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By: Seth Valenziano, Alex Erdenberger, and Mark Zimmermann. Charles Grandison Finney. Early Life. Born in 1792 in Warren, Connecticut Parents moved to Western New York Little access to religious services or books
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By: Seth Valenziano, Alex Erdenberger, and Mark Zimmermann Charles Grandison Finney
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.”
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
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.]
Middle Years Cont. • Crucial figure of Jacksonian Era • Stressed qualities of • Equality of men • Self-governance • Free will
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
Movement-Revivalism • Movement characterized by: • Located in the West • Emotional Meetings, where conversion occurred • Impassioned preaching, examination of souls
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
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
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
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
Effects Continued • Burnt Over District- Western New York • Pelangianism • Original Sin did not taint humans • Perfectionism His choice, no original sin
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.
By: Seth Valenziano, Alex Erdenberger, and Mark Zimmermann Charles Grandison Finney