38 Powerful Quotes From Charles Grandison Finney

Who Was Charles Finney?

Charles Grandison Finney (August 29, 1792 – August 16, 1875) was a prominent American Presbyterian minister, evangelist, and educator, widely recognized as a leading figure in the Second Great Awakening—a period of religious revival in the early 19th century.

Early Life and Conversion

Born in Warren, Connecticut, Finney was the youngest of nine children in a farming family. Initially studying law, he experienced a profound religious conversion in 1821 at the age of 29, which led him to abandon his legal career and pursue ministry.

Revivalist Ministry

Finney gained prominence as a revivalist preacher between 1825 and 1835, particularly in the Burned-over District of Upstate New York and Manhattan. He was known for innovative preaching methods, including the use of the “anxious seat” for seekers and allowing public prayers by women in mixed-gender meetings.

His revivals often resulted in significant community transformations, with widespread conversions and social reforms.

Abolitionism and Social Reform

Beyond evangelism, Finney was a fervent abolitionist, frequently denouncing slavery as a “great national sin” and refusing communion to slaveholders. His social activism extended to advocating for women’s rights and equal education for African Americans.

Academic Leadership

In 1835, Finney joined Oberlin College in Ohio as a professor of theology. He became the institution’s second president, serving from 1851 to 1866. Oberlin was notable for its progressive stance, being the first American college to admit women and African Americans alongside white men. The college community was actively involved in abolitionist efforts and the Underground Railroad.

Theological Views

Finney’s theology departed from traditional Reformed doctrines. He rejected the concept of total depravity, emphasizing human free will and the possibility of achieving Christian perfection through faith. These views sparked both support and criticism within the broader Christian community.

Legacy

Finney’s influence on American Christianity is profound. His revivalist methods and social activism left an indelible mark on the religious landscape, shaping evangelical practices and contributing to significant social reforms of his time.

38 Life-Changing Quotes from Charles Finney

1. A state of mind that sees God in everything is evidence of growth in grace and a thankful heart.
2. Nothing tends more to cement the hearts of Christians than praying together.
3. It is the great business of every Christian to save souls.
4. When God has specially promised the thing, we are bound to believe we shall receive it when we pray for it. You have no right to put in an ‘if’, and say, ‘Lord, if it be thy will…” This is to insult God. To put an ‘if’ in God’s promise when God has put none there, is tantamount to charging God with being insincere.
5. A revival may be expected when Christians have a spirit of prayer for a revival. That is, when they pray as if their hearts were set upon it.
6. If the presence of God is in the church, the church will draw the world in. If the presence of God is not in the church, the world will draw the church out.
7. Revival is a renewed conviction of sin and repentance, followed by an intense desire to live in obedience to God. It is giving up one’s will to God in deep humility.
8. A willingness to deny self is the very spirit of Christ, it is the heart and soul of the Gospel.
9. The time has come that Christians must vote for honest me and take consistent ground in politics or the Lord will curse them. Christians seem to act as if they thought God did not see what they do in politics.  But I tell you He does see it, and He will bless or curse this nation according to the course the Christians take in politics.
10. The church of our times needs the apostolic spirit. She needs so deep a baptism with those fires of Holy Ghost that she can go out and set the world on fire by her zeal for the souls of men.
11. The Christian who truly repents, not only sees sin to be detestable and vile and worthy of abhorrence, but he really abhors it, and hates it in his heart.
12. A revival is nothing else than a new beginning of obedience to God.
13. Sin is the most expensive thing in the universe. Nothing else can cost so much.
14. There can be no higher enjoyment found in this world that is found in pulling souls out of the fire and bringing them to Christ.
15. You hear the word, and believe it in theory, while you deny it in practice. I say to you, that ‘you deceive yourselves’.
16. When you come back to God for pardon and salvation, come with all you have to lay all at his feet.
17. Ministers often preach about the Gospel instead of preaching the Gospel. They often preach about sinners instead of preaching to them.
18. Prevailing prayer is that which secures an answer.
19. There can be no revival when Mr. Amen and Mr. Wet-Eyes are not found in the audience.
20. Unless the will is free, man has no freedom; and if he has no freedom he is not a moral agent, that is, he is incapable of moral action and also of moral character.
21. The reason why wicked men and devils hate God is, because they see Him in relation to themselves. Their hearts rise up in rebellion, because they see Him opposed to their selfishness.
22. Unless I had the spirit of prayer, I could do nothing.
23. When sinners are careless and stupid, and sinking into hell unconcerned, it is time the church should bestir themselves.
24. It is as much the duty of the church to awake, as it is for the firemen to awake when a fire breaks out in the night in a great city.
25. Effective prayer is prayer that attains what it seeks. It is prayer that moves God, affecting its end.
26. Revival comes from heaven when heroic souls enter the conflict determined to win or die – or if need be, to win and die! The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
27. Repentance is a change of willing, of feeling and of living, in respect to God.
28. It is a mournful fact that most men, and indeed all men of worldly character, have so much regard to public opinion that they dare not act according to the dictates of their consciences when acting thus would incur the popular frown.
29. When the church finds its members falling into gross and scandalous sins, then it is time for the church to awake and cry to God for a Revival of Religion.
30. No government is lawful or innocent that does not recognize the moral law as the only universal law, and God as the Supreme Lawgiver and Judge, to whom nations in their national capacity, as well as individuals, are amenable.
31. Every moment of your lives you are exerting a tremendous influence that will tell on the immortal interests of souls around you. Are you asleep, while your conduct is exerting such an influence?
32. Often, without being at all aware of it, men judge themselves, not by God’s rule, but by their own.
33. Evermore the Law must prepare the way for the gospel.
34. He that winneth souls is wise (Proverbs 11:30) – Those are the best educated ministers, who win the most souls.
35. If you design to make an impression contrary to the naked truth, you lie.
36. Some men will spin out a long prayer telling God who and what he is, or they pray out a whole system of divinity. Some people preach, others exhort the people, till everybody wishes they would stop, and God wishes so, too, most undoubtedly.
37. In nearly all cases, if the people complain of the length of our sermons it is because we fail to interest them personally in what we have to say.
38. When there is a spirit of controversy in the church or in the land, a revival is needful.