CHARLES G. FINNEY

FINNEY'S LECTURES

ON

SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY

1846

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 CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE

PREFACE

LECTURE I

Moral government

Definition of the term Law -- Distinction between Physical and Moral Law -- The essential Attributes of Moral Law -- Liberty as opposed to Necessity -- Adaptability, or Adaptation -- Universality -- Uniformity -- Impartiality -- Justice -- Practicability -- Independence -- Immutability -- Unity -- Equity -- Expediency -- Exclusiveness -- Utility

 

LECTURE II

Moral Government--Continued

Definition of the term Government -- Distinction between moral and physical government -- The fundamental reason of Moral Government -- Whose right it is to govern -- What is implied in the right to govern -- Point out the limits of this right -- What is implied in Moral Government -- Definition of Moral Obligation -- The conditions of Moral Obligation -- Remarks

 

LECTURE III

Moral Government--Continued

Man a subject of Moral Obligation -- Extent of Moral Obligation -- Shown by an appeal to reason, or to natural theology, to what acts and states of mind moral obligation cannot directly extend -- Shown to what acts and states of mind Moral Obligation must directly extend -- To what acts and mental states Moral Obligation indirectly extends

 

LECTURE IV

Foundation of Moral Obligation

Definition of Moral Obligation repeated -- Attention called again to the conditions of Moral Obligation -- What is intended by the foundation of moral obligation -- The extent of moral obligation -- Points of agreement among the principal parties in this discussion --Wherein parties differ -- Shown from reason and revelation what must be the foundation of moral obligation -- Shown wherein that consists which constitutes the true foundation of moral obligation; in other words, in what the highest well-being or ultimate good of sentient beings consists -- The ultimate and absolute good must belong to being, or to sentient existences -- With moral agents at least the ultimate good must consist in a state of mind -- The ultimate and absolute good in the sense of the intrinsically valuable, cannot be identical with Moral Law --Obedience, or the course of acting or willing required by the law, cannot be the ultimate end aimed at by the law or the lawgiver -- The absolute and ultimate good of being cannot consist in moral worth or good desert -- Right Character, moral worth, good desert, meritoriousness, or whatever you call it, cannot be or consist in a state of mind -- The ultimate or absolute good cannot consist in anything external to mind itself -- Objections to this philosophy considered

 

LECTURE V

Foundation of Moral Obligation--False Theories

That the sovereign will of God is the foundation of Moral Obligation -- The theory of Paley -- The utilitarian philosophy

 

LECTURE VI

Foundation of Moral Obligation--False Theories

The theory that regards right as the foundation of moral obligation

 

LECTURE VII

Foundation of Moral Obligation--False Theories

The theory that the goodness or moral excellence of God is the foundation of moral obligation

 

LECTURE VIII

Foundation of Moral Obligation--False Theories

The Philosophy which teaches that moral order is the foundation of moral obligation -- The theory that maintains that the nature and relations of moral beings is the true foundation of moral obligation -- The theory that teaches that moral obligation is founded in the idea of duty -- That philosophy which teaches the complexity of the foundation of moral obligation -- Another form of the theory that affirms the complexity of the foundation of moral obligation; complex, however, only in a certain sense

 

LECTURE IX

Foundation of Moral Obligation--Practical Bearings of the Different Theories

The theory that regards the sovereign will of God as the foundation of moral obligation -- The theory of the selfish school -- The natural and necessary results of utilitarianism

 

LECTURE X

Foundation of Moral Obligation--Practical Bearings of the Different Theories--Continued

Practical bearings and tendency of Rightarianism -- The philosophy which teaches that the divine goodness or moral excellence is the foundation of moral obligation -- The theory which teaches that moral order is the foundation of moral obligation -- The practical bearings of the theory that moral obligation is founded in the nature and relations of moral agents -- The theory which teaches that the idea of duty is the foundation of moral obligation -- The complexity of the foundation of moral obligation -- The practical bearings of what is regarded as the true theory of the foundation of moral obligation, namely that the highest well-being of God and of the universe is the sole foundation of moral obligation

 

LECTURE XI

Moral Government--Continued

What constitutes obedience to moral law -- Obedience cannot be partial in the sense that the subject ever does or can partly obey and partly disobey at the same time -- Can the will at the same time make opposite choices? -- The choice of an ultimate end is, and must be, the supreme preference of the mind -- An intelligent choice must respect ends or means -- No choice whatever can be made inconsistent with the present choice of an ultimate end -- Inquiry respecting the strength or intensity of the choice -- The law does not require the constant and most intense action of the will -- An intention cannot be right and honest in kind and deficient in the degree of intensity -- Examination of the philosophy of the question whether sin and holiness consist in supreme ultimate and opposite choices or intentions -- Objections to the foregoing philosophy considered -- This philosophy examined in the light of the Scriptures

 

LECTURE XII

Moral Government--Continued

In what sense we have seen that obedience to moral law cannot be partial -- In what sense obedience to moral law can be partial -- The government of God accepts nothing as virtue but obedience to the law of God -- There can be no rule of duty but moral law -- Nothing can be virtue or true religion but obedience to the moral law -- Nothing can be virtue that is not just what the moral law demands. That is, nothing short of what it requires can be in any sense virtue -- Uses of the term Justification -- Fundamentally important inquiries respecting this subject -- Remarks

 

LECTURE XIII

Moral Government--Continued

What constitutes obedience to moral law--Just rules of legal interpretation--That actual knowledge is indispensable to moral obligation shown from scripture--In the light of the above rules inquire what is not implied in entire obedience to the law of God

 

LECTURE XIV

Moral Government--Continued

Call attention to certain facts in mental philosophy as they are revealed in consciousness--Point out the attributes of that love which constitutes obedience to the law of God--Voluntariness--Liberty--Intelligence--Virtuousness--Disinterestedness--Impartiality--Universality

 

LECTURE XV

Attributes of Love

Efficiency--Penitence--Faith--Complacency

 

LECTURE XVI

Attributes of Love--Continued

Opposition--Compassion

 

LECTURE XVII

Attributes of Love--Continued

Mercy--Justice--Truth or truthfulness

 

LECTURE XVIII

Attributes of Love--Continued

Patience -- Meekness -- Long-suffering -- Humility

 

LECTURE XIX

Attributes of Love--Continued

Self-Denial--Condescension--Candor--Stability--Kindness--Severity

 

LECTURE XX

Attributes of Love--Continued

Holiness, or Purity --Modesty --Sobriety --Sincerity --Zeal --Unity --Simplicity

 

LECTURE XXI

Attributes of Love--Continued

Gratitude --Wisdom --Economy

 

LECTURE XXII

Moral Government

Revert to some points that have been settled --Show what disobedience to moral law cannot consist in --What disobedience to moral law must consist in

 

LECTURE XXIII

Moral Government

What constitutes disobedience --What is not implied in disobedience to the law of God

 

LECTURE XXIV

Attributes of Selfishness

What constitutes disobedience to moral law --What is implied in disobedience to moral law

Attributes of selfishness - Voluntariness --Liberty --Intelligence --Unreasonableness --Interestedness --Partiality --Impenitence --Unbelief

 

LECTURE XXV

Attributes of Selfishness--Continued

Efficiency --Opposition to benevolence or to virtue --Cruelty --Unreasonableness --Injustice

 

LECTURE XXVI

Attributes of Selfishness-Continued

Oppression --War --Unmercifulness --Falsehood or lying--Pride

 

LECTURE XXVII

Attributes of Selfishness--Continued

Enmity--Madness--Impatience--Intemperance--Recklessness--Unity

 

LECTURE XXVIII

Attributes of Selfishness--Continued

Egotism--Simplicity--Total Moral Depravity implied in selfishness as one of its attributes--The scriptures assume and affirm it--Remarks

 

LECTURE XXIX

Moral Government

Obedience to Moral Law is and must be, under every dispensation of the Divine Government the unalterable condition of Salvation--Under a gracious dispensation, a return to full obedience to Moral Law is not dispensed with as a condition of Salvation, but this obedience is secured by the indwelling spirit of Christ received by faith to reign in the heart

 

LECTURE XXX

Moral Government

What constitutes the sanctions of law--There can be no law without sanctions--In what light sanctions are to be regarded--The end to be secured by law, and the execution of penal sanctions--By what rule sanctions ought to be graduated--God's law has sanctions --What constitutes the remuneratory sanctions of the law of God--The perfection and duration of the remuneratory sanctions of the law of God--What constitutes the vindicatory sanctions of the law of God--Duration of the penal sanctions of the law of God--Inquire into the meaning of the term Infinite--Infinities may differ indefinitely in amount--I must remind you of the rule by which degrees of guilt are to be estimated--That all and every sin must from its very nature involve infinite guilt in the sense of deserving endless punishment--Notwithstanding all sin deserves endless punishment, yet the guilt of different persons may vary indefinitely, and punishment, although always endless in duration, may and ought to vary in degree according to the guilt of each individual--That penal inflictions under the government of God must be endless--Examine this question in the light of Revelation

 

LECTURE XXXI

Atonement

I will call attention to several well established governmental principles--Define the term Atonement--I am to inquire into the teachings of natural theology, or into the a priori affirmations of reason upon this subject--The fact of Atonement--The design of the Atonement--Christ's obedience to the moral law as a covenant of works, did not constitute the Atonement--The atonement was not a commercial transaction--The atonement of Christ was intended as a satisfaction of public justice--His taking human nature, and obeying unto death, under such circumstances, constituted a good reason for our being treated as righteous

 

LECTURE XXXII

Extent of Atonement

For whose benefit the Atonement was intended--Objections answered --Remarks on the Atonement

 

LECTURE XXXIII

Human Government

The ultimate end of God in creation--Providential and Moral Governments are indispensable means of securing the highest good of the universe--Civil and family governments are indispensable to the securing of this end, and are therefore really a part of the Providential and moral government of God--Human Governments are a necessity of human nature--This necessity will continue as long as human beings exist in this world--Human Governments are plainly recognized in the Bible as a part of the moral government of God--It is the duty of all men to aid in the establishment and support of Human Government--It is absurd to suppose that human governments can ever be dispensed with in the present world--Objections answered--Inquire into the foundation of the right of human governments--Point out the limits or boundary of this right

 

LECTURE XXXIV

Human Governments--Continued

The reasons why God has made no form of Church or Civil Government universally obligatory--The particular forms of Church and State Government, must and will depend upon virtue and intelligence of the people--That form of Government is obligatory, that is best suited to meet the necessities of the people--Revolutions become necessary and obligatory, when the virtue and intelligence or the vice and ignorance of the people demand them--In what cases human legislation is valid, and in what cases it is null and void--In what cases we are bound to disobey human governments--Apply the foregoing principles to the rights and duties of governments and subjects in relation to the execution of the necessary penalties of law

 

LECTURE XXXV

Moral Depravity

Definition of the term Depravity--Point out the distinction between physical and moral depravity--Of what physical depravity can be predicated--Of what moral depravity can be predicated--Mankind are both physically and morally depraved--Subsequent to the commencement of moral agency and previous to regeneration the moral depravity of mankind is universal--The moral depravity of the unregenerate moral agents of our race, is total

 

LECTURE XXXVI

Moral Depravity--Continued

Proper method of accounting for the universal and total moral depravity of the unregenerate moral agents of our race--Moral depravity consists in selfishness, or in the choice of self-interest, self-gratification, or self-indulgence, as an end--Dr. Wood's view of Physical and Moral Depravity examined--Standards of the Presbyterian Church examined

 

LECTURE XXXVII

 

Moral Depravity--Continued

Further examination of the arguments adduced in support of the position that human nature is in itself sinful

 

LECTURE XXXVIII

Moral Depravity--Continued

The Proper Method of Accounting for Moral Depravity--Prest. Edwards views examined--Summary of the Truth on this subject--Remarks

 

LECTURE XXXIX

Regeneration

The common distinction between Regeneration and Conversion--I am to state the assigned reasons for this distinction--I am to state the objections to this distinctions--What regeneration is not--What regeneration is--The universal necessity of regeneration--Agencies employed in regeneration--Instrumentalities employed in the work--In regeneration the subject is both passive and active--What is implied in regeneration

 

LECTURE XL

Regeneration--Continued

Philosophical theories of regeneration--The different theories of Regeneration examined--Objections to the Taste Scheme--The Susceptibility Scheme--Theory of a Divine Moral Suasion--Objections to this theory--Remarks

 

LECTURE XLI

Regeneration--Continued

Evidences of Regeneration--Introductory Remarks--Wherein the experience and outward life of saints and sinners may agree--Remarks

 

LECTURE XLII

Regeneration--Continued

Wherein Saints and Sinners or Deceived Professors must differ

 

LECTURE XLIII

Regeneration--Continued

In what Saints and Sinners differ--What is it to overcome the world--Who are those that overcome the world--Why do believers overcome the world

 

LECTURE XLIV

Regeneration--Continued

Wherein Saints and Sinners differ

 

 

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