Charles Grandison Finney

1. By: Seth Valenziano, Alex Erdenberger, and Mark Zimmermann Charles Grandison Finney

2. Early Life • Born in 1792 in Warren, Connecticut • Parents moved to Western New York • Little access to religious services or books • “I seldom heard a sermon, unless it was an occasional one from some travelling minister, or some miserable holding forth of an ignorant preacher who would sometimes be found in that country.”

3. Middle Years • In 1821, when he was 29 he converted to American Evangelism • Rejected Predestination • “The sinner chooses to sin just as the penitent chooses to repent.” • God offered himself to everyone, but you have to save yourself • Started slowly, used new tactics to reach the greatest amount of people

4. Middle Years Cont. • “I now think that I sometimes criticized his sermons unmercifully. I raised such objections against his positions as forced themselves upon my attention. . . .  What did he mean by repentance? Was it a mere feeling of sorrow for sin? Was it altogether a passive state of mind? or did it involve a voluntary element? If it was a change of mind, in what respect was it a change of mind? What did he mean by the term regeneration? What did such language mean when spoken of as a spiritual change? What did he mean by faith? Was it merely an intellectual state? Was it merely a conviction, or persuasion, that the things stated in the Gospel were true?” [Memoirs, 10-12.]

5. Middle Years Cont. • Crucial figure of Jacksonian Era • Stressed qualities of • Equality of men • Self-governance • Free will

6. Later Life • Was at odds with conservative clergy • Worked at Oberlin College and Theological Seminary • President of Oberlin from 1851 to 1866 • After Finney stopped his campaigning he began devising a doctrine of Christian perfectionism • He died August 1875

7. Movement-Revivalism • Movement characterized by: • Located in the West • Emotional Meetings, where conversion occurred • Impassioned preaching, examination of souls

8. Revivalism Continued • First occurred in small, emotional meetings (not as emotional as in First Great Awakening) • Served as social gatherings • Conversions jumped from 1 in 15 in 1800 to 1 in 6 in 1850 • Encouraged return to God

9. Finney’s Reforms • Desire to reform social America • Wanted to limited of alcohol and abolition of slavery • Allowed and encouraged women to participate in his sermons and mass

10. Contributions Made • Most influential of all of the Revivalists • Caused the Baptists and Methodists to have the most conversions • Very theatric, created the interactive and enthusiastic sermon

11. Effects of the Contributions • Even with massive conversions, problems arose • Cult-like perfectionism • Doctrinal compromise • Anxious Seat • Even with his revivals, Evangelical Christianity almost disappeared • New Measures • Mass Conversions • Man controls his destiny

12. Effects Continued • Burnt Over District- Western New York • Pelangianism • Original Sin did not taint humans • Perfectionism His choice, no original sin

13. Bibliography • Charles Grandison Finney. Virginia College. Taken from http://xroads.virginia.edu/~Hyper/detoc/religion/finney.html on April 8, 2010 • Charles Finney. Institute for the Study of American Evangleicals. Taken from http://isae.wheaton.edu/hall-of-biography/charles-finney/ on April 7, 2010 • Johnson, Phillip R. A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing. Taken from http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/articles/finney.htm on April 7, 2010 • Scott, Donald. Evangelicalism, Revivalism, and the Second Great Awakening. Taken from http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/nineteen/nkeyinfo/nevanrev.htm on April 8, 2010.

14. By: Seth Valenziano, Alex Erdenberger, and Mark Zimmermann Charles Grandison Finney