Historical records matching Rev. Charles Grandison Finney, Sr., Abolitionist
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About Rev. Charles Grandison Finney, Sr., Abolitionist
Charles Grandison Finney
- BIRTH 29 Aug 1792, Warren, Litchfield County, Connecticut, USA
- DEATH 16 Aug 1875 (aged 82) Oberlin, Lorain County, Ohio, USA
- BURIAL Westwood Cemetery, Oberlin, Lorain County, Ohio, USA
- Latitude: 41.2835426, Longitude: -82.2357783
- PLOT Section C
- MEMORIAL ID 19664 photos added by kjhilton & mdickerson
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Charles Grandison Finney (August 29, 1792 – August 16, 1875) was a leader in the Second Great Awakening. He has been called The Father of Modern Revivalism. Finney was best known as an innovative revivalist, an opponent of Old School Presbyterian theology, an advocate of Christian perfectionism, a pioneer in social reforms in favor of women and African-Americans, a religious writer, and president at Oberlin College.
Early Life
Born in Warren, Connecticut, Finney was the youngest of fifteen children. The son of farmers, Finney never attended college, but his six-foot three-inch stature, piercing eyes, musical skill and leadership abilities gained him recognition in his community. He studied as an apprentice to become a lawyer, but after a dramatic conversion experience and baptism into the Holy Spirit in Adams, New York, he gave up legal practice to preach the gospel. At age 29 under George Washington Gale, Finney studied to become a licensed minister in the Presbyterian Church, though he had many misgivings about the fundamental doctrines taught in that denomination.
Finney was twice a widower and was married three times in his life. In 1824, he 1st married Lydia Root Andrews (1804-1847). In 1848 he 2nd married Elizabeth Ford Atkinson (1799-1863). In 1865 he 3rd married Rebecca Allen Rayl (1824-1907). All three assisted Finney in his evangelistic efforts, accompanying him on his revival tours during their lives. Finney had six children, all by his first wife. In 1832 he moved to New York City where he ministered the Chatham Street Chapel, and he later founded and preached at the Broadway Tabernacle.
Revivals
Finney was most active as a revivalist 1825-35 and was known for his innovations in preaching and religious meetings. His innovations included 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. He was also known for his use of extemporaneous preaching.
Antislavery/Abolitionist
In addition to becoming a popular Christian evangelist, Finney was involved with the abolitionist movement and frequently denounced slavery from the pulpit. In 1835, he moved to Ohio where he became a professor and later president of Oberlin College from 1851 to 1866. Oberlin became active early in the movement to end slavery and was among the first American colleges to co-educate blacks and women with white men.
As a young man Finney was a third-degree Master Mason, but after his conversion he dropped the group as antithetical to Christianity. He was active in Anti-Masonic movements.
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 tenets of "Old Divinity" Calvinism which he felt were unbiblical and counter to evangelism and Christian mission.
Finney's theology is difficult to classify, as can be observed in his masterwork, Religious Revivals. In this work, he emphasizes the involvement of a person's will in salvation. Whether he believed the will was free to repent or not repent, or whether he viewed God as inclining the will irresistibly (as in Calvinist doctrine, where the will of an elect individual is changed by God so that they now desire to repent, thus repenting with their will and not against it, but not being free in whether they choose repentance since they must choose what their will is inclined towards), is not made clear. Finney, like most Protestants, affirmed salvation by grace through faith alone, not by works or by obedience. Finney also affirmed that works were the evidence of faith. The presence of unrepentant sin thus evidenced that a person had not received salvation.
In his Systematic Theology, Finney remarks that "I have felt greater hesitancy in forming and expressing my views upon this Perseverance of the saints, than upon almost any other question in theology." 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.[citation needed] Finney draws support for this position 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.
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 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 of the atonement is typically known as the governmental view or government view.
Princeton Theological Seminary Professor Albert Baldwin Dod reviewed Finney's 1835 book Lectures on Revivals of Religion and rejected it as theologically unsound. Dod was a defender of Old School Calvinist orthodoxy (see Princeton theologians) and was especially critical of Finney's view of the doctrine of total depravity.[1]
Religious Figure and Abolitionist. A Presbyterian minister and considered by many as "The Father of Modern Revivalism", he became an innovative preacher during the Second Great Awakening, a Protestant religious revival that occurred in the US during the early part of the 19th century. His religious views led him to promote social reforms, such as abolition of slavery and equal education for women and African Americans. The youngest of 15 children, his parents were farmers who moved to upstate New York after the Revolutionary War. As a young man, he studied law and apprenticed to pursue a profession as a lawyer, but after a dramatic religious conversion experience, he gave up legal practice to preach the gospel. In 1821 he studied to become a licensed minister in the Presbyterian Church. However, he had misgivings about the fundamental doctrines taught in Presbyterianism and he departed from traditional Calvinist theology by teaching that people have free will to choose salvation. In 1832 he moved to New York City, New York, where he became minister of the Chatham Street Chapel and introduced some of the revivalist fervor of upstate to his urban congregations. In 1835 he moved to Oberlin, Ohio where he became a professor at Oberlin College there, and served as its second president from 1851 until 1866. He died at the age of 82. Bio by: William Bjornstad [2]
Parents
Sylvester Finney 1759–1842
Rebeekah Rice Finney 1759–1836
Spouses
Lydia Root Andrews Finney 1804–1847 (m. 1824)
Elizabeth Ford Storer Atkinson Finney 1799–1863 (m. 1848)
Rebecca Allen Rayl Finney 1824–1907 (m. 1865)
Siblings
Sarah "Sally" Finney Whitney 1780–1852
Dotia "Theodotia, Docia" Finney Jerome 1781–1860
Zenas Finney 1783–1874
Chloe Finney Curtis 1785–1842
Sylvester Finney 1787–1798
Harry Finney 1790–1854
Children
Helen Clarissa Finney Cox 1828–1911
Maj Charles Grandison Finney II 1830–1896
Julia Finney Monroe 1837–1930
Sarah Sage Finney 1841–1843
Delia Andrews Finney 1844–1852
References
1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Grandison_Finney
2 https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/19664/charles_grandison_finney
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Rev. Charles Grandison Finney, Sr., Abolitionist's Timeline
| 1792 |
August 29, 1792
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Warren Litchfield County Connecticut, USA
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| 1828 |
June 10, 1828
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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
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| 1830 |
March 8, 1830
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New York, NY, United States
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| 1832 |
March 7, 1832
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Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA
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| 1837 |
March 16, 1837
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| 1875 |
August 16, 1875
Age 82
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Oberlin, Lorain County, Ohio, United States
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August 16, 1875
Age 82
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Westwood Cemetery, 455 Morgan Street, Oberlin, Lorain County, Ohio, 44074, United States
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