Reflections on God … Man … Life
A few Sundays ago, I drew from Charles Finney’s autobiography some of his comments on how other ministers criticized his speaking style. Today, again from that autobiography, a few more thoughts from that evangelist along the same line: I used to say to ministers, whenever they contended with me about my manner of preaching, and desired me to adopt their ideas and preach as they did, that I dared not make the change they desired. I said, “Show me a… Read more »
Charles Finney often went against the conventions of the day in his teaching and preaching. Some of his most vociferous critics were fellow ministers who had been formally trained in the colleges. Finney had been largely self-taught and was therefore thought to be ignorant of the proper manner of speaking. Yet he had results where others did not. In his autobiography, he provides some detail on this controversy: All through the earlier part of my ministry especially, I used to… Read more »
I’ve heard people criticize Charles Finney as someone who believed man’s efforts are all that are necessary to further the Gospel. Yet what does he say in his autobiography? Here he makes it clear what his foundational beliefs are in this respect: When Christ commissioned his apostles to go and preach, he told them to abide in Jerusalem till they were endued with power from on high. This power, as every one knows, was the baptism of the Holy Spirit… Read more »