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Charles Finney
Charles Grandison Finney (1792–1875). Born on August 29, 1792, in Warren, Connecticut, Charles Finney was an American Presbyterian minister and a leading figure in the Second Great Awakening. Raised in a non-religious family, he studied law in Adams, New York, until a dramatic conversion in 1821, when he experienced a vision of Christ, abandoning law for ministry. Largely self-taught in theology, he was licensed by the Presbyterian Church in 1824 and began preaching in western New York, sparking revivals with his direct, emotional sermons and “new measures” like the anxious bench. His campaigns in cities like Rochester (1830–1831) led to thousands of conversions, influencing social reforms like abolitionism. In 1835, he joined Oberlin College as a theology professor, later serving as its president (1851–1866), promoting Christian perfectionism and co-educational, anti-slavery values. Finney authored Lectures on Revivals of Religion (1835) and Systematic Theology (1846), shaping evangelicalism. Married three times—Lydia Andrews (1824, died 1847), Elizabeth Atkinson (1848, died 1863), and Rebecca Rayl (1865)—he had six children. He died on August 16, 1875, in Oberlin, Ohio, saying, “The moral law of God is the only standard of holiness.”
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Sermon Summary
In his sermon to William Green Jr., Charles Finney emphasizes the importance of personal experience in guiding others to Christ. Finney addresses the struggle of understanding sin and the necessity of true repentance and faith in Jesus for effective ministry. He encourages believers to move beyond mere theoretical knowledge and to rely on their own experiences of grace to lead others. The message highlights the transformative power of faith and the need for clarity in spiritual leadership.
William Green, Jr.
To William Green Jr. 29 May 1837 [MS in Finney Papers # 1235] Extract in William Green Jr to Finney, 21 June 1837, referring to a letter from Finney dated 29 May 1837: I was sorry to read the passage in your letter "I cannot remain a blind leader of the blind, I must see clearly how to conduct convicted professors to Christ"&endash; I was in hopes you had got beyond that. I reconed myself dead unto sin & alive unto God, & believed that Xt would keep me henceforth from sin. & since I was able to do that, I don't know that I have felt any condemnation for Sins &endash; yet I do not say I am free from Sin either, but that I am not sensible of it &endash; All the directing to be given to inquirers, according to my view are, repent & believe in Jesus &endash; but one must experience what it is to believe in Jesus, before he can direct others &endash; I feel that the wisdom that is spoken of as necessary to instruct inquirers, is all folly &endash; that any one who knows by experience what repentance & faith is, is qualified to direct inquirers to Xt. &endash;
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Charles Grandison Finney (1792–1875). Born on August 29, 1792, in Warren, Connecticut, Charles Finney was an American Presbyterian minister and a leading figure in the Second Great Awakening. Raised in a non-religious family, he studied law in Adams, New York, until a dramatic conversion in 1821, when he experienced a vision of Christ, abandoning law for ministry. Largely self-taught in theology, he was licensed by the Presbyterian Church in 1824 and began preaching in western New York, sparking revivals with his direct, emotional sermons and “new measures” like the anxious bench. His campaigns in cities like Rochester (1830–1831) led to thousands of conversions, influencing social reforms like abolitionism. In 1835, he joined Oberlin College as a theology professor, later serving as its president (1851–1866), promoting Christian perfectionism and co-educational, anti-slavery values. Finney authored Lectures on Revivals of Religion (1835) and Systematic Theology (1846), shaping evangelicalism. Married three times—Lydia Andrews (1824, died 1847), Elizabeth Atkinson (1848, died 1863), and Rebecca Rayl (1865)—he had six children. He died on August 16, 1875, in Oberlin, Ohio, saying, “The moral law of God is the only standard of holiness.”