The Disturbing Legacy of Charles Finney
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I sometimes wonder if anyone who admires Finney knows much about him. The more I learn about him, the more disturbing he and his teaching appear to be. I don’t know how he escaped with such a (in certain circles) positive legacy.
Besides, just look at his face: http://www2.oberlin.edu/external/EOG/images/CharlesGrandisonFinney.html
…I rest my case.
Finney’s Systematic Theology was a text book for at least one Christian college in the early to mid 20th Century, affecting the graduates and a lot of their followers and providing the foundation for much of the revivalism of that era.
"Some things are of that nature as to make one's fancy chuckle, while his heart doth ache." John Bunyan
I know a Pastor, who was assigned Finney’s systematic theology at bible college, and ended up doubting his own salvation for months after reading it.
Tyler is a pastor in Olympia, WA and works in State government.
[TylerR]The healthier response would probably be to doubt Finney’s salvation after reading it.I know a Pastor, who was assigned Finney’s systematic theology at bible college, and ended up doubting his own salvation for months after reading it.
“One of the tremendous affirmations of the great evangelist and preacher Charles G. Finney is this; that it is the truth of God that convicts and that saves.” -W. A. Criswell, pastor of First Baptist Church, Dallas, TX and SBC president.
“Few men have had such a profound impact on their generation as Charles Grandison Finney. Through his Spirit-filled evangelistic ministry, uncounted thousands came to know Christ in the nineteenth century, resulting in one of the greatest periods of revival in the history of America. In addition, he became one of the most widely-read theologians of his time through his lectures and writings. His concern for education influenced whole generations of students.”
“But most of all, Charles G. Finney was a deeply-committed Christian. More than anything else he wanted to serve Christ and be used of Him.”
-Evangelist Billy Graham
Graham goes on to call Finney a “remarkable man,” and “one of history’s greatest evangelists.”
http://gulfcoastpastor.blogspot.com/2012/05/evangelist-billy-graham-on-charles-g.html
“[Charles G.] Finney won multiplied thousands of souls. Although he preached in a smaller area, and though he was handicapped by some errors in theology, Finney probably had as powerful a manifestation of the power of God upon his ministry as did D. L. Moody or any other preacher since the days of Paul, and in the smaller area which he covered in his revival work a larger proportion of the population was saved than has been true, we suppose, in the ministry of any other great evangelist.” -John R. Rice, The Power of Pentecost; 1949, 1979. Rice was founding editor of The Sword of the Lord.
Robert L. Sumner refers to the “noted and greatly used Charles G. Finney.”
For a positive treatment of Finney (horrors!), see: The Life and Ministry of Charles G. Finney by Dr. Lewis A. Drummond, Bethany House Publishers; 1983. Drummond was a professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Apparently one of the main reasons some condemn Finney is because he wasn’t much of a strict Calvinist.
David R. Brumbelow
“You must come to Christ. You must accept of Christ really and fully as your Saviour. Renouncing all thought of depending on any thing you have done or can do, you must accept of Christ as your atoning sacrifice, and as your ever living Mediator before God. Without the least qualification or reserve you must place yourself under his wing as your Saviour.”
-Charles G. Finney; 1848.
Doesn’t sound too heretical to me.
David R. Brumbelow
Here are some quotes from Finney’s “Lectures on Systematic Theology” in which he teaches his heresies:
1. “Several theologians have held that regeneration is the work of the Holy Spirit alone … but I might just as lawfully insist that it is the work of man alone.” (Charles Finney, ‘Lectures On Systematic Theology’: Abridged Edition, p. 224)
2. “The doctrine of imputed righteousness, or that Christ’s obedience to the Law was accounted as our obedience, is founded on a most false and nonsensical assumption/” (Charles Finney, ‘Lectures On Systematic Theology’, Worcester: 1851, pages 320-322)
3. Christ “could do no more than justify himself. It can never be imputed to us … it was naturally impossible, then, for him to obey on our behalf.” (Ibid.) This doctrine “of representing the atonement as the ground of the sinner’s justification has been a sad occasion of stumbling to many.” (Charles Finney, ‘Lectures On Systematic Theology’, p. 732)
4. “We shall see that perseverance in obedience to the end of life is also a condition of justification …” (Ibid., p. 735-737)
5. Salvation “is not founded in Christ’s literally suffering the exact penalty of the Law for them, and in this sense literally purchasing their justification and eternal salvation.” (Lectures On Systematic Theology, p. 747)
"Some things are of that nature as to make one's fancy chuckle, while his heart doth ache." John Bunyan
Have you read Finney’s systematic theology?
Tyler is a pastor in Olympia, WA and works in State government.
“While giving instruction it is wise to appeal to the understanding. True religion is as logical as if it were not emotional. I am not an admirer of the peculiar views of Mr. Finney, but I have no doubt that he was useful to many; and his power lay in his use of clear arguments. Many who knew his fame were greatly disappointed at first hearing him, because he used few beauties of speech and was as calm and dry as a book of Euclid; but he was exactly adapted to a certain order of minds, and they were convinced and convicted by his forcible reasoning. Should not persons of an argumentative cast of mind be provided for? We are to be all things to all men, and to these men we must become argumentative and push them into a corner with plain deductions and necessary inferences. Of carnal reasoning we would have none, but of fair, honest pondering, considering, judging, and arguing the more the better.”
-Charles H. Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students.
David R. Brumbelow
No, I’ve not read Finney’s Systematic Theology. I’m sure I would disagree with some of it.
But I’ve often seen Calvinists unfairly condemn Finney. They will take a quote out of context to call him a heretic.
For example, some have accused Finney of not believing in the Sovereignty of God, when in reality Finney and Moderate to Non-Calvinists simply do not believe in their version of Sovereignty.
Some may believe man plays a role in salvation in the sense that under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, a man uses his free will to accept Jesus as his Savior. A strict Calvinist may disagree with that, but that view is not unbiblical or heretical.
Another example. Someone may not believe in Eternal Security or Believer’s Baptism by Immersion. I would strongly disagree with them, but think it unfair to imply they are a heretic.
That’s the kind of thing I’ve seen done against Finney, over and over. I imagine some of the selected quotes of Finney would not appear so bad, if you read his entire writings.
David R. Brumbelow
[David R. Brumbelow]If people are condemning Finney for not being “Calvinistic enough,” or not holding to God’s Sovereignty “strongly enough,” and subsequently calling him heretical, your charges would be relevant.No, I’ve not read Finney’s Systematic Theology. I’m sure I would disagree with some of it.
But I’ve often seen Calvinists unfairly condemn Finney. They will take a quote out of context to call him a heretic.
For example, some have accused Finney of not believing in the Sovereignty of God, when in reality Finney and Moderate to Non-Calvinists simply do not believe in their version of Sovereignty.
Some may believe man plays a role in salvation in the sense that under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, a man uses his free will to accept Jesus as his Savior. A strict Calvinist may disagree with that, but that view is not unbiblical or heretical.
Another example. Someone may not believe in Eternal Security or Believer’s Baptism by Immersion. I would strongly disagree with them, but think it unfair to imply they are a heretic.
That’s the kind of thing I’ve seen done against Finney, over and over. I imagine some of the selected quotes of Finney would not appear so bad, if you read his entire writings.
David R. Brumbelow
Since, however, we are accusing Finney of denying the imputation of Christ’s righteousness, denying original sin, teaching sinless perfectionism, distorting./denying substitutionary atonement (with his “Moral Govt” theory), denying eternal security, embracing Pelagianism, (these all being obvious to anyone who reads some of his work and words), and not even being particularly honest about any of this initially (which is perhaps how Spurgeon got taken in), etc., all the quotes in the world aren’t going to rehabilitate him. All this stuff is out there and open to all who want to read it.
I typically suspect defenders of Charles Finney of being reactionary anti-Calvinists.
Even Arminians disavow Finney, admitting he denied original sin.
You can make this a “Calvinist thing” if you want, but haven’t you noticed John Wesley isn’t getting this opprobrium?
https://arminiantoday.wordpress.com/2012/06/01/charles-finney-on-origin…
“Finney began to receive opposition from many people as well. The Old School Presbyterians, led by the New England revivalist Asahel Nettleton, resented Finney’s modifications to Calvinist theology. Traditional Calvinists taught that a person would only come to believe the gospel if God had elected them to salvation. Hence, a person might hear the gospel in church, go home to meditate on the preacher’s message, and pray and wait for assurance from on high. Finney stated that unbelief was a “will not,” instead of a “cannot,” and could be remedied if a person willed to become a Christian. The revivalistic Congregationalists, led by Lyman Beecher, feared that Finney was opening the door to fanaticism within the ranks by allowing too much expression of human emotion. On the other side, the Unitarians and Universalists opposed Finney on the general grounds that he was using scare tactics in his messages in order to gain converts. They were particularly offended by his references to Hell as the destination of those who refused to believe the gospel.”
David R. Brumbelow
Read his systematic - don’t rely on secondary sources.
Tyler is a pastor in Olympia, WA and works in State government.
You’d think if there was one thing we could all agree on here, it would be that Finney was a heretic.
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