Video 22 The IFB War Against Calvinism 4 The Legacy of Charles Finney

This installment of the extreme IFB war against Calvinism involves the influence of Charles Finney,. While either ignorant of or choosing to overlook his severe doctrinal defects, the Evangelical world adopted many of his methods. The alter call (anxious bench), confrontational preaching, focus on judging success by numbers, and the manufacturing of revival by human methods are all inherited from the ministry of Finney. The fact that Finney was a Presbyterian who rejected much of the Westminister standards revealed him to be a virulent anti-Calvinist, another trait present with those who follow his legacy.

Altar-call decisionism a doctrine of demons

[RefundamentalJoe]

That Finney quote is such pragmatism. Hyles supporters do use it all the time. "Until you've built a church as big as his, keep your mouth shut." If they applied the same logic to Joel Osteen or the Pope, they wouldn't be able to criticize them either.

One of the ways fundamentalists keep their people in the dark about Calvinism is by misrepresenting its doctrines and being shifty in how they define it. John R Rice didn't define it accurately. Then, he used the terms Calvinism and hyper-Calvinism interchangeably. There was no consistency in his use of those terms. This was so confusing to me when I was younger, that I felt that it wasn't an important issue or it wouldn't be so confusing. But they did that on purpose. They weren't going to accurately portray a viewpoint that was more biblical than theirs. And if they had, they probably would have left their own position. Until the Internet came along I don't think half of them had ever heard of Arminianism, though technically it's closer to what they believe. It's very telling how much they can hate on Calvinism, while never admitting the name of their own position. At Crown College, several Calvinists were expelled, while Freewill Baptists who were constantly arguing that you could basically lose your salvation were accepted.

At Crown, they had books by Arthur W Pink in the bookstore, but not the Sovereignty of God. Clarence Sexton was a huge fan of Spurgeon. But he expelled people for believing exactly what Spurgeon believed. I don't think he truly admired Spurgeon. I think like all Independent Baptists he admired that he had a big church and was famous, which goes right back to the Finney pragmatism, and size being all that matters. Sexton would say size isn't all that matters. But these guys contradict themselves a lot.