Prove All Things

At a glance

Relevant Scripture

“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”

1 Thessalonians 5:21 KJV

UECF.NET summary

Finney opens with the plain implication of 'prove all things': if God commands us to test our beliefs, He must have given us the capacity to do so, and neglecting that duty leaves the church running on unexamined opinions about the very terms — sin, holiness, love, faith, repentance, humility — that determine how a Christian actually lives. He traces this laziness to an ordinary reluctance to think hard, coupled with prejudice, both of which prevent a candid hearing of the evidence. The Bible, he insists, is not a substitute for careful thought but a partner to it: Scripture assumes truths that reason already grasps — our own existence, moral agency, right and wrong — and then adds further truths reason alone could never have discovered, though once revealed they are perfectly recognizable as true.

To show how such testing actually works, Finney grounds all human knowledge in consciousness — the mind's direct, certain awareness of its own existence, choices, thoughts, and feelings — which he treats as the one class of evidence no one can coherently doubt. From this starting point he argues that reason itself supplies certain self-evident moral truths the moment its terms are understood: that right and wrong are real and different, that moral agents are genuinely free, and, most importantly, that moral character belongs neither to feelings nor to outward acts but to the will's ultimate intention — the final end a person actually lives for. Everything in the lecture builds toward this last point, because it is the same principle Finney will use throughout the rest of the book to locate true holiness in the heart's governing choice rather than in emotion or performance.

Main theological themes

• Christian duty includes the duty to think — to test doctrines and definitions rather than absorb them uncritically.
• Consciousness is the one certain foundation of all knowledge, including our knowledge of moral truth.
• Moral character resides in the will's ultimate intention, not in feelings, desires, or outward acts, which are themselves involuntary or merely their fruit.

Key ideas

• Any command to 'prove all things' presupposes the ability to do it; if God requires examination, He has already supplied the faculties needed for it.
• Confused definitions of ordinary Christian words — love, faith, repentance, humility — are not a minor problem, since a wrong definition guarantees a wrong life.
• Natural theology (what reason discovers) and revealed theology (what Scripture adds) confirm rather than compete with one another; the Bible assumes reason's basic truths and builds further truths on top of them.
• Consciousness gives certain knowledge of our own existence and mental acts, and from this reason derives self-evident moral truths, culminating in the claim that character lies in one's ultimate, governing choice.

Important concepts

• Consciousness (as Finney uses it) — The mind's direct, self-certifying awareness of its own existence, choices, thoughts, and feelings — the one kind of evidence Finney treats as beyond honest doubt, and the starting point for testing every other claim.
• Ultimate intention — The final end a person actually chooses and lives for, as distinct from the many lesser, proximate goals that merely serve it; Finney locates all moral character here rather than in feelings or outward deeds.
• Natural vs. revealed theology — Natural theology is what unaided reason can discover from creation and moral consciousness; revealed theology is what Scripture adds. Finney treats them as two authentic, mutually confirming books rather than rivals.

Related Bible references

• Acts 17:11
• Romans 12:2
• 1 John 4:1
• Proverbs 4:7
• Hosea 4:6

Practical Christian application

• Pick one word you use often in your faith — love, faith, repentance, humility — and write out, in your own words, exactly what you mean by it before checking it against Scripture.
• The next time you accept a religious claim because a respected teacher said it, pause and ask what evidence or reasoning actually supports it.
• Spend time this week simply attending to your own choices, noticing the difference between what you merely feel or desire and what you actually will and pursue as your goal.

Questions for study