Sunday's Sermon and Charles Finney

In my Reformation Day sermon this past Sunday, I stated that Charles Finney was a highly negative influence in the history of the modern church in America. Two people after worship expressed their appreciation for what I said and asked me if I had been listening to Mike Horton's White Horse Inn radio show recently since he had been speaking about Finney. I have not, but I know that Horton wrote an article on Finney a while back. For those interested in learning more about the beliefs and (mal)practices of Finney, I recommend Horton's article "The Legacy of Charles Finney". There is also an audio by Horton on "Finney and American Revivalism" that I haven't listened to yet but will. Of course, the book that best describes this problem is Iain Murray's Revival and Revivalism: the Making and Marring of American Evangelicalism (Amazon or WTS Books). Chapter 9 would probably be the best place to start in that book to understand the effects of Finney on the church. A book review of Iain Murray's book can be found here at a Reformed Baptist website.