Charles Grandison Finney on Extent of the atonement
Universal — for all, applied on faith
That it was made for all mankind, is evident from the fact that it is offered to all indiscriminately.
THE POSITION
The atonement is a governmental provision that satisfies public justice, not a payment of what the elect owed, and so there is no fixed quantity of suffering to be apportioned to particular people. It benefits the whole moral universe, and particularly this world: "All mankind can be pardoned, if they are rightly affected and brought to repentance by it." That it was made for all is shown by its being offered to all, and sinners are condemned for not receiving it.
2 He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
7 OTHERS HOLD THIS
ABOUT THIS FIGURE
Law student turned revivalist of the Second Great Awakening, licensed and ordained by a Presbyterian presbytery in 1824, later professor of theology and president at Oberlin College. His Lectures on Revivals of Religion argued that a revival is the right use of means and not a miracle. His Systematic Theology built a doctrine of salvation on moral government and on the sinner's natural ability, and denied original sin as a sinful nature, imputed righteousness, and that the atonement paid what sinners owed. This entry rests on that Systematic Theology (1878 edition), the Revival Lectures, one chapter of the Memoirs, three Oberlin Evangelist pieces and one letter.
Cite this page
"Charles Grandison Finney on Extent of the atonement", Examined Doctrine, July 2026 edition, https://examineddoctrine.com/position/finney/atonement-extent (archived at https://examineddoctrine.com/editions/2026-07/position/finney/atonement-extent).