Sermons By Charles G. Finney

Catalog Record: Sermons on gospel themes | Hathi Trust Digital Library

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Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Finney by Charles Grandison Finney. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Preview — Charles G. His influence during this period was enough that he has been called The Father of Modern Revivalism. Finney was known for his innovations in preaching and religious meetings such as having women pray in public meetings of mixed gender, Charles Grandison Finney August 29, — August 16, was a Presbyterian and Congregationalist figure in the Second Great Awakening.

Finney was known for his innovations in preaching and religious meetings such as having women pray in public meetings of mixed gender, development of the "anxious seat" a place where those considering becoming Christians could come to receive prayer and public censure of individuals by name in sermons and prayers.

Sermons on Gospel Themes

His revival spirituality resonated with a social trend that problems have solutions and that human determination and moral vision exist for creating a better society. Through the s this attained millenarian proportions, with the subtle or not so subtle sense that Christ's return to earth would be abetted by, and was just waiting for, Christians to take action on his behalf to mold society according to godly principles.

The evangelical Christians, many of them products of Finney revivals, addressed issues of alcohol and tobacco use to the extreme of criticizing consumption of ice cream , the theater which they viewed, often correctly, as havens for prostitution , honoring the Sabbath the Sabbatarian movement , anti-Masonry, amelioration of conditions for prisoners, the handicapped and mentally ill, women's rights the Seneca Falls Convention was spawned in part by Finney followers and the abolition of slavery. In contrast, evangelical Christians after the Civil War took a stance that true Christian social reform is vanity and nothing really will change until Christ comes pre-millennialism.

Finney was a primary influence on the "Revivalism" style of theology which emerged in the nineteenth century. Though coming from a Calvinistic background, Finney rejected several tenets of "Old Divinity" Calvinism which he felt were un-biblical and counter to evangelism and Christian missions. 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 [6] thought, it is important to note that Finney strongly affirmed salvation by faith, not by works or by obedience. 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, rather than Christ's obedience, the centerpiece of justification, 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 , the so-called New Divinity which was popular in Finney's day. In this view, Christ's death satisfied public justice rather than retributive justice.

As Finney put it, it was not a "commercial transaction. As a new nation, the United States was undergoing massive social flux during the second quarter of the nineteenth century, and this period birthed quite a large number of independent, trans-denominational religious movements such as Mormonism as well as Millerism s and beyond and its offshoots the Jehovah's Witnesses , and the Seventh-day Adventist Church 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.

Western New York, the so-called burned-over district, was a geographical area described by Finney himself as a "hotbed" of religious revivalism, and it was in this area that he developed his distinctive preaching style and had the early success that generated a momentum for his lifetime and generations of revivalists since.

Charles Finney (1792 - 1875)

The lack of clergy from established churches ensured that religious activity in these areas commenced in a free-market environment, with preachers and ideas colliding with each other and competing for people's attention. Finney's intense personality and God-given confidence made his message one that fit the expectations and attitudes of his culture.

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 , 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.

Although Finney was originally a Presbyterian, he eventually became a Congregationalist and often bears much criticism from conservative Presbyterians. Nonetheless, Finney's "new measures revivalism," with its use of advertising, multi-church participation, clear expository preaching, the call for an immediate decision between Christ and the fallen life, musical and cultural media to expand the message, and personal prayer and counseling with the newly converted, established a methodological pattern for Christian revivalism that influenced major modern exponents like Dwight D.

Moody, Billy Sunday , Rev.

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Billy Graham and hundreds more. Finney helped initiate what church historians later came to call "christocentric liberalism.

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What Finney managed to achieve was to be the most successful religious revivalist of his day in England and New England. While groups such as the Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons and Seventh-day Adventists tended to become closed and exclusivist, Finney was widely admired and influential amongst more mainstream Christians. His optimism left him open to accusations of antinomian perfectionism; i.

Finney deflected this accusation, but nonetheless was a part of the movement known as "Oberlin Perfectionism.

White, William Miller , Finney never started his own denomination or church and he 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. Links have also been drawn between Finney's revivals and the emergence of the mercantile and manufacturing economy as opposed to the agricultural and crafts-centered economy.

Thus it is argued that his revivals provided religious legitimation to a free-labor, wage-based workforce and helped solidify the middle class regime in the national period. Whence they all came, Dr. Campbell did not know, and no one could tell; but that hundreds and thousands of them were converted, there is no reason to doubt.

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Indeed, I saw and conversed with vast numbers, and labored in this way to the full limit of my strength. On Saturday evening, inquirers and converts would come to the study for conversation. Great numbers came every week, and conversions multiplied. People came, as I learned, from every part of the city.

Many people walked several miles every Sabbath to attend the meetings. Soon I began to be accosted in the streets, in different parts of the city, by people who knew me, and had been greatly blessed in attending our meetings.

Indeed, the Word of God was blessed, greatly blessed in London at that time. Campbell requested me to go in, and make a few remarks to the scholars in the British schoolroom. I did so, and began by asking them what they proposed to do with their education, and dwelt upon their responsibility in that respect.

I tried to show them how much good they might do, and how great a blessing their education would be to them and to the world, if they used it aright, and what a great curse it would be to them and to the world, if they used it selfishly. The address was short; but that point was strongly urged upon them. Campbell afterward remarked to me, that a goodly number, I forget now how many, had been received to the church, who were at that time awakened, and led to seek the salvation of their souls.

He mentioned it as a remarkable fact, because, he said, he had no expectation that such a result would follow. The fact is, that the ministers in England, as well as in this country, had lost sight, in a great measure, of the necessity of pressing present obligations home upon the consciences of the people. Campbell, when he told me of this, "I don't understand it.

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