The Pilgrim
Coram Deo
Bill
unworthy1
brother Michael
Some may wonder why we are jumping on a person who has been dead for over 135 years! Sadly, it is because there are many who hold this man in high esteem and much of what we find in modern evangelicalism is due to the heresy that this lawyer-turned-preacher taught to unsuspecting congregations. Today, this man is considered to be the “Father of Modern Evangelism” and yet I am convinced from the Scriptures that he was nothing but a charlatan who has perpetuated much of what passes for “biblical” Christianity in the western world particularly.
I was recommended to an article which I now recommend to our readers. The following paragraph is an excerpt from this article by Phil Johnson.
“Charles Grandison Finney was a heretic. That language is not too strong. Though he excelled at cloaking his opinions in ambiguous language and biblical-sounding expressions, his views were almost pure Pelagianism. The arguments he employed to sustain those views were nearly always rationalistic and philosophical, not biblical. To canonize this man as an evangelical hero is to ignore the facts of what he stood for.”
You can read the rest of this excellent article by Phil Johnson by going to this link.
I’m glad you’ve posted this. I have some friends who have fallen deeply into the traps of Finney’s theology. This is shocking to me because they used to be so strong in their beliefs, and now they are pushing doctrines such as Open Theism and Sinless Perfection. It is sad to see the changes they have made and how it has affected their ministries.
Sad thing for me – the pastor of the church we recently left took it as compliment a couple years ago when I told him that his invitation would do Finney proud.
Oh – I just looked at the Phil Johnson link – I included that in my letter telling the pastor why we were leaving!
Michael Horton and the guys over at White Horse Inn have mentioned Finney a few times in the 2008 series “Christless Christianty” and I think Horton discussed him briefly in his new book Christless Christianity. I emphasise think in relation to the book as I could be wrong….its been a month or 2 since I finished the book and my memory may not be serving me correctly! Basically the “alter call” and the like stem for Finney’s “revivalism” meetings and indeed his theology has filtered down into a lot of western Christianity as a whole. Finney was a heretic and needs to be exposed as being one. A lot of false converts resulted from his ministry, much similar to today’s say a little prayer and ask Jesus into your heart and BAMN! YOU’VE GOT THE HOLY SPIRIT BABAYYYY AND YOUR TOKEN INTO HEAVEN!!
Do check out white horse inn for this and also the modern reformation articles archive as I am sure there is some stuff on there as well!!
R..P