Charles Grandison Finney 1792-1875, American evangelist, theologian, and educator, b. Warren, Conn. Licensed to the Presbyterian ministry in 1824, he had phenomenal success as a revivalist in the Eastern states, converting many who became noted abolitionists . In 1834 the Broadway Tabernacle, New York City, was organized for him. Under his leadership this church withdrew from its presbytery and adopted the Congregational form of government. In 1837, Finney went to Oberlin College, where he was professor of theology until 1875 and president of the college from 1851 to 1865. At the same time he was pastor of the Oberlin Congregational Church and continued his evangelistic tours until his death, twice visiting England to conduct revivals. His theological writings, published chiefly in the Oberlin Evangelist, which he founded and edited, were of great influence and set the tone of "Oberlin theology," one of the forms of New School Calvinism. His Lectures on Revivals of Religion (1835) became the classic book for generations of revivalists.

Bibliography: See his memoirs (1876, repr. 1973); study by V. R. Edman (1951); W. G. McLoughlin, Modern Revivalism (1959).

Finney, Charles Grandison (1792–1875), American evangelist. In 1821 he underwent a conversion experience. He was ordained by the Presbytery of Oneida, NY, in 1824, and began his rise to prominence as an itinerant revivalist preacher. In 1835 he was appointed Professor of Theology at Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio; in 1837, abandoning Presbyterianism, he also became pastor of a Congregational church in the town. Almost singlehandedly, he transformed revivalism in America. He popularized socalled ‘new measures’: ‘protracted meetings’ (with the cessation of non-religious activity over several days), the ‘anxious bench’, prayer meetings, public prayer for individuals by name, and a dramatic pulpit style. He became an opponent of Calvinism and predestination, espousing a theology of human responsibility and agency in conversion.

Charles Grandison Finney

Charles Grandison Finney (1792-1875), American theologian and educator, was a famous evangelist who brought frontier religion to the urbanized East.

Charles Finney was born on Aug. 29, 1792, in Warren, Conn.; his family moved to Oneida County, N.Y., about 1794. A self-assured young man, he decided after high school not to attend college. For several years he taught school in New Jersey, but his family finally persuaded him to return to western New York to study law.

Finney's interest in religion at this time was only perfunctory, because he found orthodox Calvinism unpalatable. Thus his route to a religious "awakening" was outside the institutional church. Observing that legal decisions often quoted Scripture, he began to read the Bible. He became concerned as to how man could achieve salvation, finally concluding that, instead of waiting upon God's regenerative spirit, any man could exert himself to give up sin and accept Jesus as a redeemer. In 1821 he had a mystical experience in which he believed he stood face to face with Jesus. From this time he devoted his energies to preaching revivals. He was licensed as a Presbyterian minister in 1824.

Finney was a masterful pulpit orator. He addressed the audience as sinners and prayed for them by name. He prolonged his meetings until early morning and even carried his ministry into the factories. Only his success at winning converts persuaded more orthodox clergymen to condone his techniques.

In 1828, after a fruitful campaign in western New York, Finney visited Philadelphia, Providence, and Boston. In 1832, at the invitation of several prominent businessmen, he moved to New York City. He was plagued with illness, and his sojourn was unhappy. Three years later he accepted the chair of theology at Oberlin College.

Finney devoted much of his time to teaching and writing. Lectures on Revivals of Religion (1835) was a manual on conducting revivals. His subsequent works, Sermons on Important Subjects (1836), Views of Sanctification (1840), and Lectures on Systematic Theology (1846), elaborated his belief in the perfectability of man. He supported the temperance movement and condemned the "sin of slavery." Drawing his following from the professional and business classes, he taught the value of charitable and philanthropic enterprises.

In 1851 Finney became president of Oberlin, a position he held until the end of the Civil War. Though hampered by illness, he conducted revivals until his death on Aug. 16, 1875, in Oberlin.

Further Reading

There is no modern biography of Finney. His Memoirs of Rev. Charles G. Finney (1876) is useful for factual data. By far the liveliest sketch of Finney's life is Bernard A. Weisberger, They Gathered at the River: The Story of the Great Revivalists and Their Impact upon Religion in America (1958). Equally important are Whitney R. Cross, The Burned-over District: The Social and Intellectual History of Enthusiastic Religion in Western New York, 1800-1850 (1950), and Charles C. Cole, Jr., The Social Ideas of the Northern Evangelists, 1826-1860 (1954).

Additional Sources

Drummond, Lewis A., A fresh look at the life and ministry of Charles G. Finney, Minneapolis, Minn.: Bethany House, 1985.

The autobiography of Charles G. Finney, Minneapolis: Bethany Fellowship, 1977.

The memoirs of Charles G. Finney: the complete restored text, Grand Rapids, Mich.: Academie Books, 1989.

Guldseth, Mark, Streams: the flow of inspiration from Dwight Moody to Frank Buchman, Homer?, Alaska: M.O. Guldseth, 1982.

Hambrick-Stowe, Charles E., Charles G. Finney and the spirit of American Evangelicalism, Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1996.

Hardman, Keith, Charles Grandison Finney, 1792-1875: revivalist and reformer, Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 1987. □