Part 4 (pages 50–63)
ttied to relate them to others, he found that his words fell on deaf ears. The Lord seemed to indicate that he was not to tell others about these unique experiences.
Charles practically “prayed without ceasing,” as he said. He also had seasons:of examining his soul. He later de- scribed these experiences with these words: “Sometimes I would pursue a wrong course in fasting, and attempt to examine myself-according to the ideas of self-examination then entertained’by my minister and the church. I would try to look into my own heart, in the sense of examining my feelings; ‘and would turn my attention particularly to my motives,-and the state of my mind. When I pursued this course, I found invariably that the day would close without any perceptible advance being made.”
_ He realized later. why: this happened: “Turning my attention, as I did, from the Lord Jesus Christ, and looking into myself, examining my motives and feelings, my feelings all subsided of course. But whenever I fasted, and let the Spirit take His own course with me, and gave _ myself up to let Him lead and instruct me, I universally found it in the highest degree useful. I found I could not ~ live without enjoying the presence of God; and if at any time.a cloud came over me, I could not rest, I could not study, I could not attend to anything with the least satis- faction or benefit, until the medium was again cleared between my soul and God.” |
Once his spiritual questions were settled, Charles found himself in another kind of dilemma. Although he had been very fond of his chosen profession of law, he realized that he rio longer had much interest in practicing this. time: ie long: after Iwas converted; a fom whom: I had Poem tones did notboard
and: saidst to: me, 2, (My: stife.cannot live: through th “This:remark; seemed:to plant-an arrow, asiit.we «It came<upon:-me?in: the. sense-of ait crushed | me, the nature of which T could: not:
returned to the office again, and still found I was unable to rest; and I returned a third time to the meeting house. At this time the Lord gave me power to prevail. I was enabled to roll the burden upon Him; and I obtained the assurance in-‘my own mind that the woman would not die, and indeed that she would never die in her. sins.”
When Charles returned ‘to the office, his mind was quiet-and peaceful, and he went home to rest. The next morning the. woman’s husband came to the - office. Charles asked if his wife was doing any better, and the man replied smiling, “She’s alive, and to all appearance better this morning.”
Charles responded: “Brother, she. will not die with this sickness; you may rely upon it. And she will never die in her sins.” Charles.was not certain how he under- stood this, but he had no doubt that it was true. Later the woman did in fact recover, and soon after, she came to faith in Christ. ;
Although Charles did not fully understand that prayer experience, when he later shared with another Christian what had happened to him, the man. explained, “Why, that was the travail of your soul.” As the two talked fur- ther, the man pointed him-to Scripture passages and helped Charles to better understand the experience.
Another. experience Charles had with prayer. con- cerned a young woman ‘in his community. Many of the other Christians.in the vicinity. knew she was not con- verted, although they acknowledged that she was intelli- gent, charming, and knew: ‘much about: religion. This being the case; Charles and one of the elders of the church agreed to pray for her daily—in fact, they agreed to pray three times a day: morning, noon, and night.
Much to Charles’s dismay, however, after the two had prayed for'some time, he realized the elder was losing his desire to pray for her. Charles continued to pray unabated. Then one evening he went to the woman’s house, and as he neared the door, he heard scuffling and a female voice cry out. After several minutes, when the noise subsided, a woman opened the door. Charles noted that “she was pale and very much agitated. She held out that portion ‘of the book which she had in her hand, and. said, ‘Mr. Finney, don’t you think my sister has become a Universalist?’: The book was a defense of Universalism. Her sister had detected her reading it in a private way, and tried to get it away from her; and it was the struggle to obtain that book which I had heard.”
Upon hearing this news, Charles declined: to go in. The news he had just received, as he said, “Struck me very much in the same way as had the announcement that the sick woman, already mentioned, was about to die. It loaded me down with great agony. As I returned to my room, at some distance from that house, .I felt almost.as if I should stagger under the burden that was on my mind; and I struggled, and groaned, and agonized, but could not frame to present the case before God in words, but only. in groans and tears. ;
“It seemed to me that the discovery that that. young woman, instead of being converted, was becoming a Uni- versalist, so astounded me that I could not break through with my faith, and get hold. of God in reference to her case. There seemed to. be a darkness hanging over the question, as if a cloud had risen up between me and God, in regard to prevailing for her salvation. But. still the Spirit struggled within me with groanings that could-not be uttered.”.
When Charles. went to bed:that evening, he sensed he had not prevailed in prayer for the. young woman. However, he noted that “‘as soon.as it was light I awoke; and the first thought that had was to beseech the God-of grace again for that young woman. I immediately arose and fell upon my knees. No sooner was I upon my knees than the: darkness gave way, and: the whole subject opened to my mind; and as soon as I plead for. her God said to me, “Yes! yes!’ If He had spoken with an audible voice, it would not have been more distinctly understood than was this word spoken within my soul. It instantly relieved all my solicitude. My mind became filled with the greatest peace and joy; and I felt a complete certainty that her salvation was secure.” The woman was converted sometime later, although not immediately, as had hap- pened in the earlier case.
Charles had many wonderful adventures in prayer at that time, but sometimes:God said no to: Charles’s re- quests. One time when he had earnestly cried out to God for a certain magistrate’s salvation, the man came under conviction for his sins. However, day. after day, he kept putting off actually becoming a Christian. In prayer, the Lord admonished Charles with “No; I will not hear.” It seemed to Charles that the Lord told him not to pray any more about the man. : ‘
Charles saw the man the following morning and reminded him-that he needed to commit his life to God. The man replied indignantly, “Mr. Finney, I shall have re to do with it until: return from the legisla-- _ ture: I stand committed to my political friends to: ‘carry out certain measures in the legislature, that are incompat- = ible with my first becoming a. Christian; -and.T-haye. promised 1 that I will not attend to the subject uot after I have returned from Albany’ : ; When the magistrate tévedled his choaghe to. Charles, : Charles could: better understand why the Lord had given-:
him no for an answer. Over time, the man traveled farther ae
away from God and, at the end, rejected Him completely. go hs Charles realized he was totally caught up in’sharing - the gospel of Christ. He decided to turn from the law‘and — seek to become a minister. t eSots ads s SIX
\ | ] hen Charles began to prepare for the ministry, he recalled how eagerly he had studied law. Now he had been called by the Lord Himself— as Charles saw it, a “retainer” from the Lord of the uni- verse to be Christ’s advocate, a minister of the gospel. He entered this new field of study with even more vigor than he had the law.
In the Presbyterian church, a young man called to preach came under the care of a presbytery—a ruling group of elders and ministers within the church. When the presbytery urged Charles in 1823 to attend Princeton Theological Seminary, he balked. The ministers asked Charles why he would not go to Princeton, and he told them that his views on religion differed from those of the seminary. Further, he admitted that “I would. not put myself under such an influence as they had been under; that I was confident they had been wrongly educated, and they were not ministers. that met my ideal of what a min- ister of Christ should be. I told them this reluctantly, but I could not honestly withhold it.”
In the nineteenth century, Princeton Theological Seminary represented what was then called “old:school Calvinistic theology.” Early on, the seminary had reaped many benefits from the influence of a revival known as the First Great Awakening. In fact, Jonathan Edwards, revivalist, educator, and Calvinist, had served. as presi- dent of Princeton. at one time.
Needless to say, Charles’s decision not to-attend Princeton shook the staid. ministers who, made up his presbytery. They wondered how. he could ever be a suc- cessful minister of the gospel without formal training. But Charles was far more prepared than he or the minis- ters realized. His legal training had given him expertise in logic, rhetoric, argumentation, ethics, and the power of analysis. .
Even his impressive physical appearance and hand. some. frame were instruments to be used by God in Charles’s preaching. His voice, too, possessed a clear, resonant quality that pleased the-ears of his listeners. His personal style, while not preachy, employed not only the Bible, but Shakespeare and Blackstone as well.
Someone has said of Charles’s power.as he preached that “the hearer never felt, till the close, that he was lis- tening to a sermon, but rather-that he was being person- ally addressed with much earnestness upon matters that were of great mutual concern.” Another person observed that Charles’s words were “logic on fire,” crashing through his listeners “like cannonballs through a basket of eggs.”
Charles Finney.
Many of Charles’s contemporaries no doubt would have agreed with his decision not to attend Princeton and follow a theological course. They could perhaps see that such rigid: schooling would have done: him more harm than. good.
So the presbytery agreed on June 25, 1823, to place Charles under the: tutelage of. the Reverend George W. Gale-and' the Reverend George Boardman, pastor of the Presbyterian ‘church ‘in Watertown, New York. Both of these tutors were steeped.in the truths. of Princeton Calvinism. Charles welcomed the designation. He knew he needed training and: was more’ than willing to submit to these older ministers in the hopes of becoming. a-full- fledged minister himself. ;
‘However, Charles continued to find much fault with Pastor Gale’s Calvinism. When Gale preached on repen- tance, he would remind his congregation that they could not repent unless God granted them the will to do so. He would also demand that his hearers have faith. There again, he believed that one could not have faith unless he was of the elect. Charles could not understand the rea- soning behind these teachings and refused to go along with them.
Actually Charles found himself.puzzled by much of Gale’s “old school”. theology. To the young ministerial student, Gale’s theology was not logical. In addition, he found it impossible to justify this style of Calvinism from a scriptural standpoint: Overall, Charles could not find Gale’s (and the: Calvinists’) point of view in the Bible. Charles took matters into his own hands and began to build his theological base on “close and logical reasoning,” according to his legal training. :
“Charles figured that the numerous conversions that resulted from his preaching were a sign that God honored his doctrinal views. On the other hand, Pastors Gale and Broadman .could ‘not claim many’-visible results from their preaching. His biggest’ objection :to Pastor Gale’s Calvinistic theology: was his‘sense that Gale did not pos- sess the power of the Holy Spirit in his ministry. .
So the disputes between Gale and his pupil continued. Undoubtedly the sessions the two men had were interest- ing and lively, and, at one point, they intrigued even the congregation. Charles and Gale were in the midst of an absorbing session: on: the atonement when the church began to fill up for the service. When the two men started to break off their discussion, the people urged them to continue, fascinated by the arresting debate: going on; so the discussion went on through what would have been the evening worship service.
Although Pastor Gale. possessed ‘a fine theological library which Charles used often as he sought answers to his questions, the volumes mostly approached. issues from a Calvinistic viewpoint. This situation not only aggravated Charles, but was depressing to him ‘as well. Charles. struggled over the differences in his -and-Gale’s positions on the atonement, regeneration, faith, repen- tance, the slavery of the will, and several: similar doc- trines. Gale, however, -was insistent’ on his: views; he sometimes became impatient with Charles because he differed with him on so many points.
The Reverend Gale misunderstood Charles’s inquisi- tive turn of mind, labeling ‘his disagreement on these major doctrines “reasoning.” He cautioned him about becoming an infidel if he persisted in these doctrines and told him of Princeton students who had become infidels because they would not accept the confession of faith and the teaching of the doctors at the school. Mr. Gale also
warned Charles that he would never be a useful minister -
unless he embraced the truth—that is, the truth as Gale believed it and taught it. ©
The situation between the two men reached such an impasse that Charles despaired of continuing his ministe- rial training. Charles knew in his heart he simply could not adhere to Pastor Gale’s doctrines. One member of Gale’s church, however, whom Charles knew to be “a very godly, praying man,” began to pray with and for Charles. The man was an adherent of Calvinistic doctrine, but he was willing to listen to Charles and consider his views. Charles found comfort as the two “had frequent and protracted conversations,” and “Elder H. became satisfied that I was right. He would call on me frequently to have seasons of prayer with me, to strengthen me in my studies, and in my discussions with Mr. G., and to decide me more and more firmly that, come what would, I would preach the Gospel.”
After Charles got into the ministry and experienced _ great opposition. to his.preaching, he ran into Elder H. after a long absence. The man told him, “Oh! my-soul is so burdened that I pray for you day and night. But I am sure that God will help. Go on, go on, brother Finney; the Lord will give you deliverance.”
Despite the disagreements Charles had with the two min- isters, all the discussions served to sharpen his debating r fe rth ‘that: every go to.heaven: ‘Charles was distressed thatthe imp 1 arts oF ‘the e Somntay -seemed ‘very ch : ‘dispose to
éncounter. The’ Universalist pastor: eonsidaved: the tbe: oe
tririe ‘of “eridless: punishment’ ‘as“unjust, infinitely: cruel; and absurd.:He would | say,:“‘God is love; how could.a: of love punitive ‘men genera Bb
Charles 4 setup a:time when he: would deliver -. opposing the Universalist’s views: Charles noticed; Christian ‘people were rather startled:at my-:boldnéss i in : Saying that I would be a Universalist,:if 1 could Not:prove — that:his doctrities were -false:- However, I'felt sure: that'T
could.”:Charles was:able to'refute the Universalistion the ~
“61 Charles Finney:
doctrine of eternal punishment. :
That was not the-end of. the discussions, however, because the man soon raised another issue: that of. the atonement of Christ..In ‘Pastor Gale’s doctrine, the atonement of Christ was the literal payment of the debt of the-elect, a suffering of just what they deserved to suf- fer. The elect were saved upon principles-of exact justice. Christ, so far as they were concerned, had fully answered the demands of the law. All the Universalist had to do was to.prove that the atonement was made for all men, and then he could show: that all men would be saved because the debt of all mankind had been paid by the Lord Jesus Christ. Universalism would logically follow on the grounds of justice: God could not justly punish those whose debt was paid.
Again, Charles was called by the Reverend Gale and the elders to respond to the Universalist..Charles was willing to do so, but he had to confront Pastor Gale first. He told him, “Mr. Gale, I cannot do it without. contra- dicting your. views on that subject, and setting them all aside. With your views of the atonement he cannot be answered. For if you have the right view of-the atone- ment, the people can easily see that the Bible proves that Christ died for all men, for the whole world of sinners; and therefore unless you will allow me to sweep your views of the atonement all away, I can say nothing to any Purpose.”
' Mr. Gale recognized that: Charles’ s. position made some sense. He responded, “Well, it will never. do.to let the thing remain as it is. You may say what you please; only go.on and:answer him in your own way. If I find it necessary to: preach on the: subject of the atonement, I shall be obliged to contradict you.”
Charles readily agreed. .“‘Very well. Let me but show my views, and I can answer the Universalist; and you may say.to the people afterward what you please.”
Preparing for his presentation, Charles decided to use the Gospels to refute the Universalist’s' argument.: While the Reverend Gale and. other Calvinists agreed. with. the Universalist-view up to a point; they reasoned that Christ died. only. for. the: elect, a position known: as “limited atonement.” Charles absolutely rejected such.a view, believing that Christ died-for the sins of all people.
So Charles began his. debate by: arguing that Christ’s atonement was not a literal payment of the sinner’s.debt in any mathematical, legal sense. Instead, the Lord’s death and resurrection merely did what was essential in God’s. sight toprocure the forgiveness of. sin and effect salvation. He urged that Christ’s: death on the cross sat- isfied what he termed “public justice,” a phrase botrowed from Jonathan Edwards. This view of Christ’s atoning work became central in Charles’s theology.. By taking this approach, Charles was convinced he had successfully defeated the Universalist t position.
After he had studied with Pastors Gale and Boardman for . six months, Charles came before the presbytery to be ex- amined. As the men questioned him, he.was asked if he believed in the Westminster Confession of Faith, a state- ment of beliefs held by Presbyterians. Charles replied that'so far as he understood it, he believed it. Actually, he had never. seen the document. :