Charles Grandison Finney

175px

See also: Charles G. Finney, 20th Century American author

Charles Grandison Finney (1792–1875), often called "America's foremost revivalist," was a major leader of the Second Great Awakening in America that had a profound impact on the history of the United States.

Life and theology

Template:Sect-POVTemplate:OriginalResearch Born in Warren, Connecticut as the youngest of seven children, Finney had humble beginnings. His parents were farmers, and Finney himself never attended college. However, his six foot two inch stature, piercing blue eyes, musical skill, and leadership abilities gained him good standing in his community. He studied as an apprentice to become a lawyer, but after a dramatic conversion experience in Adams, New York at the age of 29, Finney became a minister in the Presbyterian Church.

Finney moved to New York City in 1832 where he pastored the Free Presbyterian Chatham Street Chapel and later founded and pastored the Broadway Tabernacle, known today as Broadway United Church of Christ [1]. Finney's logical, clear presentation of his Gospel message reached thousands and promised renewing power and the love of Jesus. Some estimates are that his preaching led to the conversion of over 500,000 people. His writings continue to challenge many to live a life holy and pleasing to God. His most famous work is the "Lectures on Revivals of Religion."[2] The Christian singer Keith Green was heavily influenced by Finney, and other famous evangelicals like Billy Graham speak highly of his influence. Although Finney was originally a Presbyterian, he eventually became a Congregationalist and often bears much criticism from conservative Presbyterians.

Theologically, Finney drew elements from the eighteenth century American preacher, Jonathan Edwards and the New Divinity Calvinists. His teachings also resembled that of Nathaniel William Taylor, a professor at Yale University. Many people teach that Finney was an Arminian in his theology, but he explicitly denied this. Much closer to a "New Divinity" Calvinist, his views on the atonement and original sin are much closer to those espoused by the "moral government" theory that was particularly advocated by Joseph Bellamy and Samuel Hopkins. For example, Finney's views on the atonement were much closer to the moral government system that Edwards' followers embraced because it rejected the notion that Jesus died only for Christians. Nevertheless, he bore a tremendous amount of criticism by theologians such as Charles Hodge for departing from traditional high Calvinism, criticisms frequently repeated today. It has been reported that the theologian G. Frederick Wright pointed out that Hodge misrepresented Finney's views in his criticism, however.

Finney was known for his innovations in preaching and conducting religious meetings, such as allowing women to pray in public and the development of the "anxious bench," a place where those considering becoming Christians could come to receive prayer. Finney was also known for his use of extemporaneous preaching.

In addition to being a successful Christian evangelist, Finney was involved with the abolitionist movement and frequently denounced slavery from the pulpit. Beginning in the 1830s, he denied communion to slaveholders in his churches.

In 1835, he moved to Ohio where he would become a professor, and later President of Oberlin College. Oberlin was a major cultivation ground for the early movement to end slavery. Oberlin was also the first American college to allowed blacks and women into the same classrooms as white men.

Finney's place in the social history of the United States

File:Finney.jpg

As a new nation, the United States was undergoing massive social flux during the 19th century, and this period birthed quite a large number of independent, trans-denominational religious movements such as Mormonism(1830) as well as Millerism (1830's and beyond) and its offshoots the Jehovah's Witnesses (1870), and the Seventh-day Adventist Church (1863). The nation's westward expansion brought about untold opportunities and a readiness to dispense with old thinking, an attitude that influenced people's religious understanding.

The Burned-over district was a geographical area described by Finney himself as a "hotbed" of religious revivalism, and it was in this area (largely western New York State) that he had much of his success. The lack of clergy from established churches ensured that religious activity in these areas was less influenced by traditional Christian teachings.

What Finney managed to achieve was to be the most successful religious revivalist during this period, and in this particular area. While groups such as the Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons and Seventh-day Adventists became closed and exclusivist, Finney was widely admired and influential amongst more mainstream Christians. Finney never started his own denomination or church, and never claimed any form of special prophetic leadership that elevated himself above other evangelists and revivalists.

More flexible Christian denominations, such as the Baptists and Methodists, were able to draw many of Finney's converts into their churches while more established denominations, such as the Presbyterians, were not as successful.

Finney's involvement with the abolitionist movement ensured that the Northern states had some form of legitimate religious backing to their opposition to slavery. There is no doubt that the religious beliefs of the South were more conservative. In this sense, then, Finney's religious beliefs and his success matched the attitudes of the North more so than the South. It also set up a direct link between Revivalism and social welfare, a link that grew stronger in the church after the Civil War.

Finney's theology

Finney was a primary influence on the "revival" style of theology which emerged in the 19th century. Though coming from a Calvinistic background, Finney rejected several tenets of "Old Divinity" Calvinism which he felt were unbiblical and counter to evangelism and Christian missions.

In his Systematic Theology, Finney fully embraced the Calvinist doctrine of the "Perseverance of the Saints." [3] At the same time, he took the presence of unrepented sin in the life of a professing Christian as evidence that they must immediately repent or be lost. Support for this position comes from Peter's treatment of the baptized Simon (see Acts 8) and Paul's instruction of discipline to the Corinthian Church (see 1 Corinthians 5). This type of teaching underscores the strong emphasis on personal holiness found in Finney's writings.

While some theologians have attempted to associate Finney with Pelagian thought, it is important to note that Finney strongly affirmed salvation by faith, not by works or by obedience. (see [4] and [5]). Finney affirmed, however, that works were the evidence of faith. The presence of sin thus evinced that a person never had saving faith.

There are also questions over Finney's understanding of the meaning of Jesus' death on the Cross. His view is complex and has suffered from multiple misunderstandings, often due to reading quotes out of context.

Besides making Christ's death the centerpiece of justification rather than Christ's obedience, Finney's understanding of the atonement was that it satisfied "public justice" and that it opened up the way for God to pardon people of their sin. This was the view of the disciples of Jonathan Edwards' followers, the so-called New Divinity which was popular at that time period. In this view, Christ's death satisfied public justice rather than retributive justice. As Finney put it, it was not a "commercial transaction." This view, typically known as the governmental view or moral government view, differs from the Calvinistic view where Jesus' sufferings equal the amount of suffering that Christians would experience in hell.

External links

• The Complete Works of Charles Finney
• The Character, Claims and Practical Workings of Freemasonry
• http://truthinheart.com/EarlyOberlinCD/CD/Finney/Biography/finneybi.htm A biography of Charles Finney by G. Frederick Wright] (Holiness perspective; supportive)
• A Vindication of the Methods and Results of Charles Finney's Ministry (Revivalist perspective; supportive; answers many traditional Old School Calvinist critiques)
• An analysis of Finney's Perfectionism (neutral)
• Charles Grandison Finney: New York Revivalism in the 1820-1830s by John H. Martin
• Articles on Finney (conservative Calvinist perspective; critical)
• How Charles Finney's Theology Ravaged the Evangelical Movement (conservative Calvinist perspective; critical)
• The Oberlin Heritage Center-Local history museum and historical society of Oberlin, OH, where Finney lived and worked for decades.

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

• Charles Grandison Finney  ^history

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

• History of "Charles Grandison Finney"

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.