VOF, Chapter 9: Charles G. Finney, "Sinners Bound to Change Their Own Hearts" (1836)
Question 1: What precisely does Finney mean by a "change of heart"?
Answer:
What Finney precisely means by the phrase “change of heart” is someone’s change in spiritual belief that results in a different end. When I say spiritual belief, I mean Supreme Ruler. The reason why, I concluded that a change in Supreme Ruler is what Finney means when he says, “change of heart” is because on page 183 he states, “It is a change in the choice of a Supreme Ruler”. Which makes sense because when you change from being atheists to Christianity, people would say you have had a change of heart, that results in a different end. The phrase “resulting in a different end” is also critically important to understand what is meant when Finney means “change of heart”. When someone swaps from one religion to another they start to praise the God they switched over to. In the example given above, if someone switches from atheism to Christianity, they would start to praise and glorify the Jesus Christ. This means this person that converted into Christianity gave up sinning of the flesh, and selfishness since he now looks up to the Lord, which can be proven when Finney added, “A change of heart, therefore, is to prefer a different end. To prefer supremely the glory of God and the public good, to the promotion of his own interest; and whenever this preference is changed, we see of course a corresponding change of