Charles Finney,who was he really?

[John of Japan]

Right on both counts.

But Finney seems to get too much attention. After you've trashed him, what have you gained? Almost nobody looks at his ST, so you aren't correcting anyone. If the altar call is a bad idea, or if a soulwinning technique is too Pelagian, that can be argued without bringing in Finney.

He's important for understanding trends in the antebellum era ("Why did the Yankee Christians decide that their Southern brethren needed to be killed?"). I don't think he's important for understanding trends today. People today do what they do, and think what they think, for reasons far, far removed from whatever Finney said and did.

Well said, Pipedude. I hereby declare you the BB's resident Finney Expert In Transit, or FIXIT. :wavey:

 

[John of Japan]

I hear what you say and I agree.

But I think you misunderstood Bro. Finney. I believe if you had met him on the road with a rod and reel over your shoulder and he knew you were a preacher he would have chastised you for fishing while sinners died and went to hell and no amount of your defending your need to rest and relax would have appeased him.

Well, that could be, I'm not going to argue it. Of course many people in those days would have said the same, and boy what would those Pilgrims have said?

Even if you are right, though, to me it's only a small criticism of Finney. As my father used to say, "I would much rather be criticized for having standards too high than for having standards too low." :type:

 

[Rippon]

... he was a clear-headed and forthright Pelagian in his emphatic declarations that everyone is naturally able to turn whole-heartly to God once he or she is convinced that that is the right , proper , and needful thing to do . Accordingly , Finney conceived the whole work of the Spirit in conversion in terms of moral persuasion , that is , of making vivid to our minds the reasons for laying down our rebel arms and surrendering to God . Man is always free to reject this persuasion -- 'Sinners can go to Hell in spite of God.' But the stronger the persuasion is , the more likely it is to succeed in breaking down resistance . Every means , therefore , of increasing the force with which truth impinges on the mind -- the most frenzied excitement , the most harrowing emotionalism , the most nerve-racking commotion in evangelistic gatherings -- is entirely in order . ( p.293 )

This is the point at which Pelagianism betrayed Finney , and Finney's example has betrayed many since his day . Believing that it is in everyone's power to accept Christ at any moment , Finney equated the immediate response that the gospel requires of all with instant conversion on the part of all . But by making this equation he made it impossible to avoid doing damage to some souls . If one tells people that they are under obligation to receive Christ on the spot , and calls in God's name for instant decision , some who are spiritually unprepared will come forward , accept directions , 'go through the motions' , and go away thinking they have received Christ , when in reality they have not done so because they were not yet able to do so . So a crop of false conversions results from these tactics in the nature of the case . Bullying for 'decisions' can actually impede and thwart the work of the Holy Spirit in human hearts . When the evangelist takes it on himself to try to pick the fruit before it is ripe , the result is regularly false conversions and hardening . 'Quick sale' techniques in evangelism always tend to boomerang in this way ; their long-term effect is regularly barrenness . Not for nothing was one of the areas where Finney first worked later labelled 'the burned-over district' . Finneyism , which seeks to break up the fallow ground , issues rather in a scorching of the earth , a state of diminished rather than enhanced responsiveness to the gospel . ( pages 299 and 300 )

The above are from J.I. Packer's "A Quest For Godliness : The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life " . Copyright 1990 , published by Crossway Books , a division of Good News Publishers .