Memoirs of Charles G. Finney, The

Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT
Review: 20 years ago I read the incomplete memoirs they were excellent this edition adds some unpublished material, many cross-references and footnotes which I found nice to have, the compilers Rosell & Dupuis have done a great job. The book itself is very inspiring.

Mind you when I've drifted a little from God I found Finney objectionable, to hard to take! but when I've gone down the track of James 4:8 "draw near to God and God will draw near to you, cleanse your hands you sinners, purify your heart you double-minded" then Finney speaks as one who has faithfully gone down that path before me and as one who knows how to give good clear instructions on how to progress effectively! Good bye dead-religion, hello God.

I also highly recommend his "Revival Lectures". I have learn't more on answered prayer, effectiveness, revivals and my relationship with God from Finney's books than any other (outside the Bible) and I have many many answers to prayer to suggest it isn't just theory or dead words.

Best wishes to all.

Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT
Review: 20 years ago I read the incomplete memoirs they were excellent this edition adds some unpublished material, many cross-references and footnotes which I found nice to have, the compilers Rosell & Dupuis have done a great job. The book itself is very inspiring.

Mind you when I've drifted a little from God I found Finney objectionable, to hard to take! but when I've gone down the track of James 4:8 "draw near to God and God will draw near to you, cleanse your hands you sinners, purify your heart you double-minded" then Finney speaks as one who has faithfully gone down that path before me and as one who knows how to give good clear instructions on how to progress effectively! Good bye dead-religion, hello God.

I also highly recommend his "Revival Lectures". I have learn't more on answered prayer, effectiveness, revivals and my relationship with God from Finney's books than any other (outside the Bible) and I have many many answers to prayer to suggest it isn't just theory or dead words.

Best wishes to all.

Rating:
Summary: There's something fishy about Finney...
Review: Charles Finney is THE posterboy for American evangelicals--at least when the subject of revival is raised. Finney is lauded for his zeal, the crowds he drew, etc. What so many fail to note is that Finney WAS A HERETIC. Plain and simple. He denied the sinfulness of man, the death of Christ for the sins of man (he denied the imputation of our sin to Christ, and Christ's righteousness to us), and salvation by faith alone. So why did I give this book a five star rating? Because Messrs Rosell and Dupuis don't whitewash a thing about Finney--they give us the heretic, warts and all. There have been sanitized versions of Finney's memoirs on the market for years, but now the curtain is lifted, and we can see Finney's fishy theology for what it is, and from the source. This quote from Chapter 4 is significant: "[I could not believe] that men were utterly unable to comply with the terms of the Gospel, to repent, to believe, or to do anything that God required them to do. That while they were free to all evil, in the sense of being able to commit any amount of sin, yet they were <not free> in regard to all that was good. That God had condemned men for their sinful nature, and for this, as well as for their transgressions, they deserved eternal death, and were under condemnation...That men were passive in regeneration; and in short...the fact of a nature sinful in itself. These doctrines I could not receive. I could not receive his [George Gale, Finney's pastor] views on the subject of atonement, regeneration, faith, repentance, the slavery of the Will [sic] or any of their kindred doctrines." (pg. 48)

It should be noted that George Gale was a Presbyterian minister, and held to the doctrinal stance outlined in the Westminster Confession of Faith. That Finney did not hold to the WCF is clear from his account of his ordination:

When they [the ordination committee] had examined me, they voted unanimously to license me to preach. Unexpectedly to myself they asked me if I received the [Westminster] Confession of faith of the Presbyterian church. I had not examined it--that is, the large work, containing the Catechisms and Presbyterian confession. This had made no part of my study. I replied that I received it for substance of doctrine, so far as I understood it. But I spoke in a way that plainly implied, I think, that I did not pretend to know much about it. However, I answered honestly, as I understood it at the time." (pp.53-54.) The Westminster Confession of Faith, while unashamedly Calvinistic, still contains an understanding of justification that all major denominations would agree on; even those who would reject its Calvinism. Thus, for Finney to repudiate the WCF shows his flaming heresy.

That Finney didn't have a grasp of orthodox theology is evident from the assessment of George Gale after hearing Finney's first sermon: "When I came out of the pulpit [George Gale] said to me:'Mr. Finney, I shall be very much ashamed to have it known, wherever you go, that you studied theology with me.'" (Finney refused a chance to study at Princeton Seminary, claiming financial hardship. When he was told his tuition would be provided for, he still refused, stating that the Princeton grads he knew, George Gale included, "were not ministers that met my ideal at all of what a minister of Christ should be" (pg. 47.) (Why Finney consented to study with Gale, when it was plain how he felt about Gale, and Gale's theology, is beyond me. But then again, how he could deny all the cardinal tenents of orthodoxy and still be licensed by Gale and others is also beyond me.)

There is much more to this book than the portion I have chosen to concentrate on, and it is all interesting. I am just happy to find, in plain English, and his own words, evidence of Finney's heretical beliefs. I am tired of people accusing me of slander when I charge Finney with heresy; now I can prove it. This book is full of fascinating history, bad theology, and juicy narrative. If you are a Finney fan or foe, you should read this book--you won't be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: There's something fishy about Finney...
Review: Charles Finney is THE posterboy for American evangelicals--at least when the subject of revival is raised. Finney is lauded for his zeal, the crowds he drew, etc. What so many fail to note is that Finney WAS A HERETIC. Plain and simple. He denied the sinfulness of man, the death of Christ for the sins of man (he denied the imputation of our sin to Christ, and Christ's righteousness to us), and salvation by faith alone. So why did I give this book a five star rating? Because Messrs Rosell and Dupuis don't whitewash a thing about Finney--they give us the heretic, warts and all. There have been sanitized versions of Finney's memoirs on the market for years, but now the curtain is lifted, and we can see Finney's fishy theology for what it is, and from the source. This quote from Chapter 4 is significant: "[I could not believe] that men were utterly unable to comply with the terms of the Gospel, to repent, to believe, or to do anything that God required them to do. That while they were free to all evil, in the sense of being able to commit any amount of sin, yet they were in regard to all that was good. That God had condemned men for their sinful nature, and for this, as well as for their transgressions, they deserved eternal death, and were under condemnation...That men were passive in regeneration; and in short...the fact of a nature sinful in itself. These doctrines I could not receive. I could not receive his [George Gale, Finney's pastor] views on the subject of atonement, regeneration, faith, repentance, the slavery of the Will [sic] or any of their kindred doctrines." (pg. 48)

It should be noted that George Gale was a Presbyterian minister, and held to the doctrinal stance outlined in the Westminster Confession of Faith. That Finney did not hold to the WCF is clear from his account of his ordination:

When they [the ordination committee] had examined me, they voted unanimously to license me to preach. Unexpectedly to myself they asked me if I received the [Westminster] Confession of faith of the Presbyterian church. I had not examined it--that is, the large work, containing the Catechisms and Presbyterian confession. This had made no part of my study. I replied that I received it for substance of doctrine, so far as I understood it. But I spoke in a way that plainly implied, I think, that I did not pretend to know much about it. However, I answered honestly, as I understood it at the time." (pp.53-54.) The Westminster Confession of Faith, while unashamedly Calvinistic, still contains an understanding of justification that all major denominations would agree on; even those who would reject its Calvinism. Thus, for Finney to repudiate the WCF shows his flaming heresy.

That Finney didn't have a grasp of orthodox theology is evident from the assessment of George Gale after hearing Finney's first sermon: "When I came out of the pulpit [George Gale] said to me:'Mr. Finney, I shall be very much ashamed to have it known, wherever you go, that you studied theology with me.'" (Finney refused a chance to study at Princeton Seminary, claiming financial hardship. When he was told his tuition would be provided for, he still refused, stating that the Princeton grads he knew, George Gale included, "were not ministers that met my ideal at all of what a minister of Christ should be" (pg. 47.) (Why Finney consented to study with Gale, when it was plain how he felt about Gale, and Gale's theology, is beyond me. But then again, how he could deny all the cardinal tenents of orthodoxy and still be licensed by Gale and others is also beyond me.)

There is much more to this book than the portion I have chosen to concentrate on, and it is all interesting. I am just happy to find, in plain English, and his own words, evidence of Finney's heretical beliefs. I am tired of people accusing me of slander when I charge Finney with heresy; now I can prove it. This book is full of fascinating history, bad theology, and juicy narrative. If you are a Finney fan or foe, you should read this book--you won't be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Why aren't we seeing this today?
Review: I first read Finney's Memoirs when I was around 18, and it ignited within me a passion for revival that has not ceased. This edition, with all of its additions and footnotes, makes the Memoirs even more exciting.

Finney was used of God to birth revivals through intercessory prayer and preaching against sin in both America and England. Someone has said that 90% of his converts stayed true to the faith (about 10% of Billy Graham's stay).

In his Memoirs, written when he was in his 70's, Finney shares how God saved him, baptized him with the Holy Ghost, and immediately began using him in the conversion of souls. Formerly he was a lawyer, but he gave it up in order to become an evangelist. He tells stories from various revival meetings, including the humorous (and awe-inspiring) revival in the town of Sodom, with it's one righteous man -- Lot! He also shares how the Lord led him to give a series of lectures on revival, which were later published in book form and used by God to bring revival in various countries, including China through the ministry of Jonathan Goforth in the early 1900s.

If you're hungry for revival and more of God today; if the state of the modern church upsets you, then read this book.