Authenticity is an oft-demanded value and practice today. Though it does, as Carl Trueman has noted, “embody the fashionable piety of the postmodern ethos,” one cannot deny its importance in Christian spirituality. Alister McGrath values authenticity in his definition of Christian spirituality: “Christian spirituality concerns the quest for a fulfilled and authentic Christian existence.” A desire for authenticity in the church is nothing new, especially in relation to piety. Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758) and Andrew Fuller (1754–1815) were two early evangelical exemplars of this same desire.
Edwards described “true religion” as that which was revealed in the Scriptures. It was brought about through “the light of the gospel.” He noted that the Reformation was a renewal of true religion in the church. Adherents, said Edwards, were converted to this true religion and it was to be embraced, professed, and it was meant to flourish within the church. Fuller meant essentially the same thing whether he referred to it as “real religion,” or “true religion.” In a funeral sermon on the topic, Fuller described true religion as that which is built on the foundation of faith in Christ. True religion would grow on the foundation of faith in Christ, said Fuller, by “praying in the Holy Spirit.” As true religion grows in a believer it issues in love to God and others. Elsewhere, Fuller argued that love was the essence of true religion. Real or true religion for these men was the lived experience of the Christian life, and their desire was that it would be real or true, that is, in accord with what God has revealed in the Scriptures.
This paper will argue that recovering this real or true religion is vital to the genuineness which is so craved in the culture of the church today. A summary of Edwards and Fuller on real or true religion will be given from key works. The harmony of their estimations of what constituted real or true religion will be shown. Finally, a proposal of how this real or true religion can be prayed for, sought, and lived will be displayed from these eminent men of piety.