must give more evidence. But don’t be discouraged. Push on. Determine to do it. Determine to stand by Christ, come what will. That is the way to get to heaven. . . . Will Elnathan tell me what little book it was that was so much blessed to him? I have forgotten what I sent him. I have sent you copies of your mother’s Memoir. You will be delighted to read it, so beautifully and so truthfully is it written. Ever love to cherish the memory of your own dear mother—how much she loved you to the last gasp—and prepare to follow her to heaven.

Your fond father,

A. JUDSON.[1]

[1]Edward Judson, The Life of Adoniram Judson, 523; Quoted also in Francis Wayland, A Memoir of the Life and Labors of the Rev. Adoniram Judson, 2:307-308.

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Evan D. Burns (Ph.D. Candidate, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is on faculty at Asia Biblical Theological Seminary, and he lives in Thailand with his wife and twin sons. They are missionaries with Training Leaders International.

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